Coke Marketing Plan

Table of Contents Executive Summary6 Situation Analysis7 History of the Product/Brand8 Market Analysis9 Product Evaluation10 Competitor Analysis12 Marketing Objectives13 Marketing Strategies16 Selecting Target Market17 Developing the Marketing Mix18 Product Strategy19 Pricing Strategy20 Placing and Distribution22 Promotion Strategy23 Evaluation, Monitoring and Control24 Monitoring and Controlling26 Sales Analysis27 Market Share Evaluation27 Marketing Profitability Analysis27 Market Research27 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Giant soft drink company Coca-Cola has come under intense scrutiny by the investors due to its inability to effectively carry out its marketing program. Consequently it is seeking the help of new Marketing Company to develop a professional marketing plan which will help the business to achieve its objectives more effectively and efficiently, and regain their iron fist supremacy on the soft drink industry. When establishing a new marketing plan every aspect of the marketing plan must be critically examined and thoroughly researched. This consists of following four major areas: †¢ Situation Analysis †¢ Marketing Objectives Market Strategies †¢ Implementation, Evaluation, Monitoring and Control Once Coca-Cola will have carefully analyzed these areas and have examined the industry in general the most suitable marketing strategies will be selected and ‘external threats and opportunities’ will be monitored and internal efficiency will be revised accordingly. SIT UATION ANALYSIS HISTORY OF THE PRODUCT / BRAND The organization that we have selected is The Coca-Cola Company which is â€Å"the largest manufacturer, distributor and marketer of soft drinks in the world† (The Coca Cola Company 2007, 2006 Annual Report on Form 10-K). The company offers over 400 products/brands in more than 200 countries (The Coca Cola Company 2007, 2006 Annual Report on Form 10-K). The product selected is their soft drink called Coca-Cola. Their mission statement and vision are given below: Mission everything we do is inspired by our enduring mission: †¢ To Refresh the World†¦ in body, mind, and spirit. †¢ To Inspire Moments of Optimism†¦ through our brands and our actions. †¢ To Create Value and Make a Difference†¦ everywhere we engage. (The Coca Cola Company 2007, Mission, Vision & Values) Vision To achieve sustainable growth, we have established a vision with clear goals. †¢ Profit: Maximizing return to shareowners while being mindful of our overall responsibilities. †¢ People: Being a great place to work where people are inspired to be the best they can be. †¢ Portfolio: Bringing to the world a portfolio of beverage brands that anticipate and satisfy peoples’ desires and needs. †¢ Partners: Nurturing a winning network of partners and building mutual loyalty. †¢ Planet: Being a responsible global citizen that makes a difference. (The Coca Cola Company 2007, Mission, Vision & Values) MARKET ANALYSIS Changes occurring in the organization’s macro- and micro environments have revealed a number of risk factors that have an influence on Coca Colas business, sales and consumer acceptance. Firstly, increased awareness about health issues has given rise to obesity concerns in relation to the consumption of Coca Cola (The Coca Cola Company 2007, 2006 Annual Report on Form 10-K). This may reduce the product’s demand. Secondly, water which is a major ingredient of Coca-Cola is becoming a scarce commodity and its quality is deteriorating due to pollution etc. This can increase the products production costs (The Coca Cola Company 2007, 2006 Annual Report on Form 10-K). Thirdly, a major portion (approximately 83 % in 2006) of The Coca Cola Company’s business comes from its bottling partners to whom it sells its concentrates and syrups. Consequently, maintaining good relations with the bottling partners is essential for the business. The bottling partners financial situation also affects Coca Colas business (The Coca Cola Company 2007, 2006 Annual Report on Form 10-K). Increase in cost of energy(electricity, natural gas etc) and raw materials(high fructose corn syrup, sucrose etc) can have a negative impact on the product’s profits (The Coca Cola Company 2007, 2006 Annual Report on Form 10-K). Unfavorable political and economic conditions in the local as well as international markets can have an adverse effect on the company’s profits (The Coca Cola Company 2007, 2006 Annual Report on Form 10-K). Unfavorable weather conditions like unusually long spells of winter cold can decrease the demand for the product (The Coca Cola Company 2007, 2006 Annual Report on Form 10-K). PRODUCT EVALUATION Product Life cycle The product life cycle comprises of five stages: product development, introduction, growth, maturity and decline (Kotler et al. 2006, p. 314). Coca-Cola is currently in the maturity stage, which is evidenced primarily by the fact that they have a large, loyal group of stable customers. In this regard, Coke has the advantage of it’s establishment of a strong brand name. Furthermore, cost management, product differentiation and marketing have become more important as growth slows and market share becomes the key determinant of profitability. SWOT Analysis: SWOT stands for Strengths Weakness Opportunities Threats. SWOT analysis is a technique that consists of examining the current activities of the organization- its Strengths and Weakness- and then using this and external research data to set out the Opportunities and Threats that exist. Strengths: Coca-Cola has been a vital part of world culture for a very long time. The product's image is loaded with over-romanticizing which has not failed to move people. The Coca-Cola image is displayed on a variety of items like T-shirts, hats etc. This extremely powerful branding is one of Coca-Cola's greatest strengths. Enjoyed more than 685 million times a day around the world Coca-Cola stands as a simple, yet powerful symbol of quality and enjoyment† (Allen, 1995). Coca Cola enjoys a large amount of customer acceptance as compared to it’s main competitors (The Coca Cola Company 2007, 2006 Annual Report on Form 10-K). Coca-Cola's bottling system is also one of their main strengths. I t enables them to conduct business on a global scale and at the same time maintain a local approach. The bottling companies are locally owned and operated by independent business people who have been authorized to sell products of the Coca-Cola Company. Coca Cola does not have outright ownership of its bottling network, its main source of revenue is the sale of concentrate to its bottlers (The Coca Cola Company 2007, 2006 Annual Report on Form 10-K). Weaknesses: Weaknesses for any business need to be both reduced and monitored in order to effectively achieve productivity and efficiency in their business. This applies to Coke as well. Although domestic business as well as many international markets are prospering (volumes in Latin America were up 12%), Coca-Cola has recently reported some â€Å"declines in unit case volumes in Indonesia and Thailand due to reduced consumer purchasing power. According to an article in Fortune magazine, â€Å"In Japan, unit case sales fell 3% in the second quarter [of 1998]†¦ scary because while Japan generates around 5% of worldwide volume, it contributes three times as much to profits. Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Japan account for about 35% of Coke's volume and none of these markets are performing to expectation. Coca-Cola on the other side has adverse effects on the teeth which causes health concerns among the consumers. It also has got sugar due to which continuous or excessive drinking of Coca-Cola can cause health problems like diabetes. Opportunities: Brand recognition is a vital factor affecting Coke's competitive position. Coca-Cola's brand name and reputation is well known across 94% of the globe. The major issue over the past few years has been to get this brand name introduced to as many emerging markets as possible. Changes in packaging have also affected sales and industry positioning, but on the whole the public has remained unaffected by the launch of new products. Coca-Cola's bottling system enhances the company’s prospects of growth opportunities around the world. This strategy gives Coke the opportunity to serve a large and diverse geographic market. Threats: At present, the threat of new competitors in the carbonated soft drink industry is not very substantial. On the other hand, the threat of substitutes is a very possible threat. The soft drink industry has a strong hold, but consumers have a lot of options available to them. Possible substitutes that continuously put pressure on both Pepsi and Coke include tea, coffee, juices, milk, and hot chocolate. This pressure has increased a lot during the last few years owing to increased health awareness. Even though Coca-Cola and Pepsi control nearly 40% of the entire beverage market, health concerns can adversely influence product demand. Of course, both Coke and Pepsi have already diversified into these markets, allowing them to have further significant market shares and offset any losses incurred due to fluctuations in the market. Consumer buying power is another key threat in the industry. The rivalry between Pepsi and Coke has produced a very slow moving industry in which management must be sensitive to and timely respond to the changing attitudes and demands of their consumers or risk losing market share to the competition. COMPETITOR ANALYSIS Coca Cola competes in the non-alcoholic beverages segment with various firms including PepsiCo Inc, Nestle, Cadbury Schweppes plc, Groupe Danone, Kraft Foods Inc etc (The Coca Cola Company 2007, 2006 Annual Report on Form 10-K). Specific beverages that Coca Cola competes with in Pakistan include Pepsi, RC Cola, Makka Cola and Amrat Cola. Competitive forces affecting Coca Cola’s business include pricing, advertising, product promotion programs, innovative ideas, production techniques, bottling, brand and trademark development and protection (The Coca Cola Company 2007, 2006 Annual Report on Form 10-K). MARKETING OBJECTIVES The marketing objectives section will indicate targets to be achieved across several marketing decision areas. The purposes of objectives include: †¢ To enable a company to control its marketing plan †¢ To help to motivate individuals and teams to reach a common goal †¢ To provide an agreed, consistent focus for all functions of an organization. (Kotler, Adam, Brown, & Armstrong, Priciples of Marketing, 2006) All objectives should follow criteria called SMART i. e. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timed. (Johnson) Coca Cola Marketing Objectives: †¢ The goals and objectives that are set by the company are firstly to put the Coke the Classic segment back on the growth path. †¢ In terms of volume, the company wanted to sell 8 million 8 oz. cases and by the end of the previous year the company had actually sold 7 million cases, but the target was 6 million 8 oz cases. †¢ The distribution goal is to achieve 40% numeric Distribution within 4 weeks of re-launch, currently it is 35. 55%. †¢ And in terms of share, the goal was to get and regain 65% of market within one year. Currently it is 60% of the market share. †¢ The recent performance of the business unit has been impressive and the company wants the coming years to be even more beneficial. †¢ To survive the current market war between competitors †¢ To increase the size of the worldwide Coca Cola enterprise by 20%, currently it is 10%. †¢ To increase awareness of the product on the market by increasing advertising. †¢ To achieve a 30% return on capital employed by August next year, current return on capital is at 20%. (Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Company) MARKETING STRATEGIES SELECTING TARGET MARKET Target Market is defined as â€Å"A set of buyers haring common needs or characteristics that the company decides to serve†. (Kotler, Adam, Brown, & Armstrong, 2006) Once the situation analysis has completed, and the marketing objectives determined then the company’s attention turns towards the target market. As we know that the soft drink market is very large, and a product cannot be for all the people, so the company must choose which of the market segments have the greatest potential for its products. The target market is where Coca-Cola focuses its marketing efforts as it feels this is where it will be most productive and successful. The target market for Coca-Cola is very wide as it satisfies the needs for many different consumers, ranging from the healthy diet conscious consumers through Diet Coke to the average human through its best selling drink regular Coke. Most Coke products satisfy all age groups as it is proven that most people of different age groups consume the Coca-Cola product. This market is relatively large and is open to both genders. A marketing organization can adopt one of the three market-coverage strategies: †¢ Un-Differential †¢ Differentiated †¢ Concentrated (Kotler, Adam, Brown, & Armstrong, 2006) The most apparent method used by Coca Cola is with no doubt the differentiated marketing method as Coke satisfies a range of different markets. Diet coke satisfy’s the weight consciousness, regular coke, sprite, fanta, coffee, iced tea etc for average user group. Each product of beverages satisfies a particular group of people. Differentiated Marketing is defined as â€Å"A market coverage strategy in which a marketing organization decides to target several market segments and designs separate offers for each†. (Kotler, Adam, Brown, & Armstrong, 2006) DEVELOPING THE MARKETING MIX The marketing mix is probably the most crucial stage of the marketing planning process. It is also known as the 4 Ps of marketing. In 1964 Neil H. Borden published his article â€Å"The Concept of Marketing Mix† after which this term became popularized. This is where the marketing tactics for each product are determined. The marketing mix refers to the combination of the four strategies: †¢ Product Strategy †¢ Price Strategy †¢ Place Strategy †¢ Promotion Strategy [pic] (NetMBA) The most successful businesses have continually monitored and changed their marketing mix due to internal and external factors. PRODUCT STRATEGY A product can be defined as â€Å"Anything that can be offered to the market for attention, acquisition, use or consumption that might satisfy a want or a need. It includes physical objects, services,, persons, places, organizations and ideas†. Businesses must think about products on three different levels, which are: †¢ The Core Product †¢ The actual product †¢ The Augmented Product Coca Cola customers are buying a wide range of soft drinks. Consumers will buy the coke product because of the high standards and high quality of the Coca-Cola products. The Coca-Cola also offer a help line and complaint phone service for customers who are not satisfied with the product or wish to give feedback on the products. Positioning Positioning is the process of creating, the image the product holds in the mind of consumers, relative to competing products. Coca-Cola and Franklins both make soft drinks; although Franklins may try to compete they will still be seen as lower market from Coca-Cola. Positioning helps customers understand what is unique about the products when compared with the competition. Branding The popularity of the brand is often the deciding factor. Over the time Coca Cola has spent millions of dollars developing and promoting their brand name, resulting in worldwide recognition. ‘Coca-Cola' is the most recognized trademark, recognized by 94% of the world's population. (Coca-Cola, Our Herittage) PRICING STRATEGY Price is a very important factor in the marketing mix as it can affect both the supply and demand for Coca Cola. The price of Coca-Cola’s products is one of the most important factors in a customer’s decision to buy. Price will often be the difference that will drive a customer to buy the one product over another, as long as most things are about the same. For this reason pricing strategies need to be designed with consumers and external influences in mind, in order to effectively achieve a stable balance between sales and covering the production costs. Price strategies are important to Coca Cola because the price determines the amount of sales and profit per unit sold. Businesses have to set a price that is attractive to their customers and provides the business with a good level of profit. Long before a sale was ever made Coca Cola had developed a forecast of consumer demand at different prices which without doubt determined whether or not the product came in the market. The pricing strategy a business will use will have to focus on achieving the marketing plan’s objectives and support the positioning of the product, and take external factors such as economic conditions and competitors in to account. As customer loyalty has established with Coca-Cola, it can now slowly raise the price of its product. There has been a severe pricing competition between Coca-Cola and Pepsi products as each company competes for customer recognition and satisfaction. Till now it appears as if Coke has come up on top, although in order to gain long term profits Coke had to sacrifice short term profits where in some cases it either went under of just broke even, but as seen it has been all for the best. Pricing Methods There are four major pricing approaches that can be used. †¢ Cost-based Approach †¢ Buyer-based Approach †¢ Competition Approach †¢ Relationship Approach Kotler, Adam, Brown, & Armstrong, Priciples of Marketing, 2006) Over the years Coca-Cola has lost ground here in its pricing but has regained its strength as it employed the Competition-Based Pricing Method which allowed it to compete more effectively in the soft drink market. Now the Coca-Cola has become a market leader with loyal customers and some technological edge, thus the case currently with Coke, it was first the follower but through effective management has now become the leader of the market and is working towards achieving the marketing objectives of the Coca Cola. Survival in the market place, own 60 % of market share by 2007, increase further awareness of product and a return on 20% on capital are the current objectives for 2007†. (Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Company) PLACE AND DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY The place P of the marketing mix refers to distribution of the product i. e. the ways of getting the product to the market. The distribution of products starts with the producer and ends with the consumer. One key element of the Place/Distribution factor is the respective distribution channels that Coca-Cola has elected to transport and sell its product. Selecting the most appropriate distribution channel is important, as the choice will determine sales levels and costs. The choice for a distribution channel for any business depends on numerous factors, these include: †¢ How far away the customers are †¢ The type of product being transported †¢ The lead times required and †¢ The costs associated with transport There are four types of distribution strategies that Coca Cola could have chosen from, these are: intensive, selective, exclusive and direct distribution. It is apparent from the popularity of the Coca-Cola’s product n the market that the business in the past used the method of intensive distribution as the product is available at every possible outlet. From supermarkets to service stations to your local corner shop, anywhere you go you will find the Coca-Cola products. PROMOTION STRATEGY In today’s competitive environment, having the right product at the right place in the right place at the r ight time may still not be enough to be successful. Effective communication with the target market is essential for the success of the product and business. Promotion is the P of the marketing mix designed to inform the market about who the company is, how good the product is and where they can buy it. Promotion is also used to persuade the customers to try a new product, or buy more of an old product. The promotional strategy is the combination of personal selling, advertising, sales promotion and public relations that are used in its marketing plan. Now days as most of the target market is most likely to be exposed by media such as television, radio and magazines, Coca-Cola has used this as the main form of promotion for extensive range of products. Although advertising is usually very expensive, it is the most effective way of letting the customers to know about Coca-Cola Products. Coca-Cola also utilizes promotions such as contests, coupons, and free samples. These activities are an effective way of getting people to give the product a check. EVALUATION, MONITORING & CONTROL The goal of the marketing plan is to outline the strategies, tactics, and programs that will make the sales goals outlined in the coke business plan a reality by the end of the season. There are a number of Key Performance Indicators KPI’s that are needed for the measurement/evaluation of the performance they can be given as, The monthly and the annual revenue generation, then the amount of expenses incurred in a month or in a year, then the increased level of customer satisfaction and ensuring the brand loyalty. For complying with these scenarios the advertising efforts made by the company the strength of the distribution channels, the launch of the new products and the pricing will be measured. The possible increase in growth of the target market also depends on all these efforts made by coke. The people who are responsible for the monitoring and control of the marketing plan involves, the Marketing Executives, Sales Managers, Media Managers, Market Research Departments, and the Product Managers. Some activities must be carried out for precisely and closely evaluating the effectiveness of the strategies and tactics for example the gathering and structuring of data regarding market, product, customer and the pricing trends, then the generation of daily sales report should be maintained and then in the end continuous reconfirming of the marketing budget and activities by the managers of different divisions Financial Forecasts Financial forecasts are predictions of future events relating strictly to expected costs and revenue costs for future years. There are five major marketing expenditures, which include research costs, product development costs, product costs, promotion costs and distribution costs. Sales force composite is the most logical method in forecasting revenue. This involves estimates from individual salespeople to sell to work out a total for the whole business. Once these costs and revenues are forecasted, management can then decide which combination of marketing mix strategies will deliver the most sales revenue at the lowest cost. Implementing Implementation is the process of turning plans into actions, and involves all the activities that put the marketing plan to work. Successful implementation depends on how well the business blends its people, organizational structure and company culture into a cohesive program that supports the marketing plan. For its further success, Coca Cola must impose several key changes. Production needs to be on time and meet the quota demanded from wholesalers. It must also be efficient so as not to build inventory stocks and inventory prices. The marketing needs to be motivated and knowledgeable about the product. The forms of promotion such as advertising must be attracting and enticing to the target market to get the greatest amount of exposure possible for the product. This will ensure the success of the product in the stores. Distribution of the product must be efficient. This problem has already been taken care of with convenient transport routes to commercial areas and transport already being arranged. MONITORING AND CONTROLLING Monitoring and controlling allows the business to check for variance in the budget and actual. This is important because it allows Coca Cola to take the necessary actions to meet the marketing objectives. There are three tools Coca Cola should use to monitor the marketing plan. They are the following: Sales Analysis The sales analysis breaks down total business sales by market segments to identify strengths and weaknesses in the different areas of sales. Sellers of Coca Cola products vary from major retail supermarkets to small corner stores. This gives its products maximum exposure to customers at their convenience. Market Share Analysis Market share analysis compares Coca Cola’s business sales performance with that of its competitors. Coca Cola looks to increase its market share by over 60%. With the changes Coca Cola is currently undergoing, they aim to regain an iron fist control of the market. Target market various age groups and lifestyles from high school students too universities, and male or female. Marketing Profitability Analysis This analysis looks at the cost side of marketing and the profitability of products, sales territories, market segments and sales people. There are three ratios to monitor marketing profitability; they are market research to sales, advertising to sales and sales representatives to sales. The results of these three tools can help Coca Cola determine any emerging trends, such as the need for a different product. Comparing these results with actual results gives the business an idea on when to change. Market Research When attempting to implement a new Marketing plan a business must address its target market and conduct the relevant information to insure the new marketing plan both differs from the old and is better for the business. When conducting market research a business must first define the problem and then gather the appropriate information to solve the problem. There are 3 types of information a business can gather to solve its problems. †¢ Exploratory Research which clarifies the problem an d searches for ways to address it. †¢ Descriptive Research is used to measure and describe things like the market potential for a product and characteristics of the target market. †¢ Casual Research is used to test a hypothesis about a cause and effect relationship. Coca Cola through its market research has addressed all three types of research to define the problems raised by shareholders and gathered information to serve their needs. Factors Influencing Consumer Choice When making decisions on products a business must look at factors that influence consumer choice such as psychological factors, Socio-Cultural factors, Economic factors and Government Factors. Psychological Factors: such as motivation, perception, lifestyle, personality and self concept, learning, and attitudes influence the consumer’s behavior towards a product and Coca Cola has addressed this issue by introducing Diet Coke to satisfy health conscious lifestyles. Socio-Cultural factors: such as culture, subculture, socio-economic status, family and reference groups influence the consumer’s behavior towards a product. Economic factors: such as Disposable income and discretionary income. Coca Cola has addressed this side of the influence by maintaining a low price on the price of its products. Government Factors: such as new regulations, inflation, interest rates all influence consumer spending and choice. (Alberto, 2007) References Alberto, J. (2007). Strategy Moves. Pearson Education. pp. 145-150 Coca-Cola. (n. d. ). Coca-Cola Company. Retrieved 07 03, 2007, from -: http://www. thecoca-colacompany. com/index. html Coca-Cola. (n. d. ). Our Herittage. Retrieved 07 01, 2007, from The Coca-Cola Company: http://www. thecoca-colacompany. com/brands/index. html Kotler, P, Adam, S, Brown, L & Armstrong, G 2006, Principles of Marketing, Pearson Education Australia, China , pp. 125, 331 Johnson, M. (n. d. ). Marketing, Market Planning, Market Objectives. Retrieved 07 03, 2007, from Tutor 2 U: http://www. tutor2u. net/business/marketing/planning_setting_objectives. asp Kotler, P. , Adam, S. , Brown, L. , & Armstrong, G. (2006). Priciples of Marketing. China: Pearson Prentice Hall, pp. 330-350 Kotler, P. , Adam, S. , Brown, L. , & Armstrong, G. (2006). Principles of Marketing. Pearson Prentice Hall, pp. 245,249 NetMBA. The Marketing Mix. http://www. netmba. com/marketing/mix/. NetMBA Business Knowkedge Centre. The Coca Cola Company 2007, Mission, Vision & Values. Retrieved July 05, 2007, from http://www. thecoca-colacompany. com/ourcompany/mission_vision_values. html The Coca Cola Company 2007, 2006 Annual Report on Form 10-K. Retrieved July 05, 2007, from http://www. thecoca-colacompany. com/investors/annual_other_reports. htm[pic]

Obsession essay Essay

Some call it dedication, others call it psychotic. I prefer to think of obsession as a part of life. The definition of obsession which is found on The Free Dictionary is the domination of one’s thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, desire, etc. Obsession can be determined by people around us. Passion is a positive obsession. Obsession is a negative passion. Obsession and addiction are so closely tied together. They both are almost exactly the same except for one factor; control. Being obsessed over something simply means that they are still in control of their habit; on the other hand, addiction is the state being enslaved to a habit or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming. So it is seen that although they are very closely linked they are not the same. Obsession is the gate way to addiction. Personally, I have been accused of being obsessed over lacrosse. All I could think about of every day is something about lacrosse. My mind was wrapped around lacrosse like a candy wrapper on a piece of candy. Every time I had free time, I went outside and played lacrosse. At the time I did not believe I was obsessed over the issue, I simply thought of it as dedication. My parents confronted my issue to me, and right then and there is when I realized that I truly had an obsession. Obsession becomes a beast all in itself. Obsession can cloud someone’s judgment and can potentially lead a person off the track of their own goal. When someone is obsessed over something, then the only important thing in their life is the obsession. If one does not fulfill this need, then different effects may happen. Either one will perceive to their obsession, or they will realize that they have an obsession and stop in what they are doing. Power is something else we do not understand about obsession. Obsession takes root so easily and can quickly spread to become something more. Therefore it is not something to play around with because when it is excited, it will grow and grow until it has reached the top. At that point, obsession can only bring out the worst in a person. Obsession is a feeling and not an emotion. An emotion is a natural instinctive state of mind deriving from one’s circumstances, mood, or relationships with others. A feeling is just expressing an emotion. Obsession can be shown through jealousy, love etc. Emotions are on the inside, while feelings are shown to other people on the outside. Obsession is not born by itself; it is born from the person’s mind. Obsession is born from that person’s wants and needs. Anybody can have an obsession, and actually it is only a matter of time when someone will have an obsession. Humans are lustful creatures and we all have needs and wants and therefore we all have obsession. Obsession does not necessarily mean it is a bad thing. A person can be obsessed with something good like school. One could be obsessed over school and everyone else would classify that person as a nerd. Also, one could be obsessed over God, and others would classify that person as a Jesus freak. In the end, people do not classify nerds or Jesus freaks as having an obsession or addiction. They are viewed as having a passion for school or Jesus. A passion is a very strong feeling about a person or thing. Passion and obsession is pretty much the exact same thing. They both have the same context meaning. The only difference is that passion is a good obsession, and obsession is a bad passion. All in all, the term obsession is used as being negative. Obsession is the domination of thoughts by ideas or images. The state of being obsessed over something can fog up someone’s true thoughts of how they feel. When I was in love with lacrosse, my parents told me that I was obsessed with lacrosse and that I needed to realize what was happening. However, now that I look back on it, I believe that I had a passion for the sport. Passion is a positive obsession. Obsession is a negative passion.

Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Research Paper - Essay Example Step 2: Sharing My Knowledge In order to get some information, I visited the website of walmartstore.com. In this website, a sufficient amount of information is available regarding health and wellness, careers and so on. I decided to know a finance opening at Wal-Mart. In this website’s career portal, Wal-Mart has comprehensive plan for young and new workforce. Step 3: Devising Research Questions I have insufficient information about Wal-Mart. To get further information, I have formulated following questions: When Wal-Mart came into existence? What is the current financial strength of Wal-Mart? What is the customer base of Wal-Mart? After devising the research questions, it is important to find some resources to get the answers of these questions. It is important to have reliable source to answer these questions. Step 4: Finding Sources First and most reliable source is the official website of Wal-Mart. The main page of the website has different links. These links connect to d ifferent templates. A sufficient amount of information is available on these provided links. Particularly, the link for â€Å"About Us† gives information regarding the purpose of Wal-Mart and a brief history note is also mentioned. Step 5: Answering Research Questions Following are the answers which I found. ... What is the current financial strength of Wal-Mart? Wal-Mart is a financially stable and sound company. In the year of 2010, the company posted the sales figure of $405 billion (â€Å"About Us†). The Fortune Magazine ranked Wal-Mart as first among retailers in the year of 2010. The rank given by the Fortune Magazine gives me the idea of the company is financially strong and sound. This is encouraging factor for me to become an employee of Wal-Mart. What is the customer base of Wal-Mart? Weekly, more than 200 million times these customers are served at the stores of Wal-Mart. Also, a huge chain of 8,838 retail units is always ready to serve the customers. And to serve the customers, Wal-Mart has employed 2.1 million associates worldwide (â€Å"About Us†). I think Wal-Mart serve more than any other company in the world. And this is mainly the company’s service quality that attracts so many customers. Step 6: Presenting the Research Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. In the year of 1962, Wal-Mart came into existence (â€Å"About Us†). It launched its business operations by opening the first Wal-Mart discount store in Rogers, Ark. And in the year of 1969, Wal-Mart was incorporated as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Wal-Mart opened its first Sam’s Club membership warehouse in 1988. With the continued business success and business growth, Wal-Mart became an international entity in 1991 when it launched and opened its very first Sam’s Club near Mexico City. Wal-Mart is a financially stable and sound company. In the year of 2010, the company posted the sales figure of $405 billion (â€Å"About Us†). Additionally, Wal-Mart has a huge figure of customers, associates and members. Weekly, more than 200 million times these

Bowman's Strategy Clock and Other Business Strategies Assignment

Bowman's Strategy Clock and Other Business Strategies - Assignment Example Bowman’s strategy clock is an extension of the three porter generic strategies. Owing to the decrease in the profit margin, pharmaceutical companies have adopted innovative marketing strategies in a bid to sustain and neutralize the impact of price regulation such as exploring new markets, establishing the effectiveness in distribution and building customer loyalty. Some of the challenges in the global pharmaceutical industry that the managers are facing include increased globalization, increase in competition, lack of new products despite the improved research and quick development of generic markets among others.The application of Bowman’s strategy clock in the establishment of competitive advantage among the global pharmaceutical companies will result in value improvement and product promotion with minimal reliance on drug pricing. This is because the industry is bound by legal and medical restrictions that make application of marketing strategies difficult. The stra tegy is normally focused on value, product promotion, and differentiation. Most pharmaceutical companies improve the value for their products while maintaining product standards or increasing prices for drugs. The industry ensures value for pharmaceutical products through conducting pharmaco-economic evaluations meant to show the efficacy and effectiveness of a new drug. For instance, a study on the cost of diabetes confirmed that fewer patients applied for pharmaceutical medicine in managing it (Holland, 2005: 552). This provided an opportunity for pharmaceutical companies to invest in disease management initiatives that created awareness among the population on the existence and effectiveness of their products.

Developing a small business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Developing a small business - Essay Example However, Fair fast food forever gives the customers the imagery that it is a impersonator, always reproduction the food recipe also from coffee bar de carol; further additional, it suffered food quality manage and monetary unsteadiness. Upon the aspects of outside surroundings analysis, the Fair fast food has optimistic condition similar to increasing "Not cooking" youthful couples, economic slump period, food preference of younger and young people, its' ascendant position in Kowloon, and Hong Kong is an good-looking traveling metropolis will make additional opportunities for Fair fast food to expand. However, some outside impediments as usual disaster and keen opposition in catering manufacturing will ominously cumber its growth. If we analyzed then we come to know that the part of informative from meeting and analysis can with no trouble get that the Fair fast food eating place has been productively developing from one opening to 11 outlets nowadays due to their organization attitude that always follows the essential rules similar to mechanization, fast, and Utilization of good resources; further additional, its organization Concent... Introduction Small Business, in the UK business that is separately owned and operated, is not leading in its field of operation and can meet the criteria under criteria about figure of employees, average yearly receipts or other decisive factor as outlined by the UK Small Business Management (www.motorola.com). According to the expert analysis running a one-person business is a original, flexible and demanding way to turn out to be your own superior and chart your own prospect. It is about creating a life, as it is concerning creation a living. It takes bravery, determination and forethought to decide to turn out to be an entrepreneur. From the comparatively secure cocoon of the business world, where paychecks reach your destination frequently, you will be venturing into the unchartered country of business. This account covers the inside that analysis of the Fair fast food eating place is how to productively operate and stay alive in the competitive market as a small business starter. Company Profile This research focused on this truth that the primary Fair fast food eating place was recognized in December 1991 in Chung on Street, Tsuen Wan, registered capital of the occasion was HK$5 millions and the whole amount of the employees was 57. The second eating place was opened five years afterward in 1996 in Fuk Wing Street, Sham Shui Po, the total quantity of the staff at that time has been greater than before to 86. Fair prolonged rapidly since then mounting from 5 restaurants to a sum of 11 in 1998, portion over 10,000 clientele daily. Fair fast food eating place is principally busy in service a chain of fast food restaurants in Hong Kong and the People's Republic of China beneath the

The advantages and disadvantages of Tilling as a technique in plant Essay

The advantages and disadvantages of Tilling as a technique in plant breeding - Essay Example It is a technology that used in molecular biology to directly identify mutations in genes. These technologies have their advantages that make them suitable for adoption and use by human life as well as disadvantages that make them a hazard to human life. This paper, therefore, seeks to establish the advantages and disadvantages of TILLING in plant breeding. TILLING is a molecular biology procedure that uses chemicals and x-rays to bring about undirected point mutations in a plant genome. This is usually the first step in the process. The second step involves an analysis of DNA which aids in the selection of plants that have a mutation that contains the desired gene (Schmidt et al 2011). The method combines a standard and an equally effective technique of mutagenesis with the use of a chemical mutagen such as Ethyl methanesulphonate (EMS) that contains a sensitive DNA screening method to which identifies point mutations in a target gene. This process of plant breeding may include mutation effects that may include gene deactivation and sub sequent reverse crossing with other varieties. This results with a plant that has the desirable mutation such as an amylase free potato. Some biotechnology critics such as Greenpeace have done ‘acceptance’ tests on TILLING method and have cited a large difference in genetic engineering. Some of the advantages of this biological process are; This means that the process can be applied on virtually every organism. This is because it entails modifying the molecular unit of heredity in a living organism. Therefore, plants can grow with a certain desired characteristic. This can be used to fight hunger by increasing food production. Another great advantage of TILLING in plant breeding is that the method its adaptability to high throughput genotyping. This is because it allows choosing appropriate technology for the intended goals and stage of an experiment. The method allows for the independence of the

Emerging Technology Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Emerging Technology - Assignment Example If implemented, the use of brain computer would contribute positively to both business and the society. For instance, by intercepting the computer memory to the human brain would be a recommendable effort in treating patients suffering from mental related illness such as stress or shock. Moreover, such implementation to the brain can also be used by those who suffer from memory loss in sustaining information such as an eyewitness account in a court of law thus leading to a safer society (Afeyan Para 40). If the use of brain computer interfaces can be performed in a real scenario, then it would have the benefits of correcting medical disorder such as trauma that does not have a specific cure. Besides, it would help in sustaining significant amount of memory beyond the normal brain capacity hence considered important in different professional sectors. However, it is not very easy for people to accept the integration of system into the human body and as usual, this would be a challenge. Secondly, it is very expensive to implement such systems because it would call for both technical and medical personnel to integrate physical systems to accommodate biological transmission (Afeyan Para

PromptDescribe your intellectual interests, their evolution, and what Essay

PromptDescribe your intellectual interests, their evolution, and what makes them exciting to you. Tell us how you will utilize the academic programs in the Col - Essay Example The phones, watches and stereos were all under my mercy. I could not get over my mesmerizing into the intricate connection of this device to that and the overall effect. Needless to say the string that followed such activity was endless circling around what is this, how and why. This was my favorite hobby. I suppose this kind of behavior is normal for kids and especially those that are destined to make great discoveries in future. It all starts with a question like why is the sky blue Of course our reaction to the response varies thereby demarcating each child's individuality and uniqueness. In my case the answer to this question was a start to what have become a resilient pursuit of greater knowledge and more answers to natural phenomenon. High school was an eye opener for me after the exposure to the topics on atoms and molecules. It is fascinating to know that here are millions of invisible elements in the atmosphere that cause such real effects in the daily life. (Schmelcher & Schweizer, 15) Physics and astronomy intrigued me and I kept myself enlightened with books such as black holes and time wraps by Kip S. Thome. My relentless questions soon became equally sophisticated to why dark matter exists. There was no turn around for me at this point.

Concepts that define financing health care including risk, demand, and Essay

Concepts that define financing health care including risk, demand, and elasticity - Essay Example The whole mechanism in the health sector is a cost share sort of scheme. The consumers who are the patients in this case give the lowest contribution in most government based health centers universally. Conversely, there are a number of risks observed by the health centers and also the patients. One possible financial risk suffered by medical institution is the likelihood of drugs lacking consumption and they end up expiring while on storage if they appear to be expensive to the patients. On the other hand, the patients risk death if they fail to purchase certain drugs or fail to receive certain treatments due to their financial hiccups. An impact of financial risk is severe to the consumers or rather patients in the health sector. Another factor that defines how to finance the health care sector is the demand of the treatments and also the drugs. Demand of services and goods like any other sector of an economy is affected by both the price and quantity of the goods or services among other factors. While financing the health sector, the main factor affecting demand is the necessity of the drug or treatment by the patients followed by the price. This trend in the health sector is less likely to be observed in other markets. Patients will demand for a particular drug or treatment depending on whether it is necessary or not and in most cases the chronic diseases bring the highest demand in their treatment and purchase of their drugs. For instance, diseases like asthma or cancer tend to show high demand for their treatment. Elasticity of a product or a service portrays the responsiveness of either of the two in relation to changes in their prices. In most cases the elasticity is usually negative or less than whereby minimal change in price greatly affects the quantity of product or availability of the service in demand. Free checkups by

The Front Desk Essay Example for Free

The Front Desk Essay The front office department is the most visible department in a hotel. The focal point of activity within the front office is the reception desk. The reception desk is usually the place at which the guests form their first impressions of the hotel. It is also the communication center for the hotel’s operation (Baker, S, Huyton, J and Bradley, P, 2000, p. 22). The reception/ front desk: The reception desk may comprise: Cashiering; mail and information; registration; and room assignment. The reception desk is located in the busiest area of the hotel’s lobby. The main financial tasks which are handled by front office staff include: receiving cash payments, handling guest folios, verifying cheques, and handling foreign currency and credit cards (Baker, S, Huyton, J and Bradley, P, 2000, p. 22). The front desk is controlled by the front desk manager. It is the duty of the manager to make sure that a hotel achieves the maximum revenue and the highest level of room occupancy possible. It is also the responsibility of the front desk manager to monitor and motivate the staff as well as to maintain a high profile with the guests. This helps to ensure that a quality service is being given by the front office departments in particular and the hotel in general (Baker, S, Huyton, J and Bradley, P, 2000, p. 52). The specific responsibility of the reception supervisor is to guarantee the smooth running of the front desk. Apart from this overall duty, they would organize duty rotas, and handles complaints or difficult customers which a receptionist may not be able to deal with. The notification and greeting of important guests would also be the duty of the front desk supervisor (Baker, S, Huyton, J and Bradley, P, 2000, p. 52). The senior receptionists are in charge of each shift of staff. The senior receptionists are in charge of each shift of staff. The senior receptionist will take responsibility of assigning rooms to guests, dealing with group arrivals and handling guests’ immediate problems or queries (Baker, S, Huyton, J and Bradley, P, 2000, p. 52). During a hotel stay, guests may require certain services from, and engage in various transactions with a hotel. These are mostly handled by the front office. It is important to note that each section of the front office has an area of task responsibility (Baker, S, Huyton, J and Bradley, P, 2000, p. 0). The main roles of receptionists (or front desk agents) are involved in taking enquiries and reservation requests from hotel guests; preparing for the arrival of guests; greeting guests on their arrival; checking guests in (registering them, allocating suitable rooms and checking methods of payment); selling the facilities and services of the hotel; responding to guest problems and queries, or referring them to other departments that can do so; providing information about guests to other front office units and departments of the hotel; and maintaining guest records. He customarily answers phone inquiries, greets guests as they arrive to check in, and assigns rooms. When guests depart, the agent is typically the person who settles their accounts before they leave (BPP learning media, 2010). In addition to handling arrivals and departures, the agent is customarily in charge of general front desk guest relations. He traditionally controls the guest room keys and keeps track of how many keys have been released for each customer. Handling and distributing guest mail and messages are customarily the responsibility of the front desk agent (BPP learning media, 2010). Front desk supervisors typically serve as the face of a hotel. They provide customers with a first and last impression as both greeters of new guests and well-wishers to departing ones. Front Desk Supervisor These hotel employees oversee that guests are welcomed, registered into a hotels computer system and assigned an appropriate room or suite. They also perform or delegate various tasks, such as making or confirming reservations, verifying and collecting guests payments, issuing room keys and contacting housekeeping or maintenance when guests report a problem. Front desk supervisors must be resourceful, take ownership of problems and issues that arise and have excellent problem-solving skills. In addition to managing the daily operations of the front desk, these supervisors provide hotel clerks with necessary training and support. They maintain all essential front desk equipment and supplies, as well as controlling guests access to safe deposit boxes. Other responsibilities might include tracking and posting appropriate food, liquor or telephone charges to guests accounts; completing bookkeeping duties, like balancing accounts and conducting nightly financial audits; and recording and referring patron comments and complaints to the appropriate hotel manager. Hotel front desk supervisors must be friendly and outgoing and possess excellent communication skills. Perhaps the most important guest service function that can be provided by a front desk agent is that of properly registering guests. This is a five-step process of registration of a hotel guest which is stated by (Hayes, D. K. and Ninemeier, J. D. , 2007) consists of: 1. Greeting the guest: When the guest arrives at the front desk, a professionally dressed, well-trained staff member should greet them in a friendly way. Because most hotel guests arrive in the evening and check-in time can be very busy, it may not always be possible to avoid guests having to wait in line for registration. Proper staffing, however, should minimize the wait. When it is their turn to be registered, guests should, above all else, be made to feel welcome! 2.  Confirming the information on the registration card. This includes the spelling of the guests name, their arrival date, departure date, and room rate, and any other information related to that specific guest. Since the registration card will serve as the record of the guests stay, it must be complete and precise. In addition, misunderstandings regarding room rate can be minimized if the room rate is clearly communicated and understood by both the hotel and the guest prior to room assignment. It is critical that all information on the registration card be accurate and complete. 3. Securing a form of payment.  In most hotels, guests must either pay for their room in advance or provide a valid alternative source of credit at registration. While many hotels accept checks, the most prevalent source of credit provided by guests is that of a credit or debit card. These cards must be legitimate, however, before they represent an acceptable form of payment. To establish the cards legitimacy, the desk agent should authorize the card at the time of guest registration. 4. Room assignment. Once a guests registration information has been confirmed and an acceptable form of payment has been offered, the guest should be assigned to a specific guest oom. In some hotels, all guest rooms are identical, and room assignment is of little consequence. In other hotels, the room types may vary greatly in perceived quality and/or rate based primarily on the rooms location, view, bed type, amenities 5. Issuance of keys. The final step in the registration process is the issuance of their room keys. The actual number of keys to be issued is a matter of hotel policy and guest preference. It is important, however, that the issuance of guest room keys be tightly controlled because the theft, loss, or unauthorized duplication of keys could seriously threaten guest safety. Upon receiving room keys, the guest would be taken or directed to their room. ?A reservation in the context of the front office of a hotel means the booking or reserving of a bedroom (accommodation) by a guest, and involves a particular type of guest room being reserved for a particular person or persons, for a certain period of time. When a reservation or room booking is made at a hotel, it is expected that the hotel will honor its commitment in accepting that reservation and guarantee that a room will be available when a guest arrives (Baker, S, Huyton, J and Bradley, P, 2000, p. 63). A contract of booking is an agreement which is entered into every time a reservations clerk offers a prospective guest a room and that guest accepts the room however, the guest must be informed of all relevant details relating to the booking, for example, the type of room, the cost, dates, VAT and service charges involved (Baker, S, Huyton, J and Bradley, P, 2000, p. 63. This contract of booking means that: * The hotel ensures there will be a room as a specified, available for the guest upon their arrival. * The guest will arrive to use the room which they have booked, on the specified day. The reservation process is of vital importance to a hotel because it gives the first impression of the hotel to guests, sells the main product of a hotel, i. e. accommodations, generates customers for other departments, and provides important management information to other departments. The reservation process is often the first contact between the guest and a hotel. It is, therefore, essential for the reservations clerk to provide prompt and accurate service in order to present a good first impression to the guest. In the hotel industry, strong competition exists for the selling of accommodation; a guest who experiences problems or slow service from the reservations section will think carefully before confirming a reservation or returning to that hotel. An efficient reservations system is, therefore, very important (Baker, S, Huyton, J and Bradley, P, 2000, p. 64). The reservations department sells accommodation and helps to generate income for other departments of a hotel, for example, the food and beverage department. Hotel rooms are a saleable commodity and are strictly limited by factor of time and quantity. Therefore, if a room is not sold on a particular night, the revenue from that room is lost forever. Reservations contribute to the three main objectives of a front office department, i. e. , to maximize rooms, beds and average room rate, thereby achieving the highest possible revenue and profitability for the hotel. In additions, other departments often benefit from the reservations department. Such details may include an accurate estimate of the number of guests staying in the hotel (Baker, S, Huyton, J and Bradley, P, 2000, p. 64). Front Desk and Guest Privacy  Once a guest has been registered for a room, the courts have ruled that these guests enjoy many of the same constitutional rights in the room as they would in their own home. It is not simply the legal thing to do, but it is the proper thing as well, to protect the rights of guests to privacy (Hayes, D. K. and Ninemeier, J. D. , 2007).? A professionally managed front office is one in which guests are confident that their privacy is maintained by all staff members. This includes maintaining a guests anonymity. Hayes, D. K. and Ninemeier, J.  D (2007) states that in order to maintain a guest’s anonymity, a front Desk agent should: Never confirm or deny that a guest is in fact registered in the hotel without the guests express permission Never give out information related to a guests stay (arrival, departure, rate, etc. ) to any third party without that guests express permission Always be vigilant in informing the guest of any unusual third-party information requests regarding their stay Just as guests expect their own privacy to be maintained, they should also feel confident that information regarding their actual room is kept confidential. This is both a safety and a privacy issue. To that end, front desk agents should: Never give out a guests room number to any third party without that guests express permission Never perform registration tasks in such a way as to allow guest room information to he overheard by others in the front office area Never issue a duplicate room key to anyone without confirming the positive identification of that person as the rooms properly registered guest Concerning the financial aspect of the hotel, accounting for guests, while less visible than providing guest services, is another critical responsibility of the front office. Accounting for guests simply means that all charges incurred by a guests use of the hotel are charged for properly. Depending on the services and amenities offered by the hotel, the source of guest charges can be numerous. The following product and services list is not inclusive, but does represent some of the many possible guest charges that must be accurately collected and posted to the guests folio. Bucket Check: A procedure used to verify, for each guest, the accuracy of that guest’s registration information. When performing the bucket check, the desk agent physically verifies that the information on the guests registration card is complete and matches that in the PMS (Hayes, D. K. and Ninemeier, J. D. , 2007). When an appropriate bucket check is performed at each shift, the number of errors related to billing guests folios is greatly reduced. Errors in recording the information related to a guests stay make the hotels accounting records inaccurate. In addition, room rate adjustments made at checkout are both annoying and time consuming to guests. The bucket is the industry term for the location of the actual registration cards signed by guests at check-in. The bucket check is simply a manual procedure for assuring the accuracy of information related to the guests actual room assignment, rate to be paid, departure date, form of payment, and any other accounting-related information (Hayes, D. K. and Ninemeier, J. D. , 2007). The front desk should be able to produce independent supporting documentation for each charge posted to a guests folio. The front desk agent responsible for checking the guest out may need to produce some documentation of the charge. In this case, the documentation would likely be the actual room service ticket signed by the guest when the wine was delivered. It is the responsibility of each shift of the front desk to ensure that all appropriate guest charges incurred are posted to the appropriate guests folio and that the documentation supporting such charges has been thoroughly reviewed prior to posting. The night auditor depends on appropriate documentation provided by each shift of the front desk to support the charges that will be finalized and posted to the guests folio during the night audit (Hayes, D. K. and Ninemeier, J. D. , 2007). One of the most challenging aspects of providing guest service at the front desk relates to ensuring that guests are satisfied during their stay. When guests experience difficulties in the hotel, they will most likely turn to the front desk and its staff for assistance. There are a variety of reasons guest may have special needs or experience dissatisfaction during their stay. During their stay, and at time of checkout, guests are likely to bring up any issues they find that detracted from their experience. Routine items such as requesting room repairs, additional room amenities, or information can, if handled professionally, actually enhance the guests experience (Chon, K. S. and Maier, T. A. 2008). The making of guest reservations is often the first thing that comes to mind when considering the major functions of a front office, and this is indeed an important and often complex aspect of the front offices role. In addition to reservations, however, it falls upon the front office to actually assign arriving guests to specific guest rooms and respond to their special needs during their stay. These needs can include anything from transportation and information to medical assistance. In all of these situations and more, the major role of the front office is to make the guests stay as comfortable and as welcoming as possible.

Attitudes Towards Accents: The Scouse Accent

Attitudes Towards Accents: The Scouse Accent Introduction An accent is an oral expression, a precise pronunciation within a particular language. Accents can often be confused with dialects which are varieties of language that differ in vocabulary and syntax. Commonly, people do not believe that they themselves possess one, however it is impossible for anybody to speak without using an accent. Accent variation is an important part of sociolinguistics because people often attach significance to different accents. This study concerns attitudes towards accent variation; the accent at the centre of this study is the non-standard accent of English, Liverpool English, commonly referred to as Scouse. Liverpool English is one of the most recognisable accents in the country, and arguably, the world. The Scouse accent is infamous for its harsh, nasal tones and despite some similarities; it is distinctly different to the accents of the surrounding areas. A famous linguist, Fritz Spiel, once described the accent as ‘one-third Irish, one-third welsh, and one-third catarrh The accent is widely known for its negative stereotypes and the reason for this study is to investigate the hypothesis that Students at the University of Wales, Bangor have a positive attitude towards the Liverpool accent. Accent variation is often most noticeable within the vowels used in pronunciation, however with the scouse accent, both the vowels and the continents are affected by the accent. The accent of an individual can often reveal information such as where they come from. However accents can also invite stereotypical judgements of social class, wealth and levels of education. The Liverpodlian accent has been heavily influenced by the Irish accent, for example Liverpudlians tend to pronounce the letter ‘H and ‘Haitch. The huge success of The Beatles in the 1960s, a band who were all originally from Liverpool, helped to publicise the city of Liverpool in a positive way and encouraging the accent to be perceived as friendly. And a more recent positive change saw Liverpool become Britains favourite location for call centres (Ward, 2000). Despite these positive changes, which succeeded in generating a more positive public image for the city, a significant stigmatic view of the accent still appears to remain in modern society and this study will outline whether these stereotypical viewpoints are held by the students of the University of Wales, Bangor. Theoretical background In 1975 a study was conducted by Giles and Powesland using a method called the matched-guise technique. This technique involved playing a recording of a speaker imitating different accents and then asking participants to rate the speaker on different categories such as attractiveness or social status. The study found that standard accents such as RP were more likely to be associated with a person who is a prestigious and articulate speaker. However, accents associated with urban areas were considered unattractive and thought to be spoken by low-status speakers. Rural accents were regarded as being aesthetically pleasing but inferior to RP in terms of social status. This particular study was repeated by an undergraduate student Sarah Wood (Stockwell 2002) who replicated the study but made some adjustments such as only using native speakers of the accents in her recordings and used all female students in their 20s in order to control gender and age to improve the analysis. Her study c oncluded that southern accents attracted the highest ratings in most categories and the northern accents came out worst, with the urban accents being the most stigmatized. These studies highlight the stigma attached to particular accents and may be an important factor in the attitudes of the students of Bangor, towards the Liverpudlian accent. The Liverpool English accent has been regarded in society as being ill educated and low prestige. This stereotypical view could well be influenced by the medias representation of Liverpudlians, who are often portrayed in a negative or criminal way. In 2004, the BBC conducted an online poll to determine attitudes towards the accents and languages in the British Isles. The poll, of which there were 5000 participants, concluded that Asian, Liverpool and Birmingham accents were â€Å"unpleasant to listen to and lacking in social status† (BBC, 2004). In addition to this, participants were asked to rank celebrities by how pleasant their accents are. The Liverpudlian accents of celebrities Cilla Black and Paul o Grady were received negatively by participants. Another survey of 1000 participants, conducted by Bury Technologies, also concluded that the accent is unpopular, as Liverpool came out at the bottom of the poll of British accents. One third of Liverpudlians who took part in t he nationwide survey admitted to changing or calming down their accent whilst being interviewed for a job in order to benefit their career. Methodology To collect the relevant data, an online survey was conducted, in which participants were asked two questions. In the first question, participants were asked to state which words came to their minds when thinking of the Liverpudlian accent. Secondly participants were asked whether they thought there should be an increase in the amount of Liverpudlian accents within the media, and their reasons for this. The Questionnaire was sent to Students at Bangor University only to complete. A recording of a Liverpudlian speaker was obtained for the study. The person in question was asked to talk for a short period of time about any subject in order for us to provide the participants with a firm understanding of the accent in question. The Individual being recorded held many of the typical scouse accent traits. To ensure that the data was easily comparable, a multiple choice questionnaire was produced for the study. The questionnaire consisted of ten questions concerning personal characteristics and social status, such as ‘polite or impolite of which the students had to tick the statement that they were in most agreement with. The Participants, all students from Bangor University, were each played the recording and asked to complete a multiple choice questionnaire designed to obtain the students personal opinions and expectations of this person based entirely upon their Liverpudlian accent. Results Of the ten respondents to the online survey, the most commonly used words used to describe Liverpudlians were negative words such as ‘chav, ‘criminal ‘thief. However positive words such as ‘friendly were also used more than once. In response to an increase in Liverpudlian speakers in the media, the majority of the participants were in favour of the increase, either due to their being a lack of them in the media currently or because they particularly enjoy the sound of the accent. Two of the respondents remained neutral; however one stated that despite being neutral they find the accent to be ‘one of the ugliest in the country. The final 3 respondents were against the idea, all claiming that the accent was difficult to understand. The recording of the accent received a great deal of negative responses such as ‘generally unpleasant sounding, ‘common, ‘irritating, loud and ‘rough, harsh sounding. On the contrary some participants responded positively, describing the accent as ‘friendly and ‘a nice sound The answers to the questionnaire support the common stereotype of ‘scousers, with the majority of respondents assuming that the Liverpudlian would be untrustworthy, impolite, unfriendly, not wealthy, not educated past GCSE level, not in full-time employment and not have a high IQ level. On the slightly more positive side the majority of respondents assumed the Liverpudlian would not have criminal record, be average looking, and passive. Discussion The study was limited to one particular social community. Only students at the University of Wales, Bangor were asked to participate and therefore the results are not statistically significant. The study only involved 30 participants and is not reflective of a large enough scale for the data to be considered representative on behalf of all of the students at the University. A substantial flaw in the methodology of this survey is that the person on the recording was not reading from a particular script or text. His chosen dialogue may have influenced the opinions of the participants and their results may not have been an accurate reflection of their view of the accent itself, but rather of this particular personality. A more beneficial approach to the study would have been to have the speaker to read a text that was specifically written to contain accent variants of the Liverpudlian accent as this would have provided an accurate representation of the accent being discussed. Within the recording the speaker expresses certain opinions and makes personal comments, this kind of speech could have easily affected the opinion of the students, particularly regarding questions of politeness and friendliness. The individual also made a comment when discussing his accent that ‘no UK residents tend to like it. This information could have influenced a previously unbiased participant who took part in the survey as it shows the accent in a negative light and implies that having a dislike towards the accent is a common response. To have had the speaker read from a given text would have neutralised any alteration in his speech that may have occurred due to the subject or unscripted nature of the recording. Also the study may have benefitted from having a speaker with a broader accent, as although it was clearly a Liverpool accent; it wasnt particularly strong which could be misleading by not presenting the students with a typical, strong Liverpudlian accent. The background of the students could have influenced their level of loyalty towards Liverpool and the accent. The students chosen for the survey should have been restricted to those without a particular devotion towards to city, such as it being their hometown or birthplace. Having impartial participants would have resulted in a more accurate and honest representation of the students point of view as oppose to the student giving a positive view based on blind faithfulness rather than the accent. Conclusion This questionnaire assessed the students levels of expectations regarding the personality and social attributes of a person with a Liverpudlian accent. The following graph interprets the gathered data in terms of the students expectations of the speaker after hearing the recording. An overall view of the data suggests that the students involved in the study, on average had negative opinions regarding an individual with a scouse accent, particularly in terms of honesty and social class. This study was performed using only a small sample of students from one university, which is not a good basis for investigating this hypothesis. The study would have to be repeated and carried out on a much bigger scale for the information to be representative of all the students at the University of Wales, Bangor.

The role of Women in Julius Ceasar Essay -- Essays Papers

The role of Women in Julius Ceasar In the play â€Å"Julius Caesar† by William Shakespeare, women play an important role. The women are important factors in foreshadowing and in the development of many of the characters. To look at the role of women in the play we must look deeper in to the roles of the only two women in the play; Calpurnia, wife of Caesar, and Portia, wife of Brutus. Both of these women are key in foreshadowing the murder of Caesar. After Caesar’s murder we do not hear much of either of them. The main thing Caesar’s wife, Calpurnia does in the play is tell Caesar to stay at home on the day of his murder because of many unnatural events that have taken place the night before and because she has had nightmares about his assassination. On the morning of the ides of march is the first time we meet Calpurnia, her entrance is act 2 scene one when she tells Caesar â€Å"You shall not stir out of your house today.† Caesar decides he shall â€Å"forth† until Calpurnia tells him why he shouldn’t go to the capitol today. Some of the reasons she included were:  · A lioness â€Å"whelped† in the streets.  · Graves opened and showed their dead people.  · Warriors of fire fought on the clouds and drizzled blood upon the capitol.  · Horses neighed and dead men groaned.  · Ghosts shrieked in the streets. She than showed her discomfort with these things by saying †O Caesar, these things are beyond all use, / and I do fear them.† Caesar says these are just as... The role of Women in Julius Ceasar Essay -- Essays Papers The role of Women in Julius Ceasar In the play â€Å"Julius Caesar† by William Shakespeare, women play an important role. The women are important factors in foreshadowing and in the development of many of the characters. To look at the role of women in the play we must look deeper in to the roles of the only two women in the play; Calpurnia, wife of Caesar, and Portia, wife of Brutus. Both of these women are key in foreshadowing the murder of Caesar. After Caesar’s murder we do not hear much of either of them. The main thing Caesar’s wife, Calpurnia does in the play is tell Caesar to stay at home on the day of his murder because of many unnatural events that have taken place the night before and because she has had nightmares about his assassination. On the morning of the ides of march is the first time we meet Calpurnia, her entrance is act 2 scene one when she tells Caesar â€Å"You shall not stir out of your house today.† Caesar decides he shall â€Å"forth† until Calpurnia tells him why he shouldn’t go to the capitol today. Some of the reasons she included were:  · A lioness â€Å"whelped† in the streets.  · Graves opened and showed their dead people.  · Warriors of fire fought on the clouds and drizzled blood upon the capitol.  · Horses neighed and dead men groaned.  · Ghosts shrieked in the streets. She than showed her discomfort with these things by saying †O Caesar, these things are beyond all use, / and I do fear them.† Caesar says these are just as...

An Investigation into Factors Affecting Resistance of a Wire :: Papers

An Investigation into Factors Affecting Resistance of a Wire Plan: The possible variables I could use to find out factors affecting resistance are material wire is made of, length of wire, temperature and cross sectional area of wire. I will use cross sectional area of wire and length of wire because I think it will be hard to draw conclusions from the material of wire. I am not doing temperature because it would be hard to get results from and I think they wouldn't be as accurate. I will set up a circuit to find out how length and cross sectional area affect resistance. I will need the following components in my circuit to gather all of the necessary results: Â · Component holder- So I can change the wire that I am testing. Â · Voltmeter- Measuring potential difference across the wire, it will have to be across the wire and not just anywhere in the circuit so it is measuring the P.D across the wire I am testing only. Â · Ammeter - measuring current of the circuit, with his and the voltmeter I will be able to work put resistance (R=V/I). As a safety consideration I will keep the Current under 0.5 amps, so the wire doesn't get too hot. Â · Rheostat- So I can vary the voltage in the circuit to take two readings for each wire at different voltages, I will work out an average of the two to reduce the margin of error. Â · Switch- A safety consideration, so the wire doesn't overheat and burn if the circuit is left on for too long. I have decided to test length of wire at, 10cm, 30cm, 50cm, 70cm, 90cm, 110cm, 130cm, 150cm and 170cm keeping a constant cross sectional area of 0.028mm2. I will test cross sectional area at the Cross sectional areas of wire: 0.028 mm2, 0.045 mm2, 0.057 mm2, 0.113 mm2, 0.166 mm2 and 0.246 mm2, keeping a constant length of 50cm. My preliminary work reviled that these were the best constants, and

Antony a better Leader than Caesar in Shakespeares Antony and Cleopatr

Antony a better Leader than Caesar in Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra: In Shakespeare?s play 'Antony and Cleopatra' Caesar, while he displays remarkable tactical skills, is calculating and cold hearted. Antony on the other hand embodies many admirable qualities and emotions which make him the greater of the two. Firstly I will look at Caesar?s military victories before examining Antony?s great human qualities. Looking at Caesar, he is highly successful in his military battles due to his great organisation skills and strategic planning. Caesar values organisation since he receives hourly reports on how matters are abroad (Act I Scene 4 lines 34-36) and keeps detailed accounts of his battles. His logical thought also makes him so successful: ?Strike not by land, keep whole, provoke not battle, Till we have done at sea? (Act III Scene 8 lines 3-4) This strategic plan allows Caesar to defeat Antony. Duty is of unmatched importance to Caesar. Caesar condemns Antony for seeking pleasure before duty and he says of himself: ?Doubt not, sir, I knew it for my bond? (Act I Scene 4 lines 84-85) So the basis of Caesar?s abundant military victories, also against Antony, are his logical tactics and his sense of duty. However, Caesar is so determined to succeed and so power hungry that he is willing to hurt and manipulate other people in order to be successful. Caesar is calculating in that he uses Lepidus to defeat Pompey yet then sees to it that Lepdius is deposed as a triumvir so that he can gain more power. Another example of Caesar?s deviousness is: ? Plant those that have revolted in the van, That Antony may seem to spend his fury Upon himself.? (Act IV Scene 6 lines 9-11) Caesar intentionally places... ...flees the battle, he does not blame Cleopatra but takes responsibility for his own actions and is very ashamed of them: ?I have fled myself, and have instructed cowards To run and show their shoulders.? (Act III Scene 11 lines 7-8) It is in particular this characteristic which makes Antony greater than Caesar. Though it would be easy to make another person the culprit, Antony always carries the burden of the blame himself and is truly remorseful of his actions. In conclusion, Caesar?s arrogant, calculating, unemotional character is opposed to Antony?s forgiving, generous, responsible one. Though Caesar is a great military leader, his success is achieved through deliberate cold-hearted scheming and manipulation of others while Antony displays true nobility through his incomparably great human qualities. Thus, in our minds, Antony is the greater of the two.

Indian Textile Industry Essay

Indian textile industry – An overview textile industry in India is one of the hopeful divisions of Indian market. It supplies more than thirteen percent to trade production, 16. 63 percent to export revenues and four percent to the nation’s GDP. In the forth coming year, the industry is to make approximately twelve million career opportunities with a venture of US dollar six billion in the field of textile tools and structure, and garment manufacturing by the end of 2015. Union ministry of Textiles certified Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) has taken the reliability to motivate the overseas financiers to invest in Indian Textile industry by revealing it huge unknown domestic market. It has also prepared and authorized the motto of ‘reach the destination, spend, generate and trade in India. ‘ Under this perceptive, the ministry has made a decision to send some representatives to Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy and US. The purpose is to activate the overseas venture towards textile entity in India by offering several grants to international financier like low cost employees and intellectual right fortification. The government of India has also agreed to the proposals to support the textile industry by approving hundred percent Foreign Direct Investment in the market. Owing to the uprights and instantly incorporated textiles cost sequence (price chain), the Indian textile industry signifies a tough subsistence in the total value chain from raw products to finished products. The Synthetic and Rayon Textile Export Promotion Council (SRTEPC) has taken every required steps to meet the target of doubling the synthetic textile export in India to US $6. 2 billion by grabbing four percent of market share by fiscal year 2011- 2012. Taking into consideration the persistent funds in the textile industry, the Govt. of India may possibly widen the Technology Up gradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) by the end of the 11th Five Year Plan- in the financial year of 2011- 2012 in order to protract the industry. Indian textile industry is extraordinarily providing to meet the targeted production of $ 85 billion in the year of 2011, intending exports of more than $ 50 billion which was in year 2010. There is massive progress foreseen in Indian textile exports from the $ 17 billion accomplished in the year of 2005 -2006 to $ 50 billion by the year of 2009-2010. The assessment for the exports in the current fiscal year is about $ 19billion. There is significant potential in India’s exports of technical textiles and home textiles, as most European businesses desire to set up facilities near- by the emerging markets, such as China and India. So, the future of Indian textile industry is very bright, as it has open up the market for international business people.

Personal Ethics Statement Essay

My personal ethics statement includes my values and ideas important to me as an academic and in everyday life. My ethics are personal and define who I am as a person. The decisions and choices I make every day should be consistent with integrity and respect toward others. These ethics will ensure any happiness and peace as I hold these values. I believe everyone should be equal. Treating people with respect while holding myself accountable will ensure I treat people as I want to be treated. My preferred ethical len is the unrealistic role either on me or by other means that I need to pay close attention to my expectations of others. My expectations may not be the same as others. I must keep in mind that I can’t control ever situation. And that other people are capable of resolving problems. Trusting other people’s choices and decisions will help overcome this blind spot. My strength include courage in the face of obstacles. I can avoid fast decisions and at the same tim e face anything difficult. I value friendship and keep close connection with people I trust. I appreciate those who work along by my side and help to encourage me. My weakness include entitlement, hardness of heart and confusion. Believing that I am entitled to special prividges and persuade others. Hardness of heart come from expriece of people. I must practice mindfulness not to be confused. Identifying my weakness is important it allows for improvement. My value define me and my behavior or who I am. My behavior also affect others in relationships either casual or professional. The choices I make and behavior reflect me. My personal ethics determine my course of actions allowing me to see clear. Exploring and digging deep into my own emotions will allow me to my decision I make. Keeping an open and honest heart in all situations and reexamining my ethics will allow for improvement and corrections. I believe these things will help me keep focus and make better decisions and improve my life.

Dysfunctional Behaviour Essay

A dysfunctional behaviour can be defined as â€Å"an inappropriate action or response, other than an activity of daily living, in a given social milieu that is a problem for the caregiver.† Dysfunctional behaviours commonly accompany cognitive impairment and are a significant source of burden to caregivers. Dysfunctional behaviours may be the first sign of a dementing illness, even before caregivers perceive changes in the patient’s cognitive abilities. Dysfunctional Behaviour has been called many things- abnormal, atypical and currently dysfunctional- which seem to reflect society’s view of the individual. If someone is not able to function as a normal human being, the label ‘dysfunctional’ carries less stigma than the label ‘abnormal’. It states that a person is clearly not functioning correctly and is therefore not leading what would be considered a ‘normal’ life. He or she may lack the full range of emotions or feelings and may participate in only a limited range of behaviours that does not allow for a fully functioning lifestyle. Approaches of Dysfunctional Behaviour * Behavioural The behaviourist perspective is that we are born blank slates and all behaviour is learnt. Therefore any dysfunctional behaviour is learnt, by operant conditioning, classical conditioning, or social learning. This places the responsibility on us to ensure that we do not ‘teach’ dysfunctional behaviours to others. * Biological The biological approach, which is part of biopsychology, would favour the nature side of the nature-nurture debate. Biological explanations of behaviour assert that something in our biology is the fundamental cause of dysfunctional behaviour. There could be genetic cause, or a malformation of brain structures. * Cognitive The third approach to explain dysfunctional behaviour is that of cognitive psychology, which sees our behaviour as being a consequence of some internal processing of information. Much like a computer, we take in information, process it and respond in some way. If however there is a problem with the circuit boards in a computer, the response may not be what we would expect, and this is the same with humans. If something goes wrong with what information we attend to, and how we perceive and store it, then the response may not be what everyone expects and this could lead to a label of dysfunctional behaviour.

Lush Marketing Plan

Program: MSC Management MARKETING MANAGEMENT [pic] ASSESSMENT Submitted to: Programme Administrator: Carrie flitcroft Lecturer: Nichole Dunlop Submitted by: DATED: 19th APRIL 2012 Executive Summary This report is to provide a marketing plan and analysis of entering in uk market for lush cosmetic’s products over the next three years. This report explores and considers the various factors which impacts lush cosmetic’s product in term of entering the market.There are methods which can be taken with this organisation, were researched; the main focus will be to: †¢ Spread information about fresh handmade cosmetic product. †¢ Advertise existing products and introduce new products to the market. †¢ Expand market by existing and new products such as massage bars, shampoo bars, kids soaps, naked products †¢ Expand sales through online retailing websites, high street store. The main focus of this report is growth a three-year Marketing Plan of lush products wh ich will improve the sale of company in the UK market.The main elements of this report will include: †¢ Introduction about lush and clarify lush’s position †¢ Analyse the UK structure market †¢ Marketing objectives †¢ Marketing strategy †¢ Strategic implementation and control 1. lush and where is lush now? 2. 1 Lush Lush is a handmade cosmetics company headquartered in Poole, Dorset in the UK. In 1994, husband and wife Mark and Mo Constantine opened the first Lush store in Poole under the name Cosmetic House Limited. Lush adopted its current name on 10 April 1995.There are now more than 600 stores in 43 countries. Lush produces and sells a variety of handmade products, including soaps, shower gels, shampoos and hair conditioners, bath bombs, bubble bars, hand and body lotions and face masks. Lush uses fruits and vegetables, essential oils, synthetic ingredients, honey and beeswax in their products. In addition to not using animal fats in their product s, they are also against animal testing and perform tests solely with volunteers instead. As the company was in its early stages it has limited distribution.Now, Lush sells products in UK France, USA, Philippine, Australia and more than 38 countries, however its objective is expand in the future. 2. 2. The SWOT With the SWOT Analysis, the paper describes Lush’s internal and external environment which essential for its process of strategic planning. From a SWOT Analysis† a marketing strategy can be developed using corporate strengths, avoiding corporate weaknesses, benefits form the future opportunities and regards of future risks† (Bohm, 2009). Strength: |Weakness: | |All the products are fresh handmade |Low cash flow | |Lush only focus on making ethical products |Less marketing and advertising | |Reduce packing cost |Less outlet and store | |Environmental green products, close to nature. Prices are high considering the position they are | |Less or no artificia l ingredients | | |Wide range of products | | |Unique display style | |Opportunities: |Threats: | |People wish to use fruit and vegetable made skin care products |Less knowledge for use of lush products | |Using recycled material will increase interst from customers |Strong competition | |Against animal testing increase customer loylty |Lowing speed to made products | |Lush can develop further with in the uk and many more countries | | |Very few compatitors as sole ethical companies | | 2. 3. Lush position Through SWOT analysis (Appendix 1), Lush has low market share but high grow rate.Lush’ position can be seen in Boston Consulting Group Matrix (Figure 1). Figure 1: Lush’s position in Boston Matrix [pic] showing lush position in market Clarifying the lush’s position is very useful and essential for them to orient their objectives and do marketing planning and strategy. â€Å"There is no point deciding where your business is going until you have actually dec ided with great clarifies where we are now† (Sir John Harvey Jones, ex ICI chairman). 3. The UK structure market 3. 1. Market analysis Market analysis is determining the attractiveness of a market and looking for growth opportunities and threats related to the strengths and weaknesses of the company (Aaker, 2008). 3. 2. Customer analysis The most strategic market-planning contexts, the first logical step is to analyse the customers†(Aaker and McLoughlin, 2010, pp 26). Customer analysis is one of the important factors used to create the success of a firm as it enables firms to understand the current activities of customer and their behaviour, which helps firm to increase profits and competitive advantage in the market (Paley, 2006). Hand made cosmetics is a fairly new market which is up coming within the cosmetics industry, where the issues of production and trading can be complex. According from the survey of Mintel (2007-2008), 60% customers thinks it is important that a company acts ethically (See appendix 3). 4. The marketing objectives of lush 4. 1. MissionMission and Vision Fresh handmade cosmetics lush believes in making effective products out of fresh fruit and vegetables , the finest essential oils and safe synthetics, without animal ingredients , and in writing the quantitative ingredient list on the outside †¦ in buying only from companies that test for safety without the involvement of animals and in testing our products on humans †¦ in making our own fresh products by hand, printing its own labels and making its own fragrances †¦ in long candlelit baths, sharing showers, massage and filling the World with perfume and the right to make mistakes, lose everything and start again †¦ that its products should be good value, that we should make a profit and that the customer is always right †¦ that words like â€Å"fresh† and â€Å"organic† have honest meaning beyond marketing 4. 2. lush’s objectiv e in the next 3 years A company often plan its objectives based on the existing products and new products in existing market and new market.However, in limited report, my study only focuses on analyzing marketing strategy of Lush in the UK market. 4. 2. 1. New opportunities online Selling online may the huge potential market for Lush to afford in the UK market. The internet has been hugely important as in many other areas of retail. About 70% adults use shopping online, especially the ages from 25 to 34, the rate is around 85% (See appendix 4). In addition to online retailers, there is a growing number of websites and blogs devoted to green issues. Many of the sites give full detailed information about ethical production and the different ingredients used, websites helps to increase selling by improving knowledge about ethic products for consumers.Lush can use their own website to sell products or through big website such as Amazon or Argos in the UK. 5. Marketing Strategy If Lush w ants to achieve the above objectives, its products need to be created a successful mix of: the right product, sold at the right price, in the right place and using the most suitable promotion (Marketing Mix’ 4P). 5. 1. Promotion strategy â€Å"A retailer could stock the most attractive merchandise priced very competitively and have a convenient location but still fail to attract customers if he or she did not communication with them† (Cox& Britain, 2000). The UK structure market analyze (Part 3. 1) stated that the issue of handmade cosmatics products complicated and not all of the UK customers understand it.Therefore, promotion should be the first step Lush need to carry out before they can sell their products. The customer analyze (Part 3. 2) indicates that if Lush wants to sell their fresh hand made products, they should improve knowledge about handmade production for the customers. And the success of the Lush’s promotion are informing, persuading and remindin g customers about Lush’s handmade products through advertising, publicity, personal selling and sales promotion. a. Advertising Advertising is a non-personal communication of information usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature, about products, services, or ideas by identified sponsors through various media (Kotler, 1999).The objectives of lush’s advertising in the first year is bring lush image to the UK customer awareness. In the UK, advertising by press is popular, about 29. 6% total share in 2009 (See appendix 7). However, internet advertising has quickly developed, increase 39. 5% in 2008 (See Appendix 6). As a result, lush should focus on two advertising ways: press and internet. b. Sale promotion In short-term incentives, lush can encourage consumers by promotion activities. For example, in special holiday such as Christmas, mother’s day, valentine’s day, season sale, Lush sells online with free shipping, or discount price for old season p roducts. c. Personal sellingPersonal selling is oral communication with potential buyers of a product with the seller’s representative through face to face or telephone contact to gain benefit. Personal selling is an option help lush to improve knowledge about handmade cosmetics for the UK customers. d. Public relations (PR) LUSH has generously supported seven Small Change Fund projects in full, through the Charity Pot Program. 100% of the retail price (minus taxes) of LUSH Charity Pot hand and body cream goes directly to carefully selected charities around the world that support animal rights, environmental protection, and humanitarian concerns That is an advantage of lush to create a good image in public.Hence, public relation activities are essential in building lush brand in the UK market. Distribution strategy Distribution strategy (place strategy) refers to how an organisation will distribute the product or service they are offering to the end user. Efficient and effect ive distribution is important if the organisation is to meet its overall marketing objectives. There are three main common distribution strategies included intensive distribution, exclusive distribution and selective distribution (Hollensen, 2008). With the specific characteristics of handmade cosmetics products, lush should choose the second or the third: exclusive or selective distribution. a. Selling online (exclusive distribution)As the paper analyses in the lush objectives (Part 4. 2. 1), selling online is potential distribution channel for lush. Thus, firstly, lush need to develop their website to become more attractive with customers. Consumers can conveniently shopping with lush website like easily select, purchase even exchange or refund. The website keeps continuously updating new products and offers. Secondly, lush can sell their products through other famous shopping websites in the UK such as Amazon or Argos. Thanks to three websites, customer can faster know lush produ cts. b. Opening shops in England (selective distribution) Recently, lush only sells through 100 shops in England.But in the UK, there is high rate of consumers buying cosmetic products in high street and department store, 56% and 32% (Figure 3) Figure 3: Where they regularly buy cosmetics products, November 2000 Base: 1,526 adults aged 15+ [pic] Source: Ipsos MORI/Mintel As a result, lush should open their own more lush shops in some of big cities in England. Opening the shops in England, lush can realise in the second years of strategy. The first years, lush should focus on develop selling online and promote brand. 5. 3. Product strategy A product is anything that is offered to a market for attention acquisition, use or consumption and that might satisfy a need or want (Kotler et al, 2008). a. Developing existing product: naked solid bars Because of the reasons which were introduced in lush’s objectives (part 4. . 2), the target product which is chose as the most important p roduct in the UK market is naked solid bar products. Although lush can introduce and sell all their collection such as bathing bars, massage bars and henna bars but in the 3 years of objectives the main product lush should focus on is only naked solid bars. Product design Recently, lush has limited the number of design, naked conditioning bars, shampoo bars. lush should invest to variety products not only particular solid bars but also some liquid kind of hand made products. Product quality lush products are guaranteed high quality made from fruit and vegetables. Product featureAll of lush products are fresh handmade from fruit and vegetables. It makes the specific for Lush’s products. That is also the reason why the price is often higher. Brand Lush now is not famous brand but Lush can promote itself like Oxfam as ethical brand. b. Experimenting new product: makeup products Based on the analysis in lush objectives (part 4. 2. 3), lush can experiment new product makeup produc ts in the UK market in the third years of strategy. Preparing introduce makeup in the third year, lush need to research the UK makeup market, customer analysis, and designing in the first two years. 5. 4. Price strategy Pricing has greatest impact on immediate performance of the business (Gilligan, 2009).With particular characteristics of ethical and handmade cosmetics, price of lUSH is just right. Figure 4: lush’s price lush |TOO CHEAP JUST RIGHT | TOO EXPENSIVE In the first three years, Lush is a not well – known in the UK market, therefore, at that time, Lush should focus on promotion strategy to improve brand value in customer’s image. It can be implementation by price strategy. In the first three years, Lush can attract new customers by reducing their profit to sell their product with cheaper price. For example, the price can be changed: Figure 5: lush’s accessories price change |Old price |New price | |Bath bombs |From ? 3. 15 to ? 2. 40 |From ? 3 to ? 2 | |Snow fairy |From ? 15 to ? 13 |From ? 13 to ? 5 | |Shower scrub |? 8 |? 7 | Price is one of the most flexible elements as it can be changed quickly. Using right price is important factor for Lush to achieve their objectives. 6. Strategic implementation and control Figure 5: Implementation time table strategy |Task |2013 |2014 | | |% |% |% | | | | | | |It is important that a company acts ethically |60 |59 |61 | | | | | | |I have refused to buy products from a company of |45 |45 |45 | |which I disapproved | | | | | | | | | |I like to buy products from companies who give |41 |38 |45 | |something back to society | | | | | | | | | |I only buy products from a company with whose |19 |18 |20 | |ethics I agree | | | | Taken from the TGI survey of around 25,000 adults SOURCE: BMRB GB TGI Q4 (July 2007-June 2008)/Mintel Appendix 4: Internet penetration at home/work/place of study or elsewhere, by demographic group and working status, Internet quarterly report, 2003-08 | | Appendix 7: [pic]