Advantages of Brands

A strong brand offers many advantages for marketers including: Brands provide multiple sensory stimuli to enhance customer recognition. For example, a brand can be visually recognizable from its packaging, logo, shape, etc. It can also be recognizable via sound, such as hearing the name on a radio advertisement or talking with someone who mentions the product. Customers who are frequent and enthusiastic purchasers of a particular brand are likely to become Brand Loyal. Cultivating brand loyalty among customers is the ultimate reward for successful marketers since these customers are far less likely to be enticed to switch to other brands compared to non-loyal customers. Well-developed and promoted brands make product positioning efforts more effective. The result is that upon exposure to a brand (e. g. , hearing it, seeing it) customers conjure up mental images or feelings of the benefits they receive from using that brand. The reverse is even better. When customers associate benefits with a particular brand, the brand may have attained a significant competitive advantage. In these situations the customer who recognizes he needs a solution to a problem (e. g. , needs to bleach clothes) may automatically think of one brand that offers the solution to the problem (e. g. , Clorox). This â€Å"benefit = brand† association provides a significant advantage for the brand that the customer associates with the benefit sought. Firms that establish a successful brand can extend the brand by adding new products under the same â€Å"family† brand. Such branding may allow companies to introduce new products more easily since the brand is already recognized within the market. Strong brands can lead to financial advantages through the concept of Brand Equity in which the brand itself becomes valuable. Such gains can be realized through the out-right sale of a brand or through licensing arrangements. For example, Company A may have a well-recognized brand (Brand X) within a market but for some reason they are looking to concentrate their efforts in other markets. Company B is looking to enter the same market as Brand X. If circumstances are right Company A could sell to Company B the rights to use the Brand X name without selling any other part of the company. That is, Company A simply sells the legal rights to the Brand X name but retains all other parts of Brand X, such as the production facilities and employees. In cases of well developed brands such a transaction may carry a very large price tag. Thus, through strong branding efforts Company A achieves a large financial gain by simply signing over the rights to the name. But why would Company B seek to purchase a brand for such a high price tag? Because by buying the brand Company B has already achieved an important marketing goal – building awareness within the target market. The fact the market is already be familiar with the brand allows the Company B to concentrate on other marketing decisions. We provide more detail on branding in the Managing Products tutorial with a special emphasis on the strategies marketers follow in order to build a strong brand.

Mother and Mom

Though I admit the title of this essay is a bit generic and you have the right to assume â€Å"oh the author must be a mother’s boy† or â€Å"another essay for the mother’s day propaganda†. In this case my reminisce of my mother in the actual body of the text is not filled with only meager sentimentality or a message that we should all love our mothers, it is based on two convictions that are based off of thousands of years of painful human evolution.My first conviction is that the discovery of new knowledge can only come from the re-discovery of pre-existing knowledge- thus anything that you knew or already knew about the importance of our mothers that happens to be in the text will become new to you. My second conviction is that we take for granted what helps us, hurts us, and originates us. And since I brought up the word sentimentality I will bring my third conviction!We can’t always look at life from a purely philosophical basis, though the phi losophical basis is important for thinking, we must not forget those precious moments and experiences we share with our mothers when we were kids (that is if you had a loving mother- which unfortunately my mother didn’t). Thinking too much in a purely rigid philosophical-scientific basis causes us to be antisocial. From my experiences thinking too much in a purely sentimental way only makes us miss the past and scorn the future. Where on earth is that which makes me credible to state these convictions?Where can these convictions, be even discovered? They originate from most privileged people’s domain, only made possible by man’s discovery of fire- it is a place that comes alive when used and to the living acts as a double polarizable monism, its shape being a spiral- the kitchen. Every morning I would wake up completely focused and hell-bent on my tasks. I would ravage my somewhat clean but slightly disorganized room for clothes to wear. I would in haste make my simple but sometimes incomplete breakfast as I think of G-d, homework deadlines, and delude myself with my dreams and aspirations.As I am eating on the squeaky clean glass kitchen table, sitting on a chair covered in plastic, in the periphery of my eye I would see my mom or I would hear the sound of her flippers distinctly pattering on the granite tile in the kitchen. Sometimes I am quite nervous when I am around her, especially if I forget to clean some forgettable part of the kitchen. When the kitchen is dirty, or a section of the kitchen is dirty, in the morning, she can be either calm about it and tell us to clean what we missed, but sometimes she can explode on me and my younger sister.She would yell at us as if we have done some sort of criminal act. By habit my younger sister and I would make sure that the kitchen is clean before we go to bed to prevent our mom from being angry at us. But when my mom comes in the kitchen- as I feel the anticipation of her approval of the kit chen- and she accepts our work in the kitchen- the exact opposite of her authoritarian spirit comes out and it can be the most beautiful thing I can ever experience.This is how I live every day in my home- studying and cleaning the kitchen. The moment after I finish this essay†¦. Just guess it- I will be cleaning the kitchen. If I clean the kitchen every day how is it that I can forget to clean some forgettable part of the kitchen a rank more than occasionally? Is this the nature of man? He forgets and gets punished by Mother Nature herself. I forget to clean some part of the kitchen and I get punished by my mother.To be yelled at by my mother is humbling- it arrests my large as life ego, and renders my philosophy and view of life as meaningless. No philosophy can save me, all it does is make me live in my own world- not to the tasks and betterment of other people. This is the law of the re-education of cleaning the kitchen. Just as religious people re-educate themselves of the laws of the bible every Saturday or Sunday- the law of the re-education of cleaning the kitchen holds true- but instead of once a week it is every day.As Mother Nature has been punishing to mankind (if you read the news you know what I mean) it has been equally loving and forgiving, to enable us to experience life and allow us to even violate it’s laws- intentionally or not- only to realize what we have done, and to come back tearfully to our true pure selves. After being rattled by my mom, yelling at me to clean the kitchen, it is hard to remember that she had a loving side to her- if she had a loving side at all. After cleaning that pesky, forgettable part of the  kitchen- forgiveness, love, and kindness came.Thus is the love that encounters and embraces everything. My mommy can give the kindest, most real, greeting I have ever known. Even though she gives us kind greetings and positive connotations almost regularly it still has a powerful impact on my spirit every time she gives positive reinforcement. When I was a baby my mom would call me â€Å"Love† so she could cope with not getting angry with me as a baby and toddler- even as a teenager she still gives me the nicknameâ€Å"Love.† I was the only child she had that screamed at sonically high frequencies, regressed back to potty training when my younger sister was born, wanted to be tended to every waking minute, and escaped the house via garage(when I was three years old) to be found in a construction site with a red hat on top of my head. As a result my mom lost her health along with her temper, but she always made it her mission to be as kind to me, my older and younger sister, and allow us to pursue any path we want to take in life without interceding.I would compare my mom’s pattern of communication and mine to a spiral. I can tell that my mom tries to give us as much positive feedback as possible and to reduce or eliminate all negative feedback. She would theatrically lecture us on the use of positive feedback. As a pattern in the morning or as she is taking me to school she would be extremely kind by calling me by my nickname and telling me how happy she is to see me in college- in return I would tell her how happy I am to be in college and other endless miscellaneous subject matter that I can’t remember well enough to put on paper.Then when evening approaches some anxiety trickles in like a leaky faucet. My mom, though not going Mrs. Commando on us, would remind us to make sure to clean the kitchen, but she would make sure we listen very well, when we are doing homework or trying to make ourselves busy (I find that interruption terribly annoying). However, for my mom to tell us to clean the kitchen like a disciplinarian is absolutely necessary- because truthfully we wouldn’t have done the task if she didn’t remind us to do it- leading us back to the law of the re-education of cleaning the kitchen.I would even find this patt ern when I communicate to my mom, dad, younger, and older sister. When I communicate to my dad for example I am very sociable with him. We would have a positive exchange by showing or talking about our findings on music, movies, and other goofy things. But when I get busy with homework I have to tell him in haste, â€Å"Sorry, I have to get to work†. Only recently did I find out that my father felt it to be slightly negative and antisocial.This made me discover that we can only be slightly one way, or extremely different, turn into our opposite, and never find a true, absolute, and perfect balance in communication and other things in life in general. This statement seems even more apparent when I am around my family members 24/7. Nobody is perfect. We see what is opposite to ourselves and what enables our existence all the time. Kids at a young age imitate their parents- we are all a product of our environment. Then we look in the mirror to see what the environment has made o ut of us- beautiful, different, and unique individuals.To find the perfect balance is to erase ourselves from existence- we would not be seen in the mirror- only the background environment. I always thought the struggle was to become permanently perfect forever- make your plan and you will achieve your goals. It is actually to constantly rebuild yourself after failure throughout life- this is what my mom showed me-like a spiral. This helped me find internal peace. Why can’t the kitchen stay clean? We use kitchen. Kitchen gets dirty. We clean kitchen again. We use kitchen. Kitchen gets dirty. We clean kitchen again†¦

Literary Analysis Paper – Cathedral

Literary Analysis paper – Cathedral â€Å"Cathedral† by Raymond Carver tells us short story about a blind man who comes to visit his friend and her husband. In the story, even though the husband can technically see and has a normal sight, in the beginning of the story he is the one who shows the signs of true â€Å"blindness† through inability to see Robert beyond his blindness, incapability to communicate with Robert, him feeling uncomfortable and acting awkward around Robert. The husband does not realize how Robert's blindness changes him as human being.Carver skillfully shows the occurrence of change in the personality of the husband from being very awkward around a blind man to coming to realization that Robert is a person and not just a blind man. In the story, â€Å"Cathedral† Carver brings out the concept of husband's spiritual blindness and the theme of broke marriage to shows what is wrong with the modern world. Carver portrays husband's spiritual blindness to show parallel to the spiritual blindness of the modern world.The narrator sees his wife's blind friend as handicap and not as a whole person. The narrator is not enthusiastic about the visit because blind people make the narrator uncomfortable â€Å"†¦ and his being blind bothered me. My idea of blindness came from the movies. In the movie the blind move slowly and never laughed. Sometimes they were led by seeing-eye dogs. The blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to† (114). In this way, Carver shows how spiritual blindness can limit people in our everyday life just as it did the husband.In reality, spiritually blind people are unable to understand matters beyond their physical site. The theme that Carver touched in the â€Å"Cathedral† of the spiritually blind verses physically blind has been touched in the Bible as well. Passage in John 9:1-41 points out an interesting comparison between physical and spiritual blindness that take s place in this passage. It mainly describes how a blind man who believed in Jesus as the Son of God was forgiven and men with sight who could not see what the blind man saw remained in their sin.It very much gives reassures that personal understanding of the truth, understanding of the things beyond your physical sight are far more important that the physical. Carver brings this theme in order to show the reader the problematic spiritual blindness of our modern society that looks more at the physical rather than looking at thing in a more deeper and meaningful prospective. Another way in which Carver points out the concept of broken marriage relationships in our society is by portraying characters as being in an unhappy, depressed marriage relationship.The narrator lacks true marriage relationship with his wife, as is evident not only in their sparring in the narrative present, but also in the remoteness of perspective as he tells the story of her attempted suicide a few years befo re: â€Å". . . one night she got to feeling lonely and cut off from people she kept losing in that moving-around life. She got to feeling she couldn't go it another step. She went in and swallowed all the pills and capsules in the medicine chest and washed them down with a bottle of gin. Then she got into a hot bath and passed out. But instead of dying she got sick. She threw up.Her officer—why should he have a name? he was the childhood sweetheart and what more does he want? —came home from somewhere, found her and called the ambulance† (115). Although an attempt to suicide may be considered a personal weakness, nether the less, the unhappy marriage relationship had its influence in this matter. Relationship with a person who has mental health problems can lower the satisfaction levels. It surely takes a toll to live with a depressed person. Like in the case with the narrator and his wife, the more depressed and more anxious they become, the more dissatisfied is the marriage.Untreated depression poses a very real threat to a marriage such as in the situation with the wife. This is in reality a big problem in our society today. Such as in the story husband and wife experienced depressed relationship and indeed, in the reality the depressed spouse will experience less happiness, satisfaction and contentment in the marriage. Narrator mentions â€Å"†¦ every night I smoked dope and stayed up as long as I could before I fell asleep. My wife and I hardly ever went to bed at the same time†¦ and in reality the partner will struggle with handling the increased isolation and social withdrawal of the depressed spouse, the loss of emotional intimacy, (and often sexual intimacy as well), and the prevalent negativity in the relationship. When one spouse is depressed, the depression colors everything in the relationship. The depressed spouse sees the world through a darkened lens that limits his or her perspective. The author wants to point out that the negative events are interpreted even more negatively; neutral events are also interpreted negatively, and the positive appenings are often overlooked. The depressed spouse often loses interest in activities that used to bring pleasure and may experience fatigue and listlessness. There can be loss of sleep or sleeping too much; eating too much or be like the husband that smokes marijuana to bring some excitement in to his life. Feelings of love and sexual desire may become dulled or absent when an individual is depressed. The biggest danger when this happens is that the depressed spouse may erroneously conclude that this means he or she is no longer in love with the mate.In conclusion, I would like to draw parallel between the story of â€Å"Cathedral† by Raymond Carver to our modern society. In our modern society, we continue to meet individuals similar to the character of the â€Å"husband† who have physical but not spiritual vision as well as facing simi lar broken marriage problems. The issues that Carver touched in his story are rather social and relevant to our modern society rather than related to single individual. In addition, we see individuals similar to the â€Å"blind man† who are physically disabled; however, they exhibit a truer intuition into life and their surroundings.They have the ability to see spiritual concepts and understand people and the world around them. We learn from the story that those who are physically enabled can still learn from those who may seem disabled but have in reality a better understanding of life. Sometimes experiencing the hard ships of life helps, us grow and experience life in a different way than we normally would. It is like one who cannot see the forest for the trees. Work Cited Jan Zlotnik Schmidt, Lynne Crockett. â€Å"Portable Legacies: Raymond Carver's ‘Cathedral'. â€Å"

Foreign Direct Investment in Developing Countries Article

Foreign Direct Investment in Developing Countries - Article Example This topic bears importance in that if wielded appropriately it may just be the ticket out of poverty lines for developing nations. Growth of the economy by seven or eight percent is achievable but only if there is investment of around 35 to 40 percent of the GDP. National savings undoubtedly fall short of this by a huge margin. Therefore, it is up to foreign borrowing and investments to meet this gap. Thus, it is imperative for the governments of developing nations to providing incentives to investors. This paper will focus on the foreign direct investments in developing countries and the impact it causes to both participating parties (Moran 75). The political and social changes of late 20th century and the recent technological advancements have brought about immense changes in the economic situation of the present world. The planned economies are failing and their retreat from the global economy. The development and the rising influence of free and open market economies and the ever stronger tendency towards a world economy. Predicts broad changes in various interacting phases (e.g. economical, political and social) of the global community in the future. The old restrictions and monopoly of the old world transformed into friendly smiles and gentle politics with policies of closed economies being dumped and nations embracing the open capitalist economies. This phenomenon has puzzled many. Everyone however seems to agree on a single point. There would be no foreign direct investment if the markets were perfectly competitive. Therefore, markets are to work efficiently and ensuring there is no barriers in the form of trade or c ompetition; then the phenomenon of FDI is much more likely. Many theories have tried explaining this phenomenon. These theories attempt to explain this phenomenon based on different assertions such as perfect and imperfect competition of markets. The currency based methods as well as those that

Global Supply Chain Management Case Study Report Essay

Global Supply Chain Management Case Study Report - Essay Example e supply chain that allows the achievement of business objectives, before an attempt is made to determine whether a lean approach or agile approach to manufacturing and supply chain management is most appropriate for Wal-Dart. However, the analysis using Fisher’s (1997) model proves inconclusive, although Singh and Sharma’s (2009) definition of lean manufacturing appears to describe the outcome desired by Wal-Dart, and Bruce et al (2001) find that, in the fashion and textile industries, aspects of both lean and agile approaches, that they termed â€Å"leagility†, can be appropriate. A more radical approach to Wal-Dart’s problems is suggested by Lee (2010) who considers that the whole of the supply chain should be reviewed and revamped if necessary, which allows a holistic view to be taken and also provide an opportunity for Wal-Dart to introduce a more sustainable supply chain. A more detailed analysis is undertaken using Slack et al’s (2009) four stages of a fast fashion supply chain: design, manufacture, distribution and sales. Several issues are considered that fall across the different stages, including information supply from the retail outlets, the inability to change the manufacturing locations in the immediate short term, the possibility of setting up distribution service centres with their own transport service, and using enterprise resource planning to integrate the whole supply chain for more immediate, accurate provision and use of information. The overlaps of these areas across the four stages supports the idea of a holistic approach to resolve the problems. This idea is further supported by Lubowe (2009) who finds that senior management support, organisational structures and technology are key ingredients to a successful global integration strategy involving three key elements of repeatable processes, optimised assets and integrated op erations. Overall, there is no one best solution to the problems Wal-Dart is experiencing revealed by

Music Trade Show Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Music Trade Show - Research Paper Example The music trade show has been organized to exhibit the modern equipments manufactured by numerous reputed companies. In addition, a musical concert has been planned which will consist of participants, both amateur and professionals from the music industry. The trade show is scheduled to be instigated from 7th September and continue till 9th September. The venue of the location has been planned at International Expo Center, Cleveland, Ohio. The opening of the event has been organized to conduct an education seminar which will be accompanied by professionals from the music industry. The seminar is further expected to provide valuable tips to the amateurs, which will help them to attain success in the future. The overall budget allocated for commencing the trade show will require US $50,000. Moreover, the coordinators or the organizers have planned to recruit 50 volunteers who will be responsible for effective commencement of the event. Furthermore, the organizers are expecting a total of 100 exhibiters who will showcase their musical equipments to the visitors. Moreover, the coordinators are expecting 10,000 attendees, most of them being the professionals and amateurs of music industry. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Table of Contents 3 Thesis Statement 4 The Challenges and Opportunities Related to the Event 4 Human Resources Plan 6 Financial Plan 7 Process Used for Creating Events 8 Ethical and Legal Considerations 10 Process for Orchestrating the Events 11 Works Cited 12 Thesis Statement Organizing a music trade show requires effective planning and execution by the coordinators in order to successfully attain the determined core objectives. The report hereby intends to provide a brief analysis of the challenges and opportunities associated with the event. It also intends to evaluate the human resource plan in order to place the ‘right person for the right job’. The estimated budget required for commencing the event will also be provided in t his regard. Moreover, the discussion also intends to take into account the ethical and legal factors along with the security measures necessary in relation to the efficient conduct of the event. Based on these various aspects, recommendations on the basis of current events will be provided for successfully conducting the music trade show. The Challenges and Opportunities Related to the Event Numerous challenges can be identified to be associated with the process of organizing a music trade show. One of the foremost challenges can be identified as related with accommodation issues. As the event will be organized for three days, accommodation for the attendees and exhibiters should be appropriately managed. The 10,000 attendees are expected for the show along with 100 exhibiters who are to be provided with enough space and healthy environment during the course of the event. Furthermore, arranging for the availability of food can also be regarded as a vital responsibility for the coord inators while arrangements for the housing of visitors are being planned. Transportation will also be a factor that should be taken care of while organizing the event. Adequate number of cars should be arranged in order to transport attendees and exhibiters to and fro from the venue. Furthermore, goods carriers should be reserved for three days as the exhibiters will carry various instruments in order to podcast its unique features. Moreover, arrangement of enough space should be made as space regarding the exhibiter’s booth shall be provided prior to the opening day of the event. 100 booths have been planned to be temporarily constructed with this purpose, each providing 180 sq. ft. of space to the exhibiters (Canadian Music Week Inc, â€Å"Exhibiters Manual†). One of the crucial challenges for the coordinators in this regard can be identified in relation to the collection of finances through sponsorships. Thus, organizing a mega event of this stature will thereby req uire incurring huge amount of money for meeting the cost of these

LGBTQ and public schools Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

LGBTQ and public schools - Essay Example According to the Code of Ethics of National Association of Social Workers (2008), a social worker ought to distinguish him or herself by exhibiting high code of conduct in terms of respect, discrimination, and social and political action. Through these codes, the social worker is seen as a representative of his or her client by ensuring social justice and enhancing social change with and on behalf of their clients (Schmidt, 2005). These definitions about social work and the social worker speaks for its self as to what should be the role of the social worker in the given scenario and case. It can therefore be emphasized that the transgender student and the school environment constitute a society (Looney, 2002. p. 12). The role and functioning of social work, therefore, come into the scene as much as the responsibility of the social worker. This is a responsibility that the social worker must play and play effectively to ensure that the transgender student is accommodated well in the school and that she is put in a position to adequately use personal abilities, which are her skills and knowledge, in a well harnessed manner to achieve her goals in life. Given the fact that the transgender student is going to be the first of that kind in the school and the fact that students and other stakeholders in the school have not had any previous experience of accommodating such transgender students and integrating with them, the best way to offer support to assist the successful transition and integration of the student into the school is to use a psychological approach (Transitional Roadmap, 2012). Meanwhile, it has been said also that the physical aspects of transitional gender are easier to deal with as against the psychological, as the physical aspects are easily seen and can thus be solved easily (Henderson, 2003, p. 140). What this means is that if the psychological component of the present situation is handled, more than half of the problem will be solved. In