Low Cost Strategy Essay

Low cost strategy is one of the three generic marketing strategies. Companies use this strategy to offer low price in its products/services by focusing on various points in its value chain activities. In order to be a successful low-cost competitor in a competitive environment, companies focus on several issues; which all pass from the ways of margin improvement (in terms of increasing revenue and reducing cost) and asset effectiveness (in the sense of minimizing working capital and maximizing winning on asset). In other words, we can say that low-cost competitors focus on efficiency in its all activities by redefining and cutting costs in their value chain. Here are different attributes which low-cost strategy focused companies make or follow in order to be competitive and have sustainable low-cost strategies: †¢ Forming partnership in some activities which is too costly for the company to do by itself and/or outsourcing manufacturing activities to low-cost countries. For example, Huawei Technologies (which is importing and developing PBX telephone products) made partnership with 3Com and Siemens so enter new markets and also by using its some other competitive strengths it outcompetes Cisco (well-known global network manufacturer) within 5-6 years. †¢ Minimizing complex and expensive activities such as, research and development, product design and marketing; and standardizing products and designs. †¢ Having no-extra service but with the best use of asset utilization. For example, Southwest Airlines lowers its costs by no-frill services but also achieve to maximize its profits by returning the plane from the gate to the air within very short time (about 20 minutes). †¢ Combining low-price with product differentiation. For example, Japanese retailer Muji as a competitor to Wal-Mart and IKEA. It is very important for a low-cost strategy focused company to identify and deal with other low-cost competitors as early as possible before they become strong and successful competitor in market. Therefore, companies should consider their external environment especially its competitors in order to be able to become more competitive and gain more market share as a low-cost provider. There are 4 ways of analyzing competitive environment: 1) Identifying company’s low-cost rivals: Possible by detecting and responding potential low-cost competitors on time; based on focusing low-cost strategies against to the company. 2) Performing a total cost analysis: Made by identifying a potential threats from companies which are more efficient in their product and service costs. ) Developing all potential scenarios: Company makes what-if scenarios by clear understanding of the market and competitor’s sustainable capabilities in order to prepare better for future. 4) Determining company’s best strategic moves: In this case company uses its what-if scenario understandings in a way to be able to compete and beat its low-cost rivals. While developing company’s strategic moves to gain higher market share and sustainable competitive edge, managers should develop both short-term tactics and long-term strategies. Short-term tactics allow company to make stronger its strengths and also gain time for the needed analysis to be able to develop long-term strategies while keeping low-cost rivals in a position that does not threats the company. These tactics include offering low-price product/services or providing some other sale incentives, several legal actions such as patent infringement lawsuits, product/service differentiation and lastly focusing more attractive and profitable customers by letting unprofitable ones to rivals. These short-term tactics also, allow company to maintain market share as well as gain sustainability in its actions. Long-term strategies adjust companies to changing market conditions and also allow them to pursue after new market opportunities. These strategies might be riskier than short-terms’ but bring more profits. Long-term strategy includes offering differentiated products, expanding products/services, entering into new geographical areas, becoming low-cost leader or having low-cost subsidiaries, investing in technology and lastly improving customer services. As an example, IBM was selling personal computers as a first mover but then it started to sell differentiated product of software by offering service solutions as well when Dell and Gateway started to sell lower priced personal computers. Overall, in order to be able to successfully compete with other low-cost rivals and have sustainability as a low-cost competitor in the market; Firstly, company must analyze its internal and external environment by defining its own and also competitors’ market positions and potential threats to the company. Secondly, company must be action oriented by using its strengths and competitive advantage to eliminate early detected potential threats for the company in future. Lastly, company must develop a strong plan of action to support its successful competition in the market by entering into the new markets and developing new products on the time and also adapting other necessary tactics as quick as possible.

Child Labor: negative impacts on the society Essay

The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates there are about 12 million children engaged at work in India. This is an alarming statistic. Thesis – Not only is child labor, a violation of law to the rights of children, it is also Potentially damaging the education. Reflection on the economy. Causing health issues. Body Paragraph 1: child labor is detriment to education. Lack of education in childhood causes future unemployment. â€Å"Child labor is a hazard to a child’s mental physical, social, educational, emotional and spiritual development† (Virk, 2013). Adulthood unemployment. Declined literacy rate. Body Paragraph 2: socio-Economics problem. Futures of the economic countries very much depend on this valuable asset. â€Å"Child labor is a product of economic necessity and economic distress† (Virk, 2013). Poverty forces parents to send their children to work. Body Paragraph 3: Introduction of health problems. Existence of significant health effect. â€Å"If families are insufficiently aware of the hazards, health, or if prevailing societal attitudes are tolerant of child labor, children are again less likely to be directed towards classroom rather than the workplace† (Virk, 2012). Experiences greater morbidity and mortality. Also impacts the psychological hazards, like isolation, abuse, exploitation. Conclusion: Child labor has extremely issues. Detriment to the Education of Children. Negative impact on Economy of the developing countries. Poverty related health problems. References Virk, S. k. (2013). Child labour in India: A Socio-Economic problem; legal remedies and solution. AJRSH, 3(5), 56-63. Retrieved May 2, 2013, from the Journal of Asian Research Consortium database. world report on child labour (pp. 11-26). (2013). child labour and economic vulnerability. geneva: international labour office.

1957 and Soil

The students study a range of soil characteristics and seek to understand their relationship to soil function, land use, plant growth, environmental quality, and society/culture. This course introduces students to the variety and complexity of soils on a local, national, and international scale. This introductory course in soil science introduces the student to the study, management, and conservation of soils as natural bodies, as media for plant growth, and as components of the larger ecosystem. This course presents basic concepts of all aspects of soil science including: composition and genesis; physical, chemical, and biological properties; soil water; classification and mapping; soil conservation; management practices; and soil fertility and productivity including practices of soil testing, use of fertilizers and manures, and liming. The course introduces the relationships of soil to current concerns such as environmental quality and non-agricultural land use. This course should instill awareness of soil as a basic natural resource, the use or abuse of which has a considerable influence on human society and life in general. This course is required or on a list from which students select for many environmental and agriculturalrelated majors. It is specifically listed as a prerequisite for many other SOILS courses and for several soils-related courses taught at Penn State. This course also satisfies the requirement for 3-credits in the natural sciences (GN), for non-science maojors or any student interested in soils, ecology, or the environment. Course Objectives: At the end of this course, students should be able to: ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Appreciate the variety and complexity of soils. Describe the ways in which soils are an integral component of the terrestrial ecosystem. Use the technical terminology associated with the description and use of soils. Identify soil properties important to land use, environmental quality, plant growth and society/culture. Demonstrate skills required to make field observations and interpretations of soils for various uses. Retrieve and use information from a variety of sources for land use planning and soil management decisions. Explain the impact of land use and management decisions on agricultural productivity and sustainability, environmental and ecological health, and land degradation. Understand how soils can affect everyday decisions like how to develop a garden or where to build a house. – page 2 – Instructor: Dr. Mike Fidanza 234 Luerssen Office: 610-396-6330 Cell: 484-888-6714 E-mail: fidanza@psu. edu Office Hours: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 9:00 am – 9:50 am, and 11:00 am – 11:50 am; or, by appointment (call or e-mail to schedule an appointment) Class Lecture: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 125 Luerssen Building, 10:00 am – 10:50 am. Required Textbook: Brady, N. C. and R. R. Weil. Elements of the Nature and Properties of Soils. 3rd edition*. Pearson/Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ. *or earlier editions are acceptable Grading: 4 exams †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 300 points †¢ lowest exam score dropped †¢ 3 exams X 100 points per exam = 300 points total 15 quizzes †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 150 points †¢ 15 quizzes X 10 points per quiz = 150 points total Soils Writing Assignment . †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 50 points †¢ Fertilizer Worksheet —————————————————————————————— ——–Total †¦.. 500 points Final Grade will be based on the following scale: Points Grade Points Grade ? 465 A 385 – 399 C+ 450 – 464 A350 – 384 C 435 – 449 B+ 300 – 349 D 415 – 434 B ? 299 F 400 – 414 B- Exams: Exam format is typically multiple choice, true/false, and matching. Exact content and format of each exam will be discussed in class by the instructor. The lowest exam score of the four exams will be dropped, therefore, only the top three exam scores will count towards the final course grade. Quizzes: Quiz format is typically multiple choice, true/false, and/or matching delivered online through the ANGEL course website. Exact content and format of each quiz will be discussed in class by the instructor and/or information will be available on the ANGEL course website. Soils Writing Assignment: To be explained in class. – page 3 Class Attendance and Etiquette: Attendance is highly recommended since some lecture information will not be found in the text, and handouts and other supplemental material will be available only on the day on which they are presented in class. Class attendance and participation may be considered toward your final grade. Attendance will be recorded on a random basis, however daily attendance may be recorded if absenteeism or lateness is a problem. Appropriate and respectful behavior is always expected. Also, please silence cell phones during class time. Academic Integrity: Students are expected to be familiar with the University Rules and Policies regarding academic integrity. Refer to the Penn State Berks Campus Student Handbook, or locate the document on Penn State’s website, which can be accessed through any computer terminal connected to the PSU Center for Academic Computing. Academic integrity is defined as the pursuit of scholarly activity free from fraud and deception. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to: cheating, failure to protect your work from others (or facilitating acts of academic dishonesty by others), plagiarism, fabrication of information or citations, unauthorized prior possession of examinations, submitting the work of another person or work previously used without informing the instructor, or tampering with the academic work of others. A student charged with academic dishonesty will be given oral and written notice of the charge by the instructor. If the student feels that they have been falsely accused, they should seek redress through informal discussions with the instructor (first), division or department head, dean, or CEO. If the instructor believes the infraction to be sufficiently serious to warrant referral of the case to the Office of Conduct Standards, or result in a grade of â€Å"F† for the student for the course, the student and faculty instructor will be afforded formal due process procedures outlined in the University Rules and Policies mentioned above. Academic dishonesty will be dealt with strictly and in accordance with Pennsylvania State University policy. Disclaimer: The class schedule, policies, statements, and assignments in this course are subject to change in the event of extenuating circumstances or by mutual agreement between the instructor and the students. **** Weather Emergency: Call 610-396-6375 for up-to-date Berks Campus information. **** – page 4 – Date: Jan Jan Jan 7 9 11 M W F Topic: Introduction and course administration Introduction to soil science Introduction to soil science (continued) Textbook Chapter: 1 1 1 Jan Jan Jan 14 16 18 M W F Soil formation Soil formation Soil formation 2 2 2 Jan Jan Jan 21 23 25 M W F NO CLASS – Martin Luther King Day Soil classification Soil classification –3 3 Jan Jan Feb 28 30 1 M W F Soil classification Exam #1, chapters 1, 2, 3 Soil physical properties 3 –4 Feb Feb Feb 4 6 8 M W F Soil physical properties Soil physical properties Soil physical properties 4 4 4 Feb Feb Feb 11 13 15 M W F Soil water Soil water Soil and the hydrologic cycle 5 5 6 Feb Feb Feb 8 20 22 M W F Soil and the hydrologic cycle Soil aeration and temperature Soil aeration and temperature 6 7 7 Feb Feb Mar Mar Mar Mar Mar 25 27 1 411 13 15 M Clays and soil chemistry W Exam #2, chapters 4, 5, 6, 7 F Clays and soil chemistry 8 NO CLASS – Spring Break M Clays and soil chemistry W Soil acidity and other properties F Soil acidity and other properties 8 –8 Mar Mar Mar 18 20 22 M W F Soil biology and ecology Soil biology and ecology Soil biology and ecology 10 10 10 Mar Mar Mar 25 27 29 M W F Soil organic matter Soil organic matter Soil organic matter 11 11 11 Apr Apr Apr 1 3 5 M W F Soil fertility Exam #3, chapters 8, 9, 10, 11. Soil fertility 12 –12 Apr Apr Apr 8 10 12 M W F Nutrients management and fertilizers Nutrient management and fertilizers Nutrient management and fertilizers 13 13 13 Apr Apr Apr 15 17 19 M W F Soil erosion Soil erosion Soil erosion 14 14 14 Apr Apr Apr 22 24 26 M W F Soil and chemical pollution Soil and chemical pollution Soil and chemical pollution 15 15 15 8 9 9 ************ April 29 – May 3: Final Exam Week (Exam #4, chapters 12, 13, 14, 15). ************

Total Rewards System Proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Total Rewards System Proposal - Essay Example The success of the organization can strongly be influenced by the introduction of the performance management programs. Envision expects that with the introduction of the TRP system employees of the organization would be able to relate to their target in a better manner. The performance management system can help the process of total reward system (Dixon, Hayes & Stack, 2004). It can aid the establishment of the right standards of performance of the employees. After analysis of the performance of the employees, it would be easier to measure their ability to fulfill targets. Envision can judge the performance of the company and reward the employees in cash or kind.  A reward can be described as an element of compensation and benefit. The term total reward includes aspects of development and learning opportunities for employees, attractive work environment along with pay and benefit packages (Dixon, Hayes & Stack, 2004). It is the strategic approach to reward used by many employers. T he concept of total reward system is adapted by organizations to recruit, motivate and retain the employees and secure the business objectives efficiently. The introduction of the total reward system can help Envision to motivate the employees in a positive way. Measuring the performance of the employees and rewarding them for the same, both monetarily and in the form of benefits can help the organization to reach the business objectives effectively. Besides the monetary rewards, the non-monetary rewards like rent-free accommodation, conveyance allowance, educational allowance and medical facilities can be given by Envision to the employees. This can increase the loyalty and motivation levels of the staffs towards the company. There are a number of objectives which Envision wants to fulfill by carrying out the total reward system programs within the organization. Compensation or total reward system is an important tool for organizational success.  

Case Study Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Case Study - Assignment Example This change is based on the processes of employee recruitment and selection, performance appraisals, and assessment of the organization performance. James made this decision after discovering that Quart Limited holds onto traditional practices, which seems to impede the organization from leveraging on the current benefits of globalization, innovation technology, and new management skills. The chief executive officer, among other senior staff members of Quart Limited has indicated a rejection of James proposed changes. This has caused labeling of James as a â€Å"dictator† and â€Å"freshman† into the organization. The chief executive officer also needs James to adhere to the existing organization culture and trends. On contrary, James has not given up on his change quest, and he has gone as far as formulating a change strategy, which need to be adopted in the organization. This includes the process of change adoption and implementation. The overwhelming quest for a change in the organization, by James, has resulted in attainment of conflict in the organization. This conflict results from a portion of senior, as well as junior management staff of the organization. The base of this conflict is on the change, which James is introducing into the organization, which seems to alter the traditional practices of the organization. Despite his efforts, James is blocked from introducing change; in the organization since a large portion of staff members have declined the change. Consequently, James has decided to engage all the stakeholders of Quart Limited into a forum, which will discuss the necessity of change in the organization and explore change implementation and adoption process. Further, James wants to invite a colleague-managing director from Starbucks Company to aid in facilitating the forum of change adoption in Quart Limited. It is James thought that these actions will contribute towards the end of the conflict Quart Limited had seen, as well as induce

Market research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Market research - Essay Example Henneberg (13) explores the challenges that have been faced by the US during the past decade make it a vital responsibility of the voters to bring about positive change as believed by everyone in the states. Thus, in the research, all these factors among other political reasons will be looked into in the subsequent sections. In the US, the race has always been between two parties, democrats and republicans. The democrat, incumbent president barrack Obama has been on the spot for various reasons against the republican mitt Romney, a white. O n the other hand, mitt has suffered blows in some of the Obama reactions to his allegations that bring him out in a negative way. Considering the ongoing campaigns, Obama tries to defend his seat by convincing them to add him more time to realize his impact but the opposition accuses him of not having utilized his term in office as expected and that he is a disappointment. These impacts on a significant number of voters differently thereby influen cing their probable choice the elections that are yet to come. Some of the significant states have chosen Obama over mitt Romney although by a slight margin. Data results by union times indicate that Obama is still leading in Florida, Ohio and Washington which are key regions in determining the final outcome. The choice of words has been giving mitt a major blow while it works well with Obama who is a better orator and has better choice of words to counter his rival. Race comes in as one of the dictators of the winner of the forthcoming elections. There are slightly more non white voters as there are white voters in the US. This indicates on how tricky it maybe for mitt considering that he is white while Obama is not. However, race in this case may not come in as plane as it is but as a redefinition considered as stereotype (Lipstz 76). Whites are the most likely to be adversely affected by this as the non whites may want to use the opportunity to prove that America belongs to all. As such, they will vote for Obama not because they like him but because they would like to have an alternative race other than white. The whites, on the other hand, may not vote for Obama considering that he has served for one term, and all did not go well with them since non whites have infiltrated and dominated America. This can be supported by the current demonstrations by some whites labeled â€Å"take back America.† most whites feel that America belongs to them so should be the leadership positions. However, this will be outbalanced by the relatively large numbers of the non whites who reason along the same line but to the opposite direction. The economic factors have been a major concern for the Americans since the world’s major economic meltdown that negatively affected the Americans during president Obama’s term. Mitt has at some point picked this as a campaign basis where he blames the Obama administration for the bad situation that befell the Americans . Obama, on the other hand, gives defensive reasoning of the same in an attempt to win the trust that he already lost. The trick in this case for him is that the government has had the issues to do with taxation and payment of bills. The other policy that acts as an indicator of the most likely winner of the election is the foreign policy that has been linked with the history. Obama successfully ended the war in Afghanistan and Iraqi but

Your choice Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Your choice - Term Paper Example Social security was introduced in the United States through the enactment of the Social Security Act on August 14, 1935.1 The Act was conscripted during President Franklin Roosevelt term as the President’s Committees on Economic Security that was under Frances Perkins. The Act attempted to limit what were seen at the time as the dangers in modern America life that include poverty, unemployment, old age, fatherless children and the encumbrance of widows (Levitan & Levitan, 2003). When President Roosevelt signed the Act into law, he became the first President to support for federal backing for the aged in the society. The Social Security Act if there would be benefits to the retirees and the unemployed as well as a lump-sum benefit when a person had died. The Act also provided money to states to give assistance to the ages under Title 1, unemployment insurance, Title III, public health services Title VI, Maternal and Child Welfare Title V and Aid to families with Dependent Children under Title IV. Various arguments were introduced as to the manner in which the programs benefit would be funded.2 Some of the people believed that the individuals should be funded by using contributions that the individuals had made over the course of employment or careers. While other indicated that using this method would be disadvantage to the people who had begun their career at the time when the program was being implements. This is because they would not have adequate time to accumulate their benefits. Additionally, Social Security was controversial because many of the opponents believed that if the Act was implemented them many people would lose their jobs. The opponents also indicated that the proposal to implement social security would amount to socialism this is because most women and minority groups were excluded from the benefits of old age pensions and unemployment insurance.3 The proponents of the Act or Social Security believed that

Global history Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Global history - Essay Example Additionally, the end of the Cold War has had important implications for the already precarious states of Africa and has coincided with the emergence of Asian economic â€Å"Tigers†: a global economic shift towards emerging East Asian powerhouses. Our current wave of globalization will be traced back to the late 1960s, beginning with the â€Å"social revolution† of that decade, and will end with today’s international state of affairs. The social revolution of the 1960s was also a cultural revolution. In fact, the â€Å"rise of a specific, and extraordinarily powerful youth culture indicated a profound change in the relation between generations† (Hobsbawm 324). Leading this cultural revolution were the young: teenagers started wearing jeans – prior to that only farmers wore them – and rock music became the voice of a generation (Hobsbawm 324). In fact, industries saw the potential of this young and increasingly powerful generation and catered to it through the â€Å"flourishing industries of cosmetics, hair-care and personal hygiene† (Hobsbawm 326). Hobsbawm asserts that the social revolution of the 1960s was as much a capitalist venture as a social and cultural revolution. The result of this â€Å"concentrated mass of purchasing power† (Hobsbawm 326) was the development of a sort of cultural hegemony, with blue jeans and rock music the identifiers of modern youth. Cultural symbo ls of identity thus perpetuated an Anglo-American global cultural hegemony. Additionally, "the cultural revolution of the latest twentieth century can thus best be understood as the triumph of the individual over society, or rather, the breaking of the threads which in the past had woven human beings into social textures" (Hobsbawm 324-330). Planned capitalism, expressed through governmental economic intervention and the Bretton Woods Agreements of 1944, exploded during the 1970s. Bretton Woods, which established

Global warming Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Global warming - Research Paper Example This phenomenon can be perceived as an increase in the average temperature on earth’s surface, which is caused by the emission of various gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide etc due the burning of fossil fuels. In the modern world, technological developments have added pace and diversity to the process of industrialization, which causes the release of toxic gases into the atmosphere. The adverse effects of technology can be seen in urbanization also, which entails deforestation and the consequent negative impact on the environment. Besides, the increasing number of vehicles also contributes to aggravate the problem as it results in massive emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Evidence suggests that â€Å"about three-fourths of the carbon dioxide added to the air comes from burning fossil fuels such as oil and coal,† which are primarily used in industries and transportation (Kowalski 2004 pg 12). Similarly, deforestation, which occurs mainly a s a result of urbanization, also causes voluminous release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Thus, it becomes apparent that human actions, to a great extent, contribute to major changes in the climate of earth. Global warming, in simple terms, can be defined as the â€Å"continuing increase in Earth’s overall temperature† (Farrar 2008 pg 7). ... This remains a major concern in the modern world as it has far reaching negative repercussions on the environment, which, in turn, will adversely affect the life on earth. Therefore, this research mainly focuses on three research questions as under: - i) What causes the occurrence of the condition known as Global Warming? ii) What are the effects of Global Warming? iii) What can the humans do to effectively resolve the problem? The researcher has attempted to address these questions through the following literature review, which takes into consideration the available evidence in published books, internet articles etc. Review of Literature (Definition of the Problem): Global Warming, as stated earlier, is an increase in the surface temperature of the earth. Research studies indicate that on an average, the surface temperature of planet earth has increased by nearly â€Å"1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.76 degrees C) in the last 150 years (Farrar 2008 pg 7). However, the same study also cla ims that some places have registered the rise in temperature as high as 5 degrees Fahrenheit or 2.8 degrees C. While almost 99% of earth’s atmosphere comprises of nitrogen and oxygen, greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and ozone constitute the remaining 1%. The problem arises from the fact that these greenhouse gases retain the heat in the atmosphere, which is essential for humans and other living beings on earth to stay warm and to escape from freezing cold. However, when fossil fuels such as oil and coal are burnt, large volumes of gases get released into earth’s atmosphere. The presence of such emissions will mean increased capacity of air to store heat, which will enhance the heat in the atmosphere.

Marketing strategy Essay Example for Free

Marketing strategy Essay Nike Inc. founded in 1964 by Bill Bowerman and Philip Knight is global leader in sportswear and footwear industry. With Nike occupying around 45% of global market share in footwear and apparels and moving further ahead, much of the organisational success can be credited to its marketing strategy that have helped the organisation achieve revenue worth billions every fiscal year ($18 billion being in 2008). Nike Inc. UK has a major market in the UK for fitness trainers and shoes provided for health and fitness purpose benefits to the consumers. Nike understands the importance of market analysis and marketing strategy based upon those analytical processes. Considerable amount of research and analysis have been carried on in understanding consumer needs, UK’s environment and potential opportunities. This report consists of situational analysis SWOT of Nike in UK and also presents situational analysis suggestion of ways in which competitive edge can be gained against its rivals with segmentation, targeting and positioning of the products. The importance of marketing objectives has also been highlighted in the report and thus provides Nike with a glimpse of marketing environment in UK and the expectations with role of marketing mix (4P’s). Introduction Nike has predominantly been successful in shoe manufacturing and distribution among the shoe manufacturers with its superior quality, high tech, ultramodern shoes that meet on going demand of the market and its trends. From professional athletics to most common need for fitness trainers, Nike has got fitness shoes and trainers in all shape, sizes and colours. Some of the most famous Nike trainers and fitness shoes are Nike + (spelled as plus), Air Jordan, Nike Shox, Nike Lunar glide, Nike Air Zoom, Nike 360 and many more. Nike is the sole distributor of Nike trade mark represented on each of these and many of its fitness trainers sold globally. High quality material, design and cut and technological enhancement of the shoes as per requirement of various activities thus make Nike the best choice for fitness trainers and shoes. Marketing Analysis and strategic evaluation of a company is an important component of any organisational success. Without well-structured marketing strategies and road maps to planning and achieving them, no organisation can be at the point where they want to be. Nike in UK covers a fair amount of market share and revenue for the organisation. The huge market diversity, brand awareness in market and consumer base loyal to high quality products therefore help to its cause. On the other hand, UK market is generally health conscious and trendy. Trainers and fitness shoes are therefore in much demand over last few years within the country itself. Marketing Audit (Nike Inc. UK) Nike Inc. UK follows management strategies that combine with six of the most important external factors that can have an impact on the organisation. PESTLE is a situational analysis tool that can be used by firms to determine their position against possible external influences such as politics, economy, society, technology, environment and law. Nike and its positional stand against background of UK market can therefore be analysed in the following way: Political Factors Nike Inc. has a considerably stable political environment and an economy welfare provided by the state. Considerable amount of legal requirements were accomplished by Nike during its entry in the UK as an organisation completing all political alignments. Considerable amount of fitness shoes and trainers are imported in UK which is sold all over. However, Nike might have to face challenges if government drafts policy or quotas on Nike shoes that can be imported from its production sites such as Asia-Pacific. Economic Factors UK economy has been unstable in recent years. The double dip recession few years back, inflation rate fluctuating abnormally, growing living costs, income tax rate increments and other economic factors directly or indirectly affected Nike’s performance in the UK with comparatively weak sales figure. Economic balance, employment rate and PDI all must be stable and firm enough in the economy to help a business sustain. Nike therefore needs strategic move that can guarantee its sustainability in such circumstances. Social Factors UK market comprises of people from multiple culture, religion and ethnic backgrounds. Therefore, Nike needs to understand the social system and practice of all these people whenever approaching them. Sales and marketing of the fitness shoes should be therefore based upon social acceptance of methods, people’s lifestyle and their way of thinking. For instance, consumers in UK who purchase fitness trainers are pretty health conscious and the numbers are growing as well. Hence, Nike needs to provide more health benefitting shoes and apparel. Similarly, social responsibility image of Nike has to be significantly boosted with accusations of running sweatshops in Nike factories in Asia which it has tried to improve with facilities, factory improvements and commitment towards further improvement. Technological Factors Technological factors are an important aspect that needs to be considered by Nike Inc. UK . Technological advancements in fitness shoes need to be updated and research and development of such apparels have to be advanced. With fitness shoes that are designed such for injury prevention, sole strengthening, speed sports, less sweating and many other features the advancement has been unimaginable. UK customers are updated and spend good time researching on features and quality of the product they want. Nike therefore has to be technologically capable of providing customer satisfaction. Environmental Factors Nike needs total understanding of UK market as consumers are concerned about how products they purchase can make an impact upon environment. Production materials, process and sites can be harmful to environment in many ways. This can be a grave concern for environmental activists and hence persuade consumer thoughts. Nike has to be able to inform the consumers in UK with their continuous efforts in making Nike shoe production environment friendly and use of raw materials and the production process least harmful to nature. Legal factors Nike has to oblige with all the legal regulations and in relevance with companies operating in the UK. They must consider their business privileges as well as legal responsibility in concern with marketing, promotion and sales in the Kingdom. Some of the legal acts that they need to consider are regarding press, trade acts, acts on sales and supply of goods, adverts and campaigning, television adverts, environmental acts and so on. Without its compliance of local laws and acts Nike would suffer a huge blow in gaining consumer trust as they cannot operate with efficiency. SWOT ANALYSIS FOR NIKE FITNESS SHOES Strength: Nike is a global leader in shoe manufacturing and has been in market for very long time. There is a considerable amount of customer trust and loyalty based upon the very fact that Nike has been able to provide highest quality fitness shoes with modern techniques and design over years. The research and development investment in Nike is huge. The very reason has pioneered Nike in producing ultra-modern technology in fitness shoes. Shoes with air compressed soles for low pressure on soles, ankle protecting designs, speed boosting trainers etc. have all been Nike’s brilliant ideas in meeting with modern demands of consumers. Beside innovations, Nike also provides consumers with choice of designing their own shoes in the UK. Nike has a global presence and their revenues are worth billions . Distribution channels for Nike are well established and it has diverse range of products to cater the consumers with. Weakness: Nike Inc. UK has had to compete fiercely against several of its competitors in recent years with economic downfall regarding price of the product. Several of Nike’s fitness trainers are comparatively expensive than other brands. With buyers focusing their mind on cost efficient purchase, Nike prices are a thought for many. On the other hand, Nike’s sweatshop factories in Asia which are not owned by Nike themselves but subcontracted had tarnished Nike image among many people. Nike has considerably put much effort in improving the working condition and lives of its workers thereby. Opportunity: UK market has lots of potential opportunities for the Nike. With numerous amounts of health conscious people and growing sport enthusiastic generation of youngsters, Nike has the opportunity to grab market by launching shoes and trainers as per the consumer needs. Use of internet is wide and common in the UK and e-commerce has been developing in a tremendous pace. Nike can use this opportunity to promote, inform and cater its consumers with its fitness trainers. Threats: Nike has been competing fiercely with rival companies such as Adidas, Puma, Asics, Umbro and others for fitness shoe production and distribution in UK market. Besides, challenges from competitors, forged Nike footwear relatively cheap and of low quality are circulated by counterfeiters in market which has hampered Nikes reputation and brand. On the other hand growing economic uncertainty, government cuts and rising inflation have been challenging Nike sales. COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE Competitive advantage can be defined as strategic advantage a company holds against the competitors in the industry. It can be marked as the positional state of company when it is able to create a benchmark in terms of profit in the industry. Nike has the competitive advantage over its rivals through wider market coverage, higher gross revenue and customer loyalty as well. Nike fitness trainers with their high quality design and attributes have been able to outperform other shoe makers. Nike therefore wants to hold this competitive advantage over its rival sustainably. Competitive advantage can be achieved either by, Cost advantage techniques when production is made in massive quantity and products sold in relatively cheaper price or differentiation techniques of producing unique featured products against competitors and providing relative value to the good priced. In 2003, Svend Hollenson provided seven key factors that provide organisations with competitive advantage. Nike with all these consideration and seven key factors can boost its performance therefore in market. The seven factors are: Economy of scale: Economies of scale refers to the term when production cost of a company is relatively lower than its sales revenue and earnings made are from massive sales. These companies produce goods on regular basis and avoid shortage in the market. Economy of scope: Economies of scope relates to the idea that cost of production can be further reduced by other organisational means such as joint administrative firms for different products, similar storage for different goods and cost effective methodologies used in production to distribution. Strategic thinking: The core competence of any business to succeed in modern business world is strategic thinking. With enormous amount of competition and impediments that can affect the business, Nike should be able to analyse its internal and external environment, assess operational lapses so as they can provide effective strategy to eradicate arrears and achieve their objectives. Use of local market: Global companies such as Nike have ample opportunity to provide their range of products to local market in the UK. With well informed and health conscious consumers growing on daily basis, Nike can exploit the opportunity to provide its trainers in all parts of the country. Nike’s product range and standards are well accepted and with more quality products coming in it can boost with learning of local market and advantages it can take from. Ability to provide global services: Nike has been able to provide its product and service throughout the globe. With communication, transportation and various technological developments that have made international trade reliable, company such as Nike have been able to market and cater their business worldwide. Use if information technology in global service is an essential tool which has been used by Nike to deliver its goods and services. Competitive advantage (Company specific): Every organisation should have a distinct and unique feature which provides a competitive edge over its rival companies. Nike has been providing high quality footwear from their founding days. Superior technology, design and features of Nike footwear are second to none. This very reason has made Nike achieve higher market share globally than its competitors by building excellent customer relationship. Human resource (competitive advantage): Nike and its success can be credited on high level to the employees of Nike who with their commitment, skills and attitude have made tremendous development and market coverage for them. Human workforce is an essential element of any business where firm should be able to provide the employees with business specific skills. This helps organisation achieve most out of the available workforce. SEGMENTATION, TARGETING AND POSITIONING (STP) The marketing strategy of a company starts from mission and vision statement to selection of market and then positioning of the plans and objectives of the product in the market. Philip Kotler (1994) provided segmentation, targeting and positioning as the essence of strategic management for any organisation. Here, in terms of Nike Inc. UK, we can suggest following steps to be followed for strategic move: Segmentation: Research on existing market, types of customers and distribution of similar market should be carried out. Targeting: A target market (generally mass and more productive) which has to be served has to be analysed. Positioning: The plans are carried out to be performed in the target market and all the activities positioned. Nike Inc. UK should be able to research and develop the segments within UK market where consumers with similar characteristics can be served. The three approaches of market segmentation such as differentiated, undifferentiated and concentrated can be used to determine segments and plan accordingly by Nike. Nike can distinguish its market with several features and variables which determine the general concept about products that Nike offer, fitness shoes in this case. Socio-demographic variables such as age, gender, occupation, income and family etc. can be considered. It may also be based on geographic information such as area, area density, household and neighbourhood, market size and more. Behavioural data can be assessed to determine customer loyalty, buying trends, user choice and others. Psychographic studies would help Nike understand consumer lifestyle, fashion choices and many more. Nike and its segment targeting approach in the UK Socio demography: Nike Inc. UK provides fitness shoe and trainers in wide range and designs to offer different kind of customers. Trainers and shoes come in all shape, size, specification and quality. Trainers in multiple ranges for men, women and kids are available in the UK market. Sizes are marked effectively for fit in purpose and available readily in all the sales stores. Fitness trainers for men range from ? 38 least for Nike Zoom to ? 120 highest for Nike Trainer 1. Women have wide range of choice as well from Nike Air Cardio designs costing mere ? 28 to ? 140 for Nike Air Max+ 2011 id. Kid products range from ? 18 to ? 100. Geography: Nike has made its presence felt in all the major towns and cities in the UK. The points those are most likely to be consumer targeted have been covered as market by Nike. However, reaching the country sides would be a challenge and point of thought if Nike wants to expand its business all over the nation. Nike provides point of sale services in London, Birmingham city, Glasgow, Manchester city, Edinburgh and many other cities. However, internet usage is the only medium for other geographic parts to purchase Nike trainers. Customer Behaviour: It can be important for Nike to realise the importance of customer behaviour in UK. To learn more about consumer preferences and expectation, it is important to communicate with them and share their experiences. Customer loyalty can be earned by providing customers with benefits and services such as after sales, exchange facilities, warranty and making them feel cared for. Nike has to develop such credentials to learn more about customer status and capacity. Consumer psychograph: Nike has so far been successful in providing trainers and fitness shoes to varying demands of consumers that are available in the UK. Prices of the trainers range from ? 28 to ? 140 which shows that Nike has its focus on all sets of customer status. Some exclusive products are also sold in the market that focuses on trendy, fashionable and youthful nature of trainers and fitness shoes for the consumers. POSITIONING OF MARKET Nike Inc. has been very successful in positioning itself as a global leader in athletic footwear market. Even in UK, Nike has been really successful in covering huge market, enormous amount of consumer trust and therefore considerable amount of revenue for the company itself. Technological advancement, high quality materials, innovation and design in Nike footwear are what even the competitors try to imitate. Even though several European brands provide Nike with stiff competition in the UK, Nike has been efficacious in fending off challenges and come up with even better trainers and footwear as per the demand of demanding health conscious population. With a very competitive pricing strategy that is in concern with market expectations, Nike provides footwear of different sizes, design and price for different market segments. Nike has invested considerable amount of time and money on research of UK market since years which has made it one of the most trusted and loved brand in the UK. Such strong position and market share therefore is a positive sign for Nike in days to come. NIKE AND ITS MARKETING OBJECTIVES AND GOALS IN THE UK Nike has been established as a reputed business enterprise in the UK for years now. Their capability and product effectiveness are reflected in choice of people in using Nike fitness trainers before any available option. SMART based goals and objectives which relate to features of objective setting such as specification, measurement, attainment, realisation and time are necessary for Nike to implement in their strategies. Here, we analyse how Nike’s objectives can be related to the SMART approach. SPECIFIC: Nike is the leading women fitness provider in UK with revenue grossing worth 200 million dollars in 2010. Nike Inc. wants to double the gross amount by the fiscal year of 2014. MEASURABLE: Nike targets revenue of $27 billion by the end of 2015 as well as cumulative cash flow increment to $12 billion. ACHIEVABLE: Nike wants to provide UK consumers with 100% cotton used fitness trainers based upon consumer survey in coming years. Nike Inc. has plans to endorse its own athletics footwear during the 2012 summer Olympics in London by sponsoring all the American athletes participating in the games. REALISTIC: Nike Inc. UK wants to increase its market coverage in the UK which is 18% now to 25% within 2013 as Nike footwear have had tremendously appreciated response and promotional endorsements are to be boosted during Olympic games. TIME BOUND: All afore mentioned plans and objectives of Nike Inc. UK are to be completed in certain time allocated for each objective completion. MARKETING STRATEGIES AND PROGRAMS OF NIKE INC. UK Nike Inc. UK would have to define its objectives and the process of determining the achievement of those goals. Out of various strategic plans available, Nike Inc. UK can use growth strategies using both product and market. Figure source: http://highn. me/ansoffs-matrix-planning-for-growth/ Nike Inc. UK can develop its strategies by using various methods of strategic moves such as Market Penetration: by providing competitive prices against others, promotional campaigns, enhancing customer support and care etc. Market Development: by getting into newer geographic area, building newer distribution channels, creating new product dimension, creating new market segment etc. Product Development: by producing exclusive products, creating a new trend, using technological advancements in product, diversifying product ranges etc. Diversification: by producing new merchandises than usual for instance sweat free socks for Nike trainers, or other products to match Nike footwear and apparels such as caps, jogging scarfs etc. THE MARKETING MIX (4P’S) FOR NIKE INC. UK Nike Inc. UK and their marketing strategies may be subject to changes from external forces of environment such as politics, economy, society, technology, environment and law. The company however has no control on these factors and have to make adjustments on several occasions. The 4 p’s are variables that the organisation can control within its own marketing strategy and is generally known as 4 p’s of marketing mix. Here, we analyse Nike Inc. and its marketing mix. Product: Nike should be able to provide product variety to the consumers in UK. With people interested in different sports, Nike can make an impact on market here. The quality and features of the new trainers have to be of highest quality, design and durability. Latest trends and technology used in performance enhancement, accident prevention and safety of athletes should be made available in Nike trainers. Sizes and shapes have to come out in all different ways and the products need to be attractively packaged as well. Price: Nike needs to focus on all kinds of customer and research on the customer behaviour or purchasing pattern in the UK. Though Nike already provides trainers from as cheap as ? 28 to ? 140 and more, the prices need to be justified. List of the prices and their features marked with products can be helpful. Price discounts on times can be helpful for boosting business. Place: Nike should focus on locations where footwear can be retailed, distributed or sold more efficiently. Study of market is necessary to determine where Nike can make best out of its sales. Placement in this case may be stores around sport clubs, distribution to other sellers and others. Information technology has covered almost the whole part of UK which can be utilised by Nike to exploit the market and attract the customers. Promotion: Nike Inc. has used several of global athletes as brand ambassadors for the company. Their very link with the company and attachment has provided lime light to the Nike trainers as well. The company can advertise its trainers through media; create sales promotion from time to time and even sponsor future sport events to promote their products as well. Conclusion/Recommendation: Marketing Strategy is an important aspect in achieving the organisational goals and objectives. Only with considerable investment in analysing Nike Inc. ’s strength, weakness, opportunity and threats can the organisation implement marketing strategies. Nike enjoys good market presence and customer loyalty in the kingdom and thus can improve further. From the report, we can recommend some of the following aspects for Nike; The emerging youth culture and trend is an opportunity for Nike to market its products. More technological use in trainers, design can be improved so as to promote fitness trainers. Health benefits associated with fitness Nike trainers should be made aware to the consumers. Use of information technology can be great way to market coverage for Nike trainers and their distribution.

Advertising Through Social Networking Websites Marketing Essay

Advertising Through Social Networking Websites Marketing Essay The purpose of this paper to study the effectiveness of advertisements through SNS amongst Post Graduate Students in Indore City. This paper studies factors which make advertisements attractive also identifies whether the advertisements are only till viewing or does it leads to purchase also. Design/methodology/approach- The survey was conducted in Post Graduate College of Indore City, MP. This research can be considered as the basis for a more extensive research, covering other geographical areas, which will produce results allowing more specific and accurate predictions regarding the effectiveness of advertising through Social Networking Websites. Implications- The findings reveal a number of issues that are important for companies eager to explore the potential of promotions through Social Networking Websites. Also the study will help the organizations understand the consumer behavior of evolving commercial cities like Indore. Humans in all cultures at all times form complex social networks; the term social network here means ongoing relations among people that matter to those engaged in the group, either for specific reasons (like blood donation camps, fashion communities) or for more general expressions of mutual solidarity (like families, friends etc). Social networks among individuals who may not be related can be validated maintained by agreement on objectives, social values, or even by choice of entertainment. Social Media presents potentially seductive opportunities for new forms of communication commerce between marketers consumers. As advertisers typically want to find some way to follow their target audiences, many new media opportunities are presented to advertisers. (Miller, Lammas). Advertisers are always in search of new ideas technologies that often promise great potential. In this century, when the media is fragmenting advertisers are skeptical about the cost effectiveness of ubiquitous media, particularly among young demographics, the facts present a strong platform as to why Social Media can become a life saver. Social Networking a place where people can use networks of online friends group memberships to keep in touch with current friends, reconnect with old friends or create real-life friendships through similar interests or groups share their social experiences. Social network advertising is a term that is used to describe a form of Online Advertising that focuses on social networking sites. Some responses showed light to this direction with a different perspective. Indeed social medias influence promises some sort of marketing communications revolution: for instance, global brand Pepsi will not be advertising during the Super Bowl, instead opting for a digital social media campaign they say will help their customers better understand what pepsi stands for(WARC, 2010b). Consumers searching online for information about a product, or brands, not only gain access to corporate marketing materials, they now also have access to product reviews, opinions commentary from other consumers (Smith, 2010). It was observed that a majority of consumers surveyed relied on various types of social media websites as much as company websites for product brand information that nearly half of those made a purchase decision based on what they gathered. However, although social media applications are controlled by users, trend data is not yet conclusive with respect to who is generating, and accessing information (Thackerey et. al. 2008, p. 341). The interaction of the consumers with SNS has also become a very crucial aspect. One stream of research suggests the existence of a loyalty ladder in social networking communities that splits users into categories such as: lurkers (those who are reticent to contribute to sites); tourists (those post comments but demonstrate no commitment to a network); minglers (those who post with no regularity of frequency); evangilists/insiders (those who are enthusiastic, expert regular their contributions)(Harridge-March Quinton 2009, p. 176). Other researchers split users into slightly different categories, for example: social clickers (users who communicate with friends create content on message boards review sites); online insiders (avid online shoppers who vocalize product preferences); and content kings (young men addicted to online entertainment) (Riegner 2007, pp.439-440). These bifurcations show the complexity lack of uniform measurements for marketers targeting social media users . 1.1 Social Networking Sites (SNSs) Social Networking Sites can be defined as web based services that allow individuals to construct a public profile within a bounded system, articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, view traverse their list of connections those made by others within the systems. Some networking can also help members find a job or establish business contacts. SNS include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Orkut so on. Most SNS also offer additional features. In addition to blogs forums, members can express themselves by designing their profile page to reflect their personality. The most poplar extra features include music video sections. While SNSs are often designed to be widely accessible, many attract homogeneous populations initially, so it is very common to find groups using sites to segregate themselves by nationality, age, education or other factors that typically segment society. 1.2 Advertising on Social Networking Sites Social Networking advertising can be used to describe a form of online advertising that focuses on social networking sites. The advantage this advertising has is the benefit of the users demographic information target their advertisements appropriately. It continues to add variety on a continuous basis. Organizations can also utilize this feature to make it up to the target audience in diverse ways. SNS are changing the way advertisers reach consumers, that these changes are transforming online advertising all together (Gangadharbatla). Few instances can be taken into consideration like in Facebook, when users log on, they get News feed, where they can easily access all the ads videos they like. The study has taken into account the fact that knowledge of the network is limited. The success of social networks marks a dynamic shift in how are using net. 1.3 Things to be kept in mind From various researches it has been experienced that marketers have now become risk adverse is reluctant towards consumer- generated media due to their inability to control message. In one instance, pharmaceutical manufacturer Johnson Johnson released an online marketing campaign via an online video about pain relief for women who carry their babies in a sling. Within hours, Twitter exploded with negative commentary about the videos perceived deprecation of motherhood. To air it further, the online discussions would also be communicated off-line sometimes reach tradition media. Thus, over a single weekend, the volume sentiment of the consumer-generated media brought down a well planned advertising campaign (Baker 2009, p.2). Another obstacle for marketers is that viewers will consider information if it is both useful believable, but will react badly to sales-push messages that are violating social networkings intrinsic qualities of socialization trust (Angel Sexsmith 2009, p.4). Making social networking sites entirely commercial is risky, as users might turn away from the site if they feel their interests are being subjugated to those of advertisers; a warning issued by analysts to News Corp when it acquired MySpace, shifting it to a mass market advertising platform giving brands the opportunities to both advertise interact with the web users (Carter 2008, p.16). Creating fake blog entries is another example of how the misuse of social media can irritate consumers harm brands. The now infamous Walmarting across America fake blog (or flog as it became known), came under severe criticism online after the ethical breach was exposed (Burns 2008, p.16). Also poor execution of the ads or poor display sometimes irritates the users which lead to poor results and negative remarks. One of the major criteria can be the size of online communities as well. It becomes a major factor which limits in generating a massive Word of Mouth. For online groups to be effective, there needs to be a finite size to each community (Phillips 2008, p.82). For social media campaigns to be effective, the new commercial imperative dictates marketers needs to belong to a large number of groups or communities, rather than merely rely on broadcasts to an online group with a large number of members.This becomes the evidence for the fat that both the cultural emotional relationships are paramount (Phillips 2008, p.84), reflecting the surge to simultaneously monitor than to only be the users. 1.4 Need for using Social Media To generate a sense of group mind-set shared interests, online brand communities should include a wide range of interests that have a direct, but nonintrusive, connection with the brand (Brown, Broderick Lee 2007, p.15). Conceptual models have been developed to guide the process of cocreation with online consumers. One example is the DART model which comprises: dialogue (fostering something tangible to the online consumer), Access (providing a companys customers access to each other), risk return relationship (offering something tangible to the online consumer) transparency (creating an environment to share valuable information) (Ramaswamy, 2008, p.3). Real dialogue with consumers led to Unilevers ground breaking online viral campaign Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. Unilever was able to send the most relevant messages to consumers based on precisely what they were seeking /or conversing about. Another area of opportunity for social marketing is brand building connecting enthusiastic online brand advocates with the companys product development cycle (Ferguson 2008, p.181). 1.5 Effectiveness of Social Marketing Many marketers feel the need to tick the social media box demonstrate how cutting edge they are, while the primary drivers of their campaign remain embedded in traditional media. There is a need to effect a paradigm shift from a traditional more is better approach. While many social marketers fixate on volume metrics (website traffic, hit rates, click-through, time spent on-line, postings etc), successful social marketing often depends more on qualitative metrics for desirable signs of tone, quality customer benefit of the interaction (Angel, Sexsmith Sexsmith 2009, p.6). These may include: unique visitors, interaction rates, relevant actions taken, conversation size, conversation density, author credibility, content freshness relevance, audience profiles, unique user reach so on (Fisher 2009, p.191). Such metrics not only measure whether people are engaged, but how they are engaging. However, such metrics often need to be customized for individual campaigns need to be considered in the pre launch phase, ideally incorporated in message testing. OBJECTIVE The study aims to fulfill the following objectives: To know whether social network advertising is effective in sales or not To know the most preferred Social Network advertising approach To know the level of exposure a customer gets when he is being approaches on SNS To study the effectiveness of advertising through Social Networking Websites in Post Graduate Students with special reference to Indore City DATA ANALYSIS: Following factors were considered for preparing questionnaire: Contact {Number of times, durations} Intention Customizability Experience FINDINGS 40 percent of the social networking comes from high school secondary school students 40 percent tarrif generators are the graduate post graduate students. The highest number of active users is from 19-25 age groups but LinkedIn Twitter has a different age group of active users i.e. 25-40 age groups. Facebook delivery service is to about 75 percent of the users. 60 percent of the post graduate students who are looking for jobs have their profiles in LinkedIn. Only 30 percent of the population said that they purchase any product after searching or viewing it on website. 15 percent of the population accepted that they look the pop ups or click on the ads whereas 75 percent said they ignore the ads. Out of five SNS given in choice viz Facebook, Orkut, LinkedIn, G- plus Twitter; 60 percent said Facebook is the most used site by them. 20 percent said they used LinkedIn the most. 30 percent of the population said that they dont have any qualms regarding the quality of the product they see online. 46 percent confirmed that they would like to filter the ads from their profile page whereas 38 percent said they dont have any troubles by the placement of ads on their profile page. 78 percent confirmed that they are attached to Twitter because of the glamour quotient; 14 percent said they like twitter as a networking site; rest logged on for otherwise reasons. 82 percent of the respondents agreed that advertising through websites is a better medium whereas 18 percent said it has no effect on target audience. CONCLUSION SUGGESTIONS Any organization will not be able to make profits if its product introduction doesnt attracts the audience or if it does not reach to them. As the time has increased its momentum the consumers now-a-days do not consider anything worth watching if it is not of value tom them as far as traditional ads are considered. So to reach these kinds of targets Websites can become a very effective tool. If following points kept in mind, the advertisers can succeed in gaining interest of the audiences: Trust must be established subsequently reinforced in order to overcome any reluctance on the part of the would-be consumer. This means moving beyond old school approaches to website advertising to embrace the principles of relationship marketing- building virtual environments in which customers can connect with each other to share insights relevant information. Social media marketers can influence a brand community potentially influence consumer behavior.

Essay --

To the farmer, soil is where crops grow. To the engineer, soil is a foundation upon which to build. To the ecologist, soil supports communities of living things. To the archaeologist, soil holds clues to past cultures. To the city dweller, soil nurtures grass and gardens. To the scientist, soil is all of these things. Soil has been called â€Å"the skin of the earth† because it is the thin outermost layer of the Earth’s crust. Like our own skin, we can’t live without soil (â€Å"Story of Soil†). No matter where we go or what we do, soil is important to all of us. We walk all over it, take it for granted, and treat it like dirt, but SOIL is what our lives depend on. Every single thing we do is rooted in soil in at least one way, if not more. If we dig deep enough, we may even find our future careers and life passions. There are countless career opportunities that rely on soil in one way or another. What soil means to each career pathway varies greatly, much like the diversity within the career options themselves. No matter how different our lives and careers may be, one thing is for certain: we absolutely cannot survive without soil. To the farmer, soil is vital to his very existence. Soil is the home of over 400 million acres of crops that the farmer grows and nurtures to feed his family and yours. According to the 2007 USDA Census, there are almost 1 billion acres of farmland being utilized for crops and livestock (â€Å"American Farms†). Without the soil, these farmers would not be able to raise the products that we rely on for basic survival. United States agriculture must produce enough food to help feed the world’s ever growing population. At 7 billion people and rising, our soil must remain as productive as ever (â€Å"World Population Clock... ...bringing wetland habitats back and creating better soil management practices. Even if ones’ career is not directly related to soil, we all rely on it every day. To urban dwellers and rural route residents, soil supplies everything needed for their survival. Soil supplies the antibiotics that fight disease, the food on our plates, the clothes on our backs and acts as a holding facility for solid waste and wastewater. Soil also provides the foundation for our homes, stores, schools, and jobs. This is just the tip of the iceberg describing how our existence and possibly even our careers rely on soil. As we can see, a variety of diverse jobs include working with and understanding soil. Soil is vital to the farmer, to the archaeologist, to the scientist, to the ecologist, to the architect, to the engineer, to you and to me. Like our own skin, we can’t live without soil. Essay -- To the farmer, soil is where crops grow. To the engineer, soil is a foundation upon which to build. To the ecologist, soil supports communities of living things. To the archaeologist, soil holds clues to past cultures. To the city dweller, soil nurtures grass and gardens. To the scientist, soil is all of these things. Soil has been called â€Å"the skin of the earth† because it is the thin outermost layer of the Earth’s crust. Like our own skin, we can’t live without soil (â€Å"Story of Soil†). No matter where we go or what we do, soil is important to all of us. We walk all over it, take it for granted, and treat it like dirt, but SOIL is what our lives depend on. Every single thing we do is rooted in soil in at least one way, if not more. If we dig deep enough, we may even find our future careers and life passions. There are countless career opportunities that rely on soil in one way or another. What soil means to each career pathway varies greatly, much like the diversity within the career options themselves. No matter how different our lives and careers may be, one thing is for certain: we absolutely cannot survive without soil. To the farmer, soil is vital to his very existence. Soil is the home of over 400 million acres of crops that the farmer grows and nurtures to feed his family and yours. According to the 2007 USDA Census, there are almost 1 billion acres of farmland being utilized for crops and livestock (â€Å"American Farms†). Without the soil, these farmers would not be able to raise the products that we rely on for basic survival. United States agriculture must produce enough food to help feed the world’s ever growing population. At 7 billion people and rising, our soil must remain as productive as ever (â€Å"World Population Clock... ...bringing wetland habitats back and creating better soil management practices. Even if ones’ career is not directly related to soil, we all rely on it every day. To urban dwellers and rural route residents, soil supplies everything needed for their survival. Soil supplies the antibiotics that fight disease, the food on our plates, the clothes on our backs and acts as a holding facility for solid waste and wastewater. Soil also provides the foundation for our homes, stores, schools, and jobs. This is just the tip of the iceberg describing how our existence and possibly even our careers rely on soil. As we can see, a variety of diverse jobs include working with and understanding soil. Soil is vital to the farmer, to the archaeologist, to the scientist, to the ecologist, to the architect, to the engineer, to you and to me. Like our own skin, we can’t live without soil.

THESECRT GARDEN :: essays research papers

The Secret Garden The book was about a girl, a wealthy one, who lived in India. Her name was Mary. Mary always thought her parents never paid attention to her and was too busy with parties. Mary was always angry, but she never cried. She thought her mom didn’t care about her until one day, when her parents died. After her parents died she went with this lady named Mrs. Madlock. She was going to her uncle’s that Mary had never met before, Mrs. Madlock said. On the carriage-ride to her uncles, is when she found out exactly where she was going. Mary also found out that her mother had a twin sister, which was her uncle’s wife. But, she had died also. She was said that she had died from falling off a swing in her garden. She had reached her uncle’s house, but she didn’t get to meet him, just yet. Her orders were to get some rest and maybe she could see him in the morning. The next morning she met Martha, Mrs. Madlock’s servant. After she was told to stay in her room she found a passage-door where it led to a dusty old room. She thought it most have been her Aunt’s room because it had matching things as her mother. In that room she found a big key, an odd-looking key.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  That day she went outside to play. She wasn’t sure whom to play with; she didn't have any friends that didn't live in India. She found a robin, which led her to a door, a locked door. It had a keyhole that look as if the key in her aunt’s bedroom would fit. She got the key from the bedroom and it slides in perfect. She opened the big door and looked around, she saw how beautiful everything was and a wooden swing. Then she saw a boy. The boy’s name was Dickon; he was Martha’s brother. She and Dickon became friends and they planted many flowers together.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A couple of nights later when she was wandering around the house like she shouldn’t have she heard a boy. She went to go see who it was. It was her cousin, Colin. She has never met him either, she didn’t even know she had a cousin, nor an uncle. Colin has been in bed all his life, he was â€Å"sick†. Mary talked to him and became friends. THESECRT GARDEN :: essays research papers The Secret Garden The book was about a girl, a wealthy one, who lived in India. Her name was Mary. Mary always thought her parents never paid attention to her and was too busy with parties. Mary was always angry, but she never cried. She thought her mom didn’t care about her until one day, when her parents died. After her parents died she went with this lady named Mrs. Madlock. She was going to her uncle’s that Mary had never met before, Mrs. Madlock said. On the carriage-ride to her uncles, is when she found out exactly where she was going. Mary also found out that her mother had a twin sister, which was her uncle’s wife. But, she had died also. She was said that she had died from falling off a swing in her garden. She had reached her uncle’s house, but she didn’t get to meet him, just yet. Her orders were to get some rest and maybe she could see him in the morning. The next morning she met Martha, Mrs. Madlock’s servant. After she was told to stay in her room she found a passage-door where it led to a dusty old room. She thought it most have been her Aunt’s room because it had matching things as her mother. In that room she found a big key, an odd-looking key.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  That day she went outside to play. She wasn’t sure whom to play with; she didn't have any friends that didn't live in India. She found a robin, which led her to a door, a locked door. It had a keyhole that look as if the key in her aunt’s bedroom would fit. She got the key from the bedroom and it slides in perfect. She opened the big door and looked around, she saw how beautiful everything was and a wooden swing. Then she saw a boy. The boy’s name was Dickon; he was Martha’s brother. She and Dickon became friends and they planted many flowers together.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A couple of nights later when she was wandering around the house like she shouldn’t have she heard a boy. She went to go see who it was. It was her cousin, Colin. She has never met him either, she didn’t even know she had a cousin, nor an uncle. Colin has been in bed all his life, he was â€Å"sick†. Mary talked to him and became friends.

Free Automated Essay Writer :: Automated Essay Writer

The new and improved Automated Essay Writer automatically writes your assignment, essays, articles, research papers for you. All you need to do is enter your assignment requirements and the Automated Essay Writer will present you with a unique and original essay within just few seconds. The only problem is that it has not yet been developed. Until the day we have finally perfected the Automated Essay Writer, one must be able to express themselves in writing if they wish to participate in the modern world. One of the first steps in mastering the ability of self-expression is to learn how to write a simple essay. What is an essay? Webster’s New Twentieth Century Dictionary (2nd ed.) defines an essay as â€Å"a short literary composition dealing with a single subject, usually from a personal point of view and without attempting completion.† Kathleen McWhorter, author of The Writer’s Express, defines an essay as â€Å"a group of paragraphs about one subject.† Aldous Huxley called the essay â€Å"a literary device for saying almost everything about almost anything.† As you might have guessed from these passages, the essay may take many forms. Most of the essays you will write during your college career, however, will be what are known as persuasive (or argumentative) essays. A persuasive essay takes a position on a topic and attempts to prove that position. Structure of a persuasive essay A persuasive essay usually consists of the following three parts: 1. The introduction starts with a fairly general opening statement which introduces readers to your topic (or subject) and gradually narrows to a specific thesis. The thesis, or thesis statement, tells the reader what you are going to say about your topic. Thesis statements often come at the end of the introductory paragraph. This movement from the general to the specific is referred to as a funnel paragraph. 2. The body is made up of the paragraphs which support your thesis. These paragraphs contain the evidence, arguments, and examples that support your thesis. 3. The conclusion starts with a summary of the specific points of your essay, followed by a restatement of your thesis (usually in a slightly reworded form), and ends with a rather general statement about the implications of your thesis. This movement from the specific to the general is just the opposite of that in the introduction, and is known as an inverted funnel. Writing the essay 1. Choosing a topic

Word of Mouth Marketing in the Time of the Internet

At the threshold of the onslaught and brutal display of power of the internet-based word of mouth, there are many important things to discuss standing from different perspectives. The most important of which is from the standpoint of an advertising/marketing strategist, which is constantly manipulating the mechanisms of social behavior (including the word of mouth phenomenon then and now) in the name of successful market control. Word of mouth (WOM) and marketing go hand in hand in the past, largely because of the impact of interpersonal relationship and communication in consumerism. Companies overwhelmingly believe in the ability of consumers to influence one another’s purchasing decisions (Nacht, Chaney, 2006, p. 64). † Today, another player comes into the picture – the internet. If traditional marketing and advertising has managed to weave its way around traditional word of mouth communication enough to successfully manipulate it, the same cannot be said about how advertising and marketing entities are dealing with internet-based sources of word of mouth communication. The internet has shown that it is a powerful tool for word of mouth communication and the power grows vis-a-vis the growth of users, who are also the consumers. â€Å"The large number of users gives Internet WOM significant potential power for marketers. Anecdotal evidence of the power of the Internet WOM abounds (Schindler, Bickart, 2005, p. 35). † Despite the problems that go with the rise of internet-based word of mouth communication and marketing, there are still positive things to hope for. The opportunity here is for companies to find their brand ambassadors (Nacht, Chaney, 2006, p. 64),† while for others, the task is to simply be able to work well with this new social trend empowered by new technology that many is enjoying at the moment. Nonetheless, this is a very important topic to discuss, break down and analyze. This paper will discuss how different internet-based sources of word of mouth marketing including web sites, blogs and other similar mediums affect th e decision-making process and the buying habits of modern day consumers. This paper will be discussing the special and important relationship of three factors – the internet, consumers and the word of mouth communication – because how these factors affect each other is an important aspect that shapes how consumerism takes place today. Since the day that humans were able to understand and execute the system of selling items or services for a profit, the consumer segment of the society has already been created; and today, everyone is a consumer. With the creation of the consumer section and the start of the flow of local economics via sustainability through the sale of items or services that other people are willing to pay for is the creation of word of mouth communication. What is word of mouth communication, or WOM? There are several yet similar explanations about word of mouth communication made by experts. Here is one: â€Å"Word-of-mouth communication† is used â€Å"to exchange post-purchase experience among the costumers (Takahashi, Sallach, Juliette, 2007, p. 09). † Providing that this explanation is correct, the very first word of mouth communication is the very first time the very first consumer who bought something from another person told another individual what he or she thinks of the recent item he/she purchased. This trend has not changed since. All over the world, part of the culture of consumers is to let other people know how they feel about the product they purchased. Usually, neighbors who have pleasant relationship with each other include in their casual conversations appraisal and assessment of the things or services that they recently bought or paid for. It could be about anything and everything – food, clothing, equipment, accessories, home appliances, medicine etc. Word of mouth communication happens everywhere: as neighbors and friends talk to each other during social gatherings or everytime they pass by each other in malls, grocery stores, at work or when they bump into each other in leisure locations like in beach, gym, arcade etc. Word of mouth communication is a product largely a personal face-to-face conversation, although sometimes telephone conversations, even mails also become sources of word of mouth communication. This happens when friends or relatives suggest or advise for or against a particular item or brand, or if they simply express how satisfied or dissatisfied they were in a particular brand or item even without the conscious effort to affect the personal belief of the listener in the item or brand in question. Word of mouth is everywhere, it was an everyday experience which, at one point, was believed to be strong enough that it can affect consumer attitude. At the onset of media advertising in radio, television and print, commercials took to mimicking word of mouth phenomenon to reflect real life and make it appear that in real life, people are really talking positively about the brand featured in the commercial so that the consumers are influenced towards imbibing the same mindset about the product. Word of mouth style in advertising in media is one of the important types of advertising approach because it was successful and effective. When people see individuals in a commercial enjoying a bottle of a popular soda and talking about it and recommending it to other people, they feel that the people in the commercial are directly talking to them; and for most part consumers who are exposed to television are influenced into trying the product because the commercial made them feel/think that the product was great and it was worth trying. At this point, there was already a genuine word of mouth communication happening between individuals, as well as artificial word of mouth communication, which happen when commercials try to influence and manipulate the thinking, mindset and attitude of the consumers through the help of commercials. Word of mouth, at this time, was still powerful but it was not an unstable power that cannot be controlled. For one, word of mouth communication moves around a particular network and does not extend any further that it cannot immediately create a nationwide attitude for or against a product or brand. Secondly, advertising agencies and marketing professionals managed to control consumer attitude and buying preference largely because of the ability of commercials and marketing efforts to convince people to patronize a particular brand. And then, there was the Internet. The internet was not created primarily to alter the previous status quo in the consumer world. The idea behind the internet is to provide an information highway for everyone to use. But the inherent characteristics of the internet made it an important aspect in how word of mouth, marketing and consumerism would change. The internet gave word of mouth communication renewed power by giving the consumers power communicate with each other and let other consumers know how individuals feel about particular products being sold to the people. The society was introduced to a new set of culture that included blogs and websites, emails and chats, forums and websites which all provided new platforms where information can be made available, information which included the personal thoughts of other consumers about products. It turns out that other consumers are very much interested in finding out what other people think, especially about products that other people are thinking of buying. Because of this, consumers knowingly or unknowingly focused more attention online, looking for the opinion of individuals about different products and letting real life experience and not padded advertisement act as the source of information about products. This information is used to assist the individual in the formation of the individual’s buying attitude and consumer behavior upon a particular product. Some of the examples include the browsing of Internet users in sites that feature blogs on consumer appraisal on products, found in websites like www. oxygen. com and its message board; www. leftgear. com and its style chat; and other websites like www. consumerreviews. com and www. epinions. com. The entry of the internet complicated the relationship of consumer world with world of mouth communication, and most of the problematic aspect of this social change targeted the companies which are finding different ways and means to be able to regain control of this new source of word of mouth communication. I. The Consumer and word of mouth The consumer and word of mouth has been together and closely related to each other for a long period of time. â€Å"Verbal consumer-to-consumer communication, often referred to as simply ‘word of mouth’ (WOM) has long been recognized as an important factor in consumer behavior (Schindler, Barbara, 2005, p. 35). † Word of mouth and consumers are symbiotic and intertwined, each other directly affecting the other. Without consumers, word of mouth communication, at worst will lose its essence and its ethos, especially if the information disseminated are merely results of company-led propaganda. Without word of mouth communication, consumers will have to rely on how much information they have for them to be able to make the best, educated decision when buying products or services and selecting which brand to pick from the shelf. â€Å"The word-of-mouth communication between the consumers is crucial (Takahashi, Sallach, Juliette, 2007, p. 109). † Getting the opinion of other people first before making a decision is one of the innate characteristics of many individuals, and their particular attitude in buying is no different. For some people, they want to know first how other people ahead of him or her in buying the product feels about the item, and then uses this information to assess whether or not he or she will pursue purchasing the product, opt for other brand of the same product or shelf the idea of purchasing one all in all. â€Å"Innovators first seek information from other people in the purchase of an innovation and such behavior is similar across various new product categories (Krishnamurthy, 2004, p. 73). † This particular attitude of consumers is the main vein that connects consumers to word of mouth communication. For most experts, they believe that there are many enough individuals who follow this pattern of behavior in buying that it is important for companies to know how word of mouth communication. The consumers react and interact with each other so that the companies can make adjustments that enable them to use the presence of word of mouth communication to their advantage. If marketers were to realize the intended results of their efforts, they would benefit from understanding the manner in which consumers process WOMC (De Carlo, Laczniak, Sridhar, 2003, p. 225). † This is crucial for consumers because information sharing and dissemination is accomplished through this. But there is more to that. This is also crucial for companies relying on positive word of mouth from consumers to improve how the public perceive the product they are selling, or simply, marketing. The best marketing that ever was, or ever will be is word of mouth. There is no dollar value you can assign to having someone else talk positively about you, your company, and your services (Nacht, Chaney, 2006, p. 64). † This realization comes from the consideration that companies also has to rely on wor d of mouth communication because in several instances, the public/consumer is not interested or affected anymore by commercials and are instead more interested in word of mouth communication. Internet-Based Word of Mouth Seen by Consumers as a Fresh Alternative versus Product/Service Commercials There are many reasons why people find the internet-based word of mouth tools like blogs and forums more reliable, dependable and useful for information gathering. One of the possible reasons is that individuals are already tired, fed up or already calloused by the traditional commercials that they are not as affected anymore as in the past in being exposed to product commercials in television and print media. The feeling of being detached and impersonal by these commercials only improves its quality as something that is feigned and artificial, and because people wanted more, particularly something more personal and more genuine, word of mouth via the internet communication became the suitable answer to this consumer need. â€Å"Instead of fake artificial commercial messages, people can now get real-life comments from peers on anything they want (Nacht, Chaney, 2006, p. 64). † II. Word of mouth and the Internet. Word of mouth was a social phenomenon even before the age of Internet. But in the entry of the internet in the social structure and global culture, word of mouth communication, no doubt, was influenced by this new technology. â€Å"The development of the Internet has led to the appearance of new forms of word-of-mouth communication (Schindler, Bickart, 2005, p. 35). † Today, the internet and word of mouth is connected with each other; online word of mouth communication is expected by experts to increase as long as the users of the internet continue to increase. As online word of mouth communication increases, so is the power and influence of online word of mouth to affect consumer behavior and buying attitude, making word of mouth dependent on its online breadth for its power and influence, and the internet's source of power dependent in part in how individuals like consumers utilize this medium and give it power by exercising the newfound consumer power (word of mouth communication) through the internet and its features. â€Å"The importance of online WOM increases as access to and usage of the Internet continues to grow (Schindler, Bickart, 2005, p. 35). † Understanding how word of mouth works is one thing. But making word of mouth result favorably towards a particular product or item is more complicated. And with this knowledge, companies ensure that their initial task is not to make the most out of the word of mouth phenomenon by manipulating it in the onset; but rather to ensure that any marketing strategies outside word of mouth considerations do not become a source of negative publicity which in turn would be a potential negative feedback that can be fed in the word of mouth network and would generate more negative publicity and blow the problem out of controllable proportion. The companies’ task is the fine tuning of the advertising strategy driving the demand using sugarcoated advertising claims but paying attention not to initiate negative word-of-mouth effects (Takahashi, Sallach, Juliette, 2007, p. 109). † In the age of internet-based word of mouth, this is a task which is not as difficult as controlling a publicity crisis that went public and became the subject of many blogs and forums that can devastate and destroy the reputation of a product; there is just no ethical way to stop the bloggers from publishing online what they think and feel and how they respond to negative publicity, regardless of the notion that â€Å"bad publicity is still publicity. There is just too many bloggers, blog sites, forums and chat rooms in the information highway that controlling what comes from it is impossible, but making sure bloggers cannot say anything bad about the product, compared to the earlier task, appears more doable, workable and possible. At least through that, companies can hope that they have something they can use to attempt to equalize the impact of internet-based word of mouth communication. In this line of thought, it is easy to see that one of the effects of the powerful internet-based word of mouth communication is forcing companies to either make something flawless and good all in all, or be good in covering up foul ups and problematic aspects that can be used as topics to start communication threads and negative word of mouth streams of conversation that can be devastating. Simply said, this situation can translate to better quality control, with companies trying to play it fair with the consumers as much as possible, lest someone notices how things do not add up and publish it in the internet and create an online buzz that can negatively affect the image of the product and the company. Traditional or through the internet, word of mouth among customers and the consumer is a very powerful aspect of the mechanism of marketing and consumerism. Being able to understand this aspect is critical especially for market strategists and for the company themselves, so that they can, in turn, prepare for the possible trend in the word of mouth phenomenon, how it will affect the product and how they would hand this situation in a manner that benefits them more than harms them. Clemmer, Sheehy (1994) explained what the Washington, D. C. based group TARP or Technical Assistance Research Program found out, particularly that â€Å"while only a small percent of your unhappy customers bother to tell you about their dissatisfaction, they are eager to tell lots of your potential customers about the problems they have had dealing with you (Clemmer, Sheehy, 1994, p. 15). † This is just one of the many proofs that customers talk to each other, share each other’s experiences, and more often than not, take to heart the input they receive from other people and use it to affect their future decision making when it comes to buying or p atronizing a product or item. Through word of mouth phenomenon, many things come into play and not just patronage of products – sometimes the success of the new things being offered to the public is also dependent on word of mouth, regardless of whether or not the outcome resulting from the word of mouth is good or bad publicity for the product. â€Å"Favorable WOM has been found to be positively related to new-product diffusion†¦ Even negative WOM is found to increase credibility (Krishnamurthy, 2004, p. 273). † Increased Role of Word of Mouth Today. As years go by and as the attitude of consumerism increases around the world, the power of consumer input through different channels including the use of word of mouth communication (WOMC) also increased in significance. Partly, this is one of the means by which both the consumers and the companies in need of genuine product, service and performance appraisal can have real, first hand information about how the public as consumers really feel about a product, service or item sold to them. Word of mouth has become one of the gauges, not just of product appraisal but of the performance as well, of the companies to be able to deliver to the public what the public genuinely needs, and not what the companies want the people to need. â€Å"In the past decade, word of mouth and its more formal manifestation found in many consumer and industry protection movements have been playing a much bigger part in broadcasting what kind of service/quality a company is consistently delivering as perceived by its customers (Clemmer, Sheehy, 1994, p. 5). † The increase in this trend is due largely to the growth and increase in customer participation. â€Å"The influence of blogs and podcasts is increasing due to fast expansion of the audience and contributors (Swoboda, Morschett, Rudolph, Schnedlitz, Schramm-Klein, 2008, p. 9). † Word of mouth has become an important point of concern for marketing. This is because at the entry of the internet and the weakening hold of traditional advertising and marketing effort to influence the public, the consumers found in the World Wide Web a new source of information, as well as a place where they have the chance to speak about their experience as consumers, in the process empowering consumers and making them not just mere recipients of the messages of the advertising and marketing strategies but also a source of information that can seriously compete and challenge traditional marketing and advertising when it comes to reaching and affecting the consciousness of the audience. Professionals know about this already, but they are careful not to openly admit how consumers of today rely on word of mouth in the internet blogs and forums. How they are very cautious not to make internet-based word of mouth push their carefully and delicately laid out advertising and marketing plans out of order by making sure that even the consumer has fully ignored the commercials, the word of mouth results still puts a particular product in a positive light. Nacht and Chaney (2006) quoted Paul Beelen who said that a positive comment is very important, more important compared to commercials or print ads especially if the comment was something that came from â€Å"someone you know and trust (Nacht and Chaney (2006, p. 64). † Beelen, as quoted by Nacht and Chaney, went on to explain by stressing that word of mouth became more potent now than it was before because of the fact that â€Å"millions of consumers are now also publishers (Nacht, Chaney, 2006, p. 4)† and the traditional word of mouth that was once left in the party huddles now jumps off and lives on longer and extends towards a wider audience via â€Å"the World Wide Web, in the form of podcasts, wikis, forums, and most importantly: blogs (Nacht, Chaney, 2006, p. 64). † Word of Mouth Marketing and the Power of the Internet Why is word of mouth very powerful? One of the reasons is that because it happens as part of a very simple and common human experience. It i s an important part of constant everyday interaction between individuals. Because the efficacy found in the word of mouth phenomena is the fact that there is a sense of commitment and the value of trust and credibility that people are willing to put on the line, making people trust the appraisal of the person who have already used a particular product. This power is a very important power that marketing strategists need to have if they want to be able to control and predict the outcome of buying attitudes and consumer preferences, the result more favorable to the product they intend to sell to the market. For example, the traditional word of mouth phenomenon happens between friends, between relatives or peers in the house, in the neighborhood, in the office or in locations where human verbal interaction is possible. A housewife may rant to a neighbor and fellow housewife how the recent upholstery stain remover did not work for her and how it messed the sofa more. Of course, housewife #2 do not have any way of finding out if this was true or if the worsening of the condition was caused by other factors (i. e. wrong use of the cleaner, etc), but there is a very large possibility that housewife #2 will shy away from the particular brand being discussed and select another brand (not unless the brand being talked about is something that housewife #2 has already used in the past and depended on for quality and performance). Nonetheless, this illustrates what is in play in the word of mouth phenomena. It becomes more credible because people believe that the appraisal/assessment of a product/service is based largely on true, first hand experience without any manipulative motive from the source of information besides the need to share the experience with another individual. The same effect marketing and PR professionals try to produce everytime they use common or ordinary looking individuals to comment on their products or everytime they use the everyday man random interview wherein the individual endorses a product based on his/her own true experience, which some individuals may not easily believe knowing that actors in paid ads are mere puppets and totally unreliable sources of information in a pseudo-word of mouth approach. This traditional word of mouth model is no different from how word of mouth communication and word of mouth marketing happens today in the online world or through the internet. â€Å"In recent years, the opportunity for consumers to generate WOMC (word of mouth communication), and the rate at which it is disseminated, has increased significantly due to penetration of the Internet (De Carlo, Laczniak, Sridhar, 2003, p. 225). Bloggers talk about items they recently bought or thinking of buying, and more often than not replies to the subject thread will generate different opinions about the product being talked about, and this series and streams of ideas racing back and forth between individuals involved in conversation through blogging affect the perception not just of the bloggers involved but also those who come across the blog site and gets to read it (i. . those who searched for the particular product in the search bar to get more information about the item, who will soon have dif ferent notions and particular mindset about the item which was unknown to the person prior to reading the blog and message threads that influenced the individuals thinking and perception about the product). Word of mouth marketing and communication placed in the plateau or realm of the internet is more influential and powerful as it is more dangerous because the spreading of word of mouth through the internet is easier and can target and reach more individuals compared to traditional word of mouth experiences. Because of this, marketing strategist are all the more concerned about the power of the internet-based word of mouth phenomenon. â€Å"Chat rooms and message boards, for example, allow individuals to share experiences with relative ease (De Carlo, Laczniak, Sridhar, 2003, p. 225). † For example, talking about a particular product or item in a chat room with 50 listed participants (something which is not impossible or difficult to achieve, especially with the growth of social networking via the internet that links more and more people together in a tightly knit web of online community that connects one to another in many different links) already puts the source of the information in a position wherein he/she can influence 49 different individuals, especially if the topic/item/product is about something that is of common interest to everyone in the chatroom (i. . the newest electronic entertainment gadget among young individuals or a particular product or item among hobbyist, like the newest GPRS gadget among outdoor enthusiast). Imagine the impact of influencing 49 individuals, something that is not easy to do traditionally since it is not easy to gather 50 individuals in one location on a particular time only to rant about product appraisal (not unless its the a nnual Tupperware Party, where the preferences of the individual on a particular common interest is already a given). Manipulating Internet-Based Word of Mouth Communication Because of the power of online word of mouth communication, there are several efforts to cheat word of mouth communication by planting individuals that will act as sources to create a stir in the internet and in the process allow people to talk about a particular product or item in the internet through blogs and forums and chat rooms, in the process creating word of mouth communication and marketing the product/item/service to the consumer. A perfect example is what happened in the internet during the effort to create popularity for a former pop star. â€Å"Students hired to post questions and comments on teen-oriented chat rooms and bulletin boards generated discussion and interest in pop singer Christina Aguilera (Schindler, Bickart, 2005, p. 35). † The power of word of mouth found in internet tools is very potent that companies are also trying to find ways on how to combat the presence of negative inputs directed at company products resulting from online word of mouth communication. Trademark owners may be able to suppress or excise negative word of mouth (Goldman, 2008, p. 404). † This can be also considered as manipulating online word of mouth, largely to protect the interest of companies who are in danger of bad publicity and bad public standing if word of mouth in the internet is not properly handled. Because of the power of online word of mouth and the collaboration of the word of mouth culture with the internet technology, several changes happened. One of which is the challenging the traditional market cycle power players. Experts believe that online and offline word of mouth communication functions differently. And because of that, control is something that companies are struggling with as word of mouth in the internet increases. â€Å"Offline, trademark owners have a fair amount of control over consumer perceptions of their brands. Online word of mouth undermines that control (Goldman, 2008, p. 04). † Challenging the Traditional â€Å"Expert-Review† Notion Another important characteristic of word of mouth communication in the internet that makes it very influential and significant in the consumer reception and patronage of a product in the shelf is because of what experts believe as the shift of credibility from the traditional â€Å"product experts† to the everyday, everyman blogger in the internet where word of mouth is mostly prevalent. Even if companies pay for the opinion of respected â€Å"product experts,† it hardly matters now because it seems like individuals who want information about a product read about what other individuals like themselves has to say about the product before creating their own mindset and perspective about the item. â€Å"Nowadays, customer reviews posted in different forums or virtual communities, web blogs and podcasts are much more powerful and believable than expert product reviews (Swoboda, Morschett, Rudolph, Schnedlitz, Schramm-Klein, 2008, p. 8). † This is good news for those who will be affected by word of mouth in a positive manner, especially those whose appraisal that was transferred via word of mouth through blog(s) commend the product and encourage other people to use it, because this phenomena evens out the impending failure in credibility of perceived product experts. This can also spell doom and worst case marketing crisis management for those which were appraised negatively in the blogosphere. Word of Mouth as a Source of Important Information One of the sources of power of word of mouth is because people rely on it, generally for information. In this age where there are many things being offered to them, each type of item available in different brands, customers wanted to have more information until they are satisfied that they know what they need to know after making the purchase. â€Å"A second source for consumers to learn about a new product is through word-of-mouth (Krishnamurthy, 2004, p. 273). † This was true during the pre-internet age, and still holds true now that Internet became part of the social culture and took an important part in how word of mouth is undertaken today. Word of mouth, particularly internet based word of mouth communication has been an important source of information that some believe that it has already overtaken the significance of the traditional mass media platforms when it comes to consumer preference on where to find the information that they want to know. Take for example, the case for the diffusion of new products in the market. Some experts believe that in this particular area, word of mouth is very important factor in how the sales and marketability of the new product will turn out after consumer reception to the product is gauged. Awareness of new products primarily came from personal communications, with mass media only consulted when more information was desired (Krishnamurthy, 2004, p. 273). † That people rely heavily on the input of other people rather than the impact of mass media advertising and marketing strategy only points to the idea that large sections of the items, services and other things for sale – particularly those which is in its initial launch level – depend the level of consumer saturation based on how the consumer and their preferences and buying habits will react to the input of word of mouth in their consciousness. Some studies have shown that innovators engage in more WOM communication than do imitators†¦ and are more dependent on WOM (Krishnamurthy, 2004, p. 273). † III. The Internet and the consumer One of the best things that happened to the world is the internet, as much as the internet is one of the best things that happened to consumers because of many different reasons. First, the internet improved purchasing, making the buying and selling of things faster and more convenient both for the vendor and the customer. Online purchasing is also now an option to consumers, thanks to the internet. Another important impact of the internet in the world of consumers is how the internet gave the consumers the power by providing consumers with a new platform for word of mouth communication. In the past, the consumers are left with very little options and chances for their opinion and thoughts to be heard by the companies that sell items, by their fellow consumers and by the rest of the world. With the entry of the internet, the consumer section is once again empowered because they have now, through the internet, what they did not have when the transfer of information was controlled largely by manufacturers and vendors. â€Å"Using the internet, consumers can now easily publish their opinions, providing their thoughts, feelings, and viewpoints on products and services to the public at large (Schindler, Bickart, 2005, p. 35). † A place to speak and influence other consumers through online word of mouth was made possible by the internet, and the consumers are now not merely the end-recipients of the products of capitalism and manufacturing. Consumers, with a more powerful type of word of mouth communication through the internet, can make people boycott brands and products and seriously affect the sales of different items simply by convincing individuals through blogs and forums and chats why such products should not be patronized. Consumers will never see fellow consumers as someone with an agenda, and because of this, they will take the input of fellow consumers and allow it to seriously influence them. Influencing Brand Perceptions Through the use of the internet, the consumer is not only provided with a new way to purchase goods and items, but also given the chance to influence other consumers towards brand perception. â€Å"The broad reach of online word of mouth gives consumers tremendous power to influence brand perceptions (Goldman, 2008, p. 404). † The Power of the Internet in Consumer World There are many proofs of the power of the internet in the consumer world. Some of the proofs include the fact that through the internet, consumers are connected with each other. â€Å"The Internet helps create new word of mouth content and disseminate word of mouth to new and previously unreachable audiences (Goldman, 2008, p. 404),† while another significant proof of the power of the internet in the consumer world is the entry of internet and how it impacted trademark law, â€Å"Online word of mouth poses the most important challenge to Internet trademark law (Goldman, 2008, p. 04). † These proofs of the power of the internet in the consumer world particularly through the internet-based word of mouth only highlights the limitations found in traditional and/or offline word of mouth communication. â€Å"Offline, consumer word of mouth plays a major role in the marketplace by disciplining some brands and rewarding others, but a person’s views typically reach only a limited number of people (Goldman, 2008, p. 404). † Proof of the Power of Internet-Based Word of Mouth The effects of word of mouth among customers and consumers have been studied extensively for years. Ever since market analyst identified the power of word of mouth in the market value and market success of products and other things for sale to the consumers, many entities like TARP have undertaken studies in order to understand more how word of mouth works and how it actually affects things. â€Å"TARP has studied the ripple effects of dissatisfied customers and word of mouth testimonials. The results will rock anyone concerned about sales and marketing (Clemmer, Sheehy, 1994, p. 15). But studies are not just the sole proof that can validate the claim that internet-based word of mouth is effective and is being seriously used today in aggressive marketing. Other proofs may include the cases in the past that pointed to the role and power of internet-based word of mouth and how it influenced the outcome of consumer/public patronage and support. Other proofs of the power of the internet -based word of mouth communication are identified by experts by naming instances wherein internet-based word of mouth communication was important in the marketing and in the ensuing success of the product/item/services for sale to the public. One of the industries that depend on positive public acceptance of what they sell for them to survive and sustain themselves is the entertainment industry, particularly movie making. In the past, many different movies saw what the Internet-based word of mouth can do for particular movies to make it big in the silver screen, including popular titles like the hit Blair Witch Project. â€Å"After the success of the use of Internet buzz in promoting the movie The Blair Witch Project, studios are increasingly relying on online WOM to develop interest in new films (Schindler, Bickart, 2005, p. 5). † The movie acted as a perfect case study that indicate the impact of internet-based word of mouth and how it can create a stir among consumers that can lead to consumption of the product (in this case, leading the people to watch the movie). Because of this, many other marketing strategists of other film outfits followed suit, including this particular formula in the overall marketing str ategy to guarantee the success of the movie based on patronage and public support. The same was the case in the more recent movies, like the global smash hit epic trilogy The Lord of the Rings which, according to Schindler and Bickart (2005), relied on the role and impact of the internet and how it can diffuse word of mouth information via its many different features. â€Å"New Line Cinemas encouraged the development of unofficial web sites about the movies, providing these sites with interviews with the film’s director in order to generate discussion and excitement about the movies (Schindler and Bickart, 2005, p35). Blogs – a Powerful Internet-Based Word of Mouth Communication Tool The creation of blogs and the blogosphere, and how the consumers were quick to embrace and utilize this new, internet-based form of interpersonal interaction is one of the main reasons why the internet has become a very potent source for word of mouth communication, word of mouth marketing and advertising, and word of mouth communication that can either seriously improve or damage a particular product or brand. While blogs are not exclusively focused on product and services analysis, it is easily noticeable how the traditional trend occurring between neighbors who chat and compare their thoughts on different products and services (in the process producing word of mouth communication) transformed into online neighborhood chat. Only this time, the people involved in the conversation of product and services comparison are bigger in numbers and not limited to geographical boundaries. An American youth can blog about his assessment of the latest mobile phone or media player, which can get different reactions from other individuals who may or may not be directly related or connected with the blogger from as far as Asian or European countries. They can converse via their entries and replies in the blog and talk as if they are next door neighbors even when offline they are mere strangers to each other and live thousands of miles away. It is for this particular power to â€Å"spread the word† that marketing strategies and companies make sure that they make sufficient consideration and leg room to accommodate the possible input of blogs and word of mouth communication in the internet in their overall market strategy and the overall performance of the product they are trying to sell. Generally, what every company can hope for is that the bloggers in the blogosphere have mostly good words to tell to each other when it comes to appraising the product/services that they are trying to sell to the public. â€Å"Not only will consumers talk to you via your blog, they also will talk to one another. Your readers can become your best brand-building evangelists, helping you to spread your message and your presence throughout their networks (Nacht, Chaney 2006, p. 64). † Being able to get an online ally and brand evangelist (directly or indirectly) is important because it does not only make one’s product or services look good, but it also helps in selling the product/service to the people. As what most experts believe, what people read in the online blogs focused on product and services assessment and appraisal greatly affect the individual in what he or she might want to buy in the very immediate future. â€Å"For consumers, blogs are like customer reviews on Yahoo! ocal or Amazon, which are helpful in making decisions about what to buy and whose services to use (Nacht, Chaney, 2006, p. 65). † This is the needed push so that consumers can take it to the next level – to actually buy an item, and to start the foundation of a long lasting brand patronage and to trigger the start of new word of mouth by using the new consumer as the new source of information for other people whom the consumer can convince to either try the brand or opt for something else. Of course, marketing and advertising people have since made it their task to provide that necessary push to (1) make the consumer buy, (2) start the foundation of brand loyalty, and (3) make the consumer new sources of information that can influence other consumers and expand the network of word of mouth communication that delivers a very positive message favorable to the product/service being sold to the public. Today, experts believe that this task is something that advertisers and marketing professionals cannot achieve solely by themselves and their efforts. Internet-based tools like blogs provide the crucial word of mouth communication that heavily influences consumers. Blogs, one of the most popular and user-friendly internet-based tool for word of mouth communication, is proving that it is one of the forces to reckon with, flexing extensive power that dictates the movement in consumer attitude. â€Å"Blogs are word of mouth supercharged (Nacht, Chaney, 2006, p. 64)! † Add to this trend the consideration that most people outside of the marketing and advertising business is fast catching up with what advertising and marketing is trying to do. They sense the artificial push given to consumer and in the process, making consumers less and less dependent on advertising and more and more difficult to be influenced by advertisements especially when it comes to consulting other people about product input to affect buying attitude and preference. With internet-based tools like blogs, consumers feel like they are genuinely talking to another person who would give them an honest, first hand, experience-based opinion without any motive or agenda to influence the consumer’s buying preference other than to provide information. It is something that most believe they do not actually get from advertisements and marketing campaigns geared at making brands look good and pleasing to the senses and covering up areas which maybe problematic or undesirable for the consumer in real life. In their book, Nacht and Chaney (2006) used as an example the result of a North Carolina survey, and wrote that â€Å"one third of all consumers would prefer to receive product information from friends and specialists rather than from advertising (Nacht and Chaney, 2006, p. 65). The idea of â€Å"friends† in this particular idea would likely include peers and contacts in the online/internet network of an individual. The exchange of information between â€Å"friends† to substitute the information gathering from advertising-based sources most likely happens online, including the use of blogs through writing blogs or reading other people's blogs about the product, in this case blogs act, according to PR strategist Steve Rubel, as a â€Å"24/7 focus group that's transparent and out in the open (Nacht, Chaney, 2006, p. 64). Companies also understand the significance of blogs and have a particular role for blogs to play in how consumerism works, in the hope that blogs can assist them in making sure consumerism and its related socio-economic conditions interact together favorably for the company and its products and items it sells to the public. â€Å"Smart businesses will pay attention to blogs, using them as kind of informal network of consumer opinion. Blogs have become a word-of-mouth marketing channel that allows companies to keep a pulse on their marketplace (Nacht, Chaney, 2006, p. 4). † The Internet Versus the Traditional Tri-Media So how does the internet and its features (i. e. websites, blogs etc) actually become another important source of word of mouth marketing and in the process have the capacity to influence the buying attitudes and preferences of the consumers? The internet, like the radio, print media and the television are all platforms used for the movement of information. The f irst three types of information platforms – the tri-media – nearly had the similar effect that the internet has. While the tri-media, no doubt, had immense effect on buying attitude and preferences and overall marketing, there is something that the internet has managed to give to the target consumers that the tri-media failed to provide them: interactivity. Because the websites and the blogs and the podcasts feature interactivity by allowing ordinary individuals to have a say on products or items for sale, people listen to what they have to say more. And because the internet is an accessible and available platform for discussion between and among customers (something that is not available for the other tri-media since the information direction here is one way – from the companies to the target audience), consumers who tried the product or service feels good that they have an avenue where they as ordinary consumers can appraise and assess a product, without the restrictions of companies and without the marketing scripts and paid appearances by individuals posing as ordinary consumers in the tri-media marketing which, as years went by, became passe and hardly credible a style for word of mouth marketing to convince the consumer/audience. Blogs and the websites has proven that it is a fresh new approach that meant empowering the consumers, allowing them not only to be informed but also to speak about the products and services they bought. The absence of pretentiousness and feigned positive approval in the world of blogging has made it a very influential tool because people speak based from their own appraisal of the product or services. And if the appraisal is good, then this type of word of mouth marketing can indeed help a product to gain more followers and patrons. Similarly, the bloggers who are not impressed by something they bought may speak about the product negatively. This is a serious threat to the market power and credibility of the product. Since the time of television, print and radio advertisements, marketing personnel are already conscious of the impact of having an â€Å"ordinary and common† individual talk about the product. This is why many brands have opted to pick someone that is not popular, someone that represents the common folk, to speak positively about the product as if what they are saying in the television, print or radio advertisement is a genuine personal appraisal and not a scripted one. Of course, to be able to get a space in television, radio or print media, one has to pay a hefty sum, and because of that, it is impossible an d impractical for the real common folk to talk to the masses via the avenues of mass communication about how he or she felt about a particular detergent brand or hamburger chain. The internet, through personal websites and blogs, is a very cheap way to make one’s own assessment of products through product reviews. In this particular sphere, the genuine essence of the idea of word of mouth is maximized because blogging meant that the entire worldwide communities hooked in the internet are talking to each other. This explains the idea that an important aspect of word of mouth marketing information transfer traffic is highly dependent on how the need to interact with peers and friends is facilitated and consumed by the consumers themselves. â€Å"Interaction with peers triggers new customer needs and alters buying attitude (Swoboda, Morschett, Rudolph, Schnedlitz, Schramm-Klein, 2008, p. 8). By blogging, people can influence other people not just about particular brand preferences. They can also influence other people about starting to want to buy something which an individual did not know or want in the past prior to the onset of the influence of the input of blogging or of a particular blog article. Through blogs they tell each other what products they find best and what products they find disappointing. They talk to each other, and the speed by which their messages are sent to each other is something that the traditional tri-media cannot match, making the bloggers and what they say to each other more powerful and more influential. Conclusion How the world is recognizing the true impact of the optimization of a potential of the internet as a powerful tool in marketing particularly through word of mouth marketing today just goes to show that, similar to the case of the traditional tri-media during its early years, new information platforms are always important avenues that affect the people and the different aspects of their lives, one of which is buying attitude and buying preferences. Add to the fact that compared to the era of the early years of the traditional tri-media, the world today at the apex of the influence of the internet on modern day life is also characterized vis-a-vis by the heightened sense of consumerism and capitalism that more and more people are investing in businesses that create new things to sell to the people because they can make people believe they need to buy these things. As products and brands compete for the limited budget of consumers, elbowing each other to be able to find a place in the grocery or shopping bag, what peers in the internet world has to say to each other about particular items and brands is an important word of mouth marketing hinged on electronic/digital medium of information dissemination that should be consistently studied so that they can have the knowledge on how they can use this tool for their own advantage, marketing-wise. This endeavor has, no doubt, started. But the study of this phenomena brings to light the prospect that the media and platforms of information and interactivity will always be an important tool to shape social attitudes, including consumer attitudes towards buying, brand preference and item selection. â€Å" The social effects of the social media are, by and large, a fascinating research area and a field most likely to shape future consumer or even human behavior (Swoboda et al, 2008, p. 9). May it be traditional word of mouth phenomena or online, internet-based word of mouth, what serves as a constant truth is that word of mouth remains an important and influential aspect of social interaction that affects market power of items for sale because word of mouth affects the buying attitude and consumer preferences. â€Å"It appears that electronically transferred or face-to-face WOMC has the potential to alter carefully planned marketing communication programs, depending on how consumers process such information (De Carlo, Laczniak, Sridhar, 2003, p. 225). † This leans towards the understanding that marketing strategies should always take into consideration word of mouth experiences and its impact and how word of mouth can be controlled to favor a particular product and act as a usef ul support mechanism in a marketing strategy.