Linking of Nursing concepts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Linking of Nursing concepts - Essay Example Generally, in today’s modern health systems, education for both the professionals and the patients plays a critical in the nursing faculty. As Carpenter and Bell suggested, teaching is a vital, teaching is a major characteristic of the nurse’s role. With the emerging trends in healthcare, there is the need for nurses to be accountable in terms of quality care delivery to patients. Therefore, these professionals must demonstrate the extent of the knowledge and skills acquired not only to their peers but also to the patients (Bastable, 2008 p.94). Imperative to note is that these professionals are obliged to teach and assist others while at the same time learn within the healthcare settings. Within the nursing fraternity in a majority of the states are nurse practice acts (NPA) in whose scope include teaching as a nursing responsibility. By the stipulated legal mandate of these acts, it is expected that nurses provide high quality instructions for the wellbeing of consume rs and diseases management. In undertaking this role of information and knowledge dissemination, nurses are able to achieve their professional goal in provision of safe, cost-effective and high quality care. For quality assurance purposes various organizations and agencies have to abide to the mandates stipulated by healthcare accreditation bodies. Such mandates elaborate the forms of care, treatment regimens and services offered to patients with different conditions. Another legal perspective in nursing education has been enshrined in the patient’s bill of rights. In this law, nurses provide complete and up to date information with regard to diagnosis, cure and prognosis in an understandable manner to patients (Bastable, 2008 p.116). Patient education in nursing as a profession majorly focuses on increasing the client’s confidence for managing of self. Effective teaching by the nurses has a lot of potential in boosting client satisfaction, ensuring continuity of self care, quality of life improvement, reduction in health complications and enhance adherence to treatment. On their part, the nurses achieve job satisfaction as educators as they forge and promote therapeutic interrelationships with patients, increased patient nurse independence and accountability boost. The education process in nursing can be likened to the nursing process itself which covers examination, planning, implementation and finally evaluation o the outcomes (Bastable, 2008 p.98). The art of practicing nursing at a higher level requires a thorough understanding of theory and ability to effectively apply the theory in provision of quality healthcare services to patients. The position of theory in the field of nursing has been perceived to be worthless for many years. This has led to the culmination of a situation termed theory-practice gap. Therefore, specialized knowledge at it is a fundamental aspect in other disciplines is also important in nursing. In order to have a deep understanding of this subject, nurses must acquire formal study in nursing comprising of precise philosophical and theoretical aspects. Additionally, the nurses must master the competencies and abilities to employ the knowledge in provision of healthcare to humankind. The carrying out of nursing duties is an intentional and premeditated act that is guided by nursing science and other knowledge sources. This practice is ultimately intended for

Electrical and electrochemical activities of heart Essay Example for Free

Electrical and electrochemical activities of heart Essay Heart is the chief organ of body it can be defined as â€Å"The hollow muscular organ its rhythmic retrenchment flows blood all the way throughout the body†. (Heart electrical) Natural pace maker is established in human heart, this pace maker start working from right atria and ventricle it stimulates their muscles. Sinoarterial node SAN is found in between upper portion of the heart, after stimulating right portion of heart it stimulates the left atria and ventricle afterward adrenaline is secreted from nervous system which speed up the spark electrical impulses or in supplementary words regulates the electrical impulses. Normal heart beats are 72 per minute but in case of running, exercising, taking stress high fever heart beats are increased because Nervous system release more adrenaline. Another motivating topic of our article covers is electrocardiogram that is the measurement of heart beats by special electrode on paper or screen. So at this point in this article we will study in detail regulatory activities of heart which factors are involves in regulation of heart beats and keeps heart normal and vigorous, how these factors are generated and how did they achieve their work this is all we are going to study in element to enhance our understandings about facts of science. Electrical and electrochemical activities of heart In human heart natural pace maker is found, the function which naturally has been given to pace maker is to regulate the heart for performing this responsibility it has to go from very different phases. Pace maker is found in the superior right portion of heart that is Right atrium this is the place from where the pace maker gathers the specialized cells termed as â€Å"Sino arterial node â€Å"so these cells are also termed as pace maker. As the heart beats it generates the electrical sparks per minute, the spark which has been generated by specialized cell, the function of these sparks is to stimulate the muscles. First it stimulates the superior chamber of heart it has to wait unless the atria get empty from blood. After stimulating the upper atria it stimulates the ventricles electrically, similarly it affects the left atria and ventricle in this sequence. If we go in depth we will come to know that everything function of body is being controlled by the nervous system, here nervous system is releasing the adrenaline the adrenaline is computable to increase or speed up the sparks per minute, the normal heart beats are 72 per minute but incase of fever, excitement, stress or any mental or physical stress can speedup the rate of heart beats in result breathless condition occur while on the other during resting situation it is decreased . Let us talk about the phases or ladder which takes place in the electrical activity of heart ,As we have talked before it is generated in the sinoatrial node (SAN) which is located in superior Right chamber of heart this is the location from where these electrical impulses propagated to the artrioventricular node ( AVN ) artrioventricular node is seen between the atria and ventricles. After reaching at (AVN) these electrical impulse are send to the into branching tissues right bundle branch is termed as (RBBB) and left bundle branch is termed is as the (LBBB) there are further more division to there Left bundle branches which are known as fascicles first of all electrical impulses are generated in SAN which primary makes the right and left atria to treaty and after couple of seconds it makes right and left ventricle to contract this depolarization takes place continuously in every 2-3 seconds, when SAN is at rest it makes 60-70 signals a minute rate can be speedup by SAN due to exercise or and physical activity which can produce stressed up condition. When SAN fails to work AVN can takes its position but AVN is slow as compare to SAN the reason is that SAN at resting position produces 60-7- signals while AVN at resting position produces 30-40 signals which are very less as compare to SAN’S signals. ( How heart works) this sequence of electrical activities of heart can be noted by electrocardiogram this is the process by which activities can be registered on paper by special electrode use for this process (Heart Electrical Activity). In human body there are many chemicals found every chemical has its own duty assign by nature in regulation of heart there are also few chemicals involved which stimulates the function of heart . Neuroendocrine system helps heart to maintain its regulation this system is linked with the brain and endocrine system this is the system in which neurons and endocrine system work together electrical impulses are given by SAN whereas the endocrine system gives the chemical impulses , Neuroendocrine system is the complex system which work together this is very complicated system , it uses the nerve symbol to and changes the activity of cells as well the diameter of blood vessels it can also effect the heart rate and the rate of contraction. ( Heart Failure) Electrochemical activities of heart stimulate the heart beats heart regulation, they play very important role in life, in the body as everything depends upon the function of hearts because when heart gets electrical stimulation it transport/ pumps the blood to the system another factor which helps in pumping the blood is heart beats which is also generated by stimulation of muscles. standard heart beats are 72 per minute which are created by stimulation of heart muscles but if they are less than harmfl affects are possible to the body the less then normal heart beats could be 35 – 40 heart beats per minute then blood stream to body’s organ reduces which is dangerous (How heart works) It is a firm believe that reduction in I reduces AP polarization which in result reduces the electrochemical diving force similarly amount of SR Ca is also reduces which is necessary for the contraction of hearts muscles if we go in depth we will come to know that Na, I, K also reduces due to some abnormality and it is like a chain system if one thing is affected the entire system will be affected but here we are sescribing only the loss cause by reduction in Ca as Ca is reduced it reduces heart beats and blood transport is reduced if thing is not cover soon it can cause breathless condition as blood carries oxygen and reduction in heart beats reduces blood transport so this is one bad trait for body. Similarly reduction in I causes reduction in polarization this system is interlinked with one an other. It has also been believed that potassium K changes into HF and HF reduces Ca, it has been observed that many late HF patients who doesn’t notice their ailment before gets death because of heart abnormality, DADs, EADs and Refs decreased the amount of Ca in myocytes this reduced amount of Ca in myocytes causes systolic disjunction in Hf. Systolic means when heart contracts it is termed a systolic and when it rest it is termed diastolic so here Reduction of Ca in myocytes reduced the heart contraction it is an another thing if Ca continue leaking it may cause to death. Electrical and electrochemical regulation of heart Conclusion After reading this attention-grabbing topic we can come up with the conclusion that heart is one of the biggest gifts of God given to humans. As nature has assign functions to every part of the body similarly nature has given special function to heart which makes heart extremely important organ it transmit blood to complete body parts. There are few electrical and electrochemical behavior found in heart which helps heart in performing its main function that is creating heart beats carrying impulses. In right atrium of heart sinoatrial node (SAN) is found which also works as pace maker these sinoatrial nodes are special cells found in right atrium they generate the electrical impulses which stimulates the right atrium cell and wait unless it get emptied after now these electrical impulses moves to the atrioventricular node (AVN) now these electrical impulses are send into branching tissues right bundle branch is called (RBBB) and left bundle branch is termed as (LBBB) first it functions in right atrium and ventricle and then in few seconds after performing its task in right part of heart it moves to the left part of the heart and functions in left atrium and then left ventricle this is how electrical impulses carry in heart and makes it empty and refill in couple of seconds. Adrenaline also plays very important role in this process here nervous system plays an important role it secreted adrenaline to it is chemical by nature and it is responsible for speeding up the sparks ( electrical impulses) per minute so in this way heart continue to work by electrically and electrochemically. The methods which has been found by the scientist to record these impulses is ECG electrocardiogram this is recent and helpful technique to check whether the heart is working normally or not in this method heart rhythms are noted on paper or screen by specially assigned electrode. Now a days artificial pace maker is also being made to control abnormalities of heart. Here in this important topic we also read about that what the lack of any element present of excess of any element or chemical can do with our heart. Nature has given quantity to everything increasing from that or decreasing from that spoils the entire system here we also read about the reduction in Ca, Ca is basic need of heart to continue it heart beats here we come to know that reduction in Ca is mainly caused by reduction in things which are supporting it in background, Ca reduction causes great loss to heart that is it decreases contraction rate of heart when the heart start contracting less than it is required entire system of body is effected because heart carries blood to all part of the body if heart starts working slow then blood also starts reduces and in this way all system are being effected that’s what makes one lazy and the major loss cause by this is the heart failure if it is continuously reducing than a time will come when heart will stop working and one meets his death. After reading this prolong article we come up with the conclusion that heart is not only one organ which is supporting all the functions infect heart is being supported by many internal plus many external features such these all things work together in a chain like system if one thing is effected the entire system got effected this chain which consist of Electrical impulses electrochemical impulses , heart , factors affecting heart , environment and many more things are involved this chain system is necessary for healthy life we should take care of our health for out better tomorrow.

Views on Gay Marriage in Anna Quindlin’s Essay Evan’s Two Moms

The essay, â€Å"Evan’s Two Moms†, was written by Anna Quindlin and published in the 2004 edition of Good Reasons with Comtemporary Arguments. This essay takes a liberal point of view concerning gay marriage and the ability to raise a child in a gay family. Throughout Quindlen’s essay, her structure introduces ethos, pathos and logos through a variety of court cases to gain the readers trust; she appeals to both emotion and logic in her reader through passion and unwavering intensity, which disapproves of those who take a radical point of view about gay marriage. Anna Quindlen’s structure of â€Å"Evan’s Two Moms† provides the reader with explicit details concerning the debate about gay marriage. In Quindlen’s introductory paragraph up until the fourth paragraph, she uses pathos to draw the reader into reading more of her essay. â€Å"Evan. Evan’s mom. Evan’s other mom. A kid, a psychologist, a pediatrician. A family† (Quindlen 410), The concise statements build anticipation, which is concluded with what the writer wants the reader to accept as a fact; Evan and his two moms are a family. The example of the Minnesota appeals court gives a real life example of a gay partnership trying to earn the same benefits as spouses. When one adds a public event such as the Minnesota appeal court case to private struggles like those couples who have to go from lawyer to lawyer to approximate legal protections their straight counterparts take for granted, as well as those AIDS survivors who are shut out of th eir partner’s dying days by biological family members, only one solution is obvious (Quindlen 410). Here, Quindlen appeal to the readers emotions and captures the reader on a personal level by giving an example of a person who is being shut out of the... ...e sex were not entitled to legally commit themselves to each other† (Quindlen 411). The quote from Quindlen herself shows sarcasm and serves as a reality check for those who take a negative radical notion on gay marriage. She describes that twenty-five years from now, this debate will be as ridiculous as white and black marriage was twenty five years ago. In Evan’s Two Moms, Anna Quindlen incorporates ethos, pathos and logos to gain the readers’ trustworthiness and for them to agree on the way she feels about gay marriage. Also, her structure and tone show the reader that she has planned her argument and ties in court cases to support her argument. Quindlens’ tone and language also helps the reader to comprehend Quindlens’ argument and point that if two people are in love, no matter their sex, they should be able to live the same lifestyle as any other spouse.

The Two-Point Threshold Essay

I. Introduction In the two-point threshold experiment it is obtained how close two distinct sharp point can be together for a person to feel two points instead of one. The value of the two-point threshold is the minimal distance at which the subject can feel two distinct points. The principle behind this experiment is the fact that mechanoreceptors are not distributed homogeneously in the skin of the human body. There are areas with a higher density and areas with a lower density of mechanoreceptors, making this certain area more or less sensitive. However, the smaller the distance is where the subject can feel two distinct points, the more mechanoreceptors must be present in this area, enabling a person to feel small details in that part of the body. In this experiment we will test the two-point threshold at five ares of the body: the back of the hand, the palm of the hand, fingertip, the back of the neck, and the calf of the leg. With these given areas, the fingertips will have a smaller two-point threshold than the back of the hand. II. Materials and Methods For this experiment a compass is used to apply two sharp points to the skin at the same time, and a ruler to measure the distance of these points. The independent variable for the experiment is the are where the two-point threshold is measured. The dependent variable is the two-point threshold, or in other words the smallest distance at which the subject can distinguish between one and two points at one of the five tested areas. At first the compass is set on the smallest value, 2mm, and applied to a certain area. If the subject does not feel two distinct points the distance between the points will be increased until the subject can feel two points. That way the smallest distance, the two-point threshold is obtained. III. Results The Two-Point Threshold Values For All Subjects Calculations/ T-Test First the average two-point threshold is calculated for both areas by summing up all values and dividing the sum by the number of values,7. For the back of the hand it is an average of 22.4mm, and for the fingertips 4.71mm. Then the difference of each value to the average value is calculated and inserted in to the formula to calculate the standard deviation, where n is the number of subjects/values. X-∅X (back of hand) ⇒ square X-∅X (fingertips) ⇒ square 4,4 19,36 2,71 7,34 4,4 19,36 0,71 0,5 7,4 54,76 5,3 28,1 16,6 275,56 0,3 0,1 7,6 57,76 1,7 2,89 6,4 40,96 1,7 2,89 1,4 1,96 1,3 1,69 The squares for both independent variables will now be summed up and divided by n-1= 6 before the square root is taken. Back of the hand: Fingertips: To calculate the T-value the difference of the average values is subtracted by the square root of the sum of the two SD square divided by the number of subjects, 7. The calculated T-value for this experiment is 9,46. The Average Two-Point Threshold and Standard Deviation for the Fingertips and the Back of the Hand The graph shows clearly that the fingertips have a much smaller two-point threshold with an average of 4.71mm, than the back of the hand with 22.4mm. It also shows that the standard deviation for the fingertips is much lower with  ±2.69mm than the standard deviation of the subjects at the back of the hand with  ±8.85mm. IV. Conclusion The results of the experiment support the hypothesis that the fingertips have a smaller two-point threshold than the back of the hand. It is supported by the average two-point threshold of both areas, while the fingertips have and average of 4.71mm and the back of the hand shows and average result of 22.4mm as two-point threshold which is almost five times greater compared to the average fingertip value. The T-test is a statistical hypothesis test to see if the hypothesis is supported. In this experiment a T-value of 9.46 was calculated to 6 degrees of freedom. According to the table there is a 0.0001% chance that the hypothesis is incorrect. So in  other words this T-value supports the hypothesis with over 99%. A source of error is certainly the number of subjects in the experiment. For a strongly supported hypothesis I would suggest a follow up experiment with many more subjects to make sure this hypothesis is still supported because only a few too high or low numbers can certainly change the results with only seven subjects. Also I would suggest to have only one tester in the follow up experiment because in this experiment there were seven testers, one for each subject and everybody measures slightly different. So instead of having human error involved from one tester, we have errors involved from seven. The last source of error is within the calculations. Rounding errors here and there can make a difference if the results are close together.

Comparison and Contrast of the Devil and Tom Walker and the Devil and Daniel Webster

A comparison and Contrast of â€Å"The Devil and Tom Walker† and â€Å"The Devil and Daniel Webster† Well to start off, these two stories were tall tales and they were very similar and also very different on the same account. In one case these stories are very similar because both of the stories as just mention are tall tales; also they both include the devil as a main character and men that were very poor. Also both stories have men as the main character who tries to get out of a deal with the devil which they have agreed to. But at the same time both stories are very different. Because in the story â€Å"The Devil and Daniel Webster† the man is not greedy, but just merely down on his luck. Also the man in â€Å"The Devil and Daniel Webster† sticks to his word. While in the story The Devil and Tom Walker the man is greedy hearted, mean and also does not stick to his word. So to sum this up, the devil and Tom Walker is very different and similar to the devil and Daniel Webster. The stories are very similar in the way that both men are poor and both of the men makes a deal with the devil that they soon regret. Then the stories are very different in the personality of the two men. With Jabez not being a greedy and mean man man and Tom walker being greedy and mean who makes a deal with the devil.

Cult Branding Essays

Cult Branding Essays Cult Branding Essay Cult Branding Essay 1993). After all, if the personality of human beings can boil down to seven measures, a similar construct should suffice to analyze and write up a rich-enough character statement for a brand. The author’s tool is named the HBCQ or Hepta-dimensional Brand Character Questionnaire in reference to Professor Cloninger’s early investigative tool, the Tri-dimensional Personality Questionnaire or TPQ (Cloninger, 1987). The HBCQ consists of a battery of approximately 100 self-administered questions or statements which the respondent must answer as if the brand were a person. It is complemented by a one-hour face-to-face interview. (Chevron, 1998) Typical interviewees People to be interviewed typically include: The corporation’s top managers including only those who influence how the brand behaves (e. g. board members, chairman of the board, president, etc. The senior vice-president or vice-president of marketing International managers who get to choose and adapt advertising and packaging for their region, or who forge marketing alliances with other companies New product strategists and top RD personnel, since product formulation and new product introductions are an important part of the brand’s spe ech Senior advertising agency personnel (unless a change is contemplated) And any other person who is a long-term influencer of the brand’s communication Between five and 25 interviews are conducted and the results are analyzed by a team: a clinical psychologist, a conceptual copywriter and the author. A brand character statement is then drafted and refined with the participation of the brand’s management. Typical statements in the questionnaire include: Brand X prefers the old â€Å"tried and true† ways of doing things to trying â€Å"new and improved† ways, or, The brand can laugh at itself, which the respondent must answer with: Yes/ No/ Doesn’t apply (Chevron, 1998) Rating brand strengths and weaknesses Those answers allow us to rate the brand strengths and weaknesses along the following axes: High novelty v/s low novelty; Security v/s risk taking; Seeks reward v/s does not depend on reward; Persistence v/s irresoluteness; Self-sufficiency/maturity v/s immaturity; Cooperativeness/pro-social v/s self-centred/anti-social; and Integrity/conscience v/s lack of integrity. (Chevron, 1998) The Brand Character Statement (or BCS) Following is a hypothetical example of a Brand Character Statement: Ben Jerry’s Homemade Inc. The firm wrote the document after taking the HBCQ themselves and trying to impersonate Ben Jerry’s management while answering the questions. To verify the accuracy of this BCS, they submitted it to a Ben Jerry’s PR person who found it accurate and requested only one word change. In spite of this, they did not assume that their assessment of the Ben Jerry’s brand character is as complete as if they had been able to administer the HBCQ. Please note that this BCS contains a number of constraints or commitments which may not always be easy to live with. So it should: a character statement that does not commit much is not worth much either. ? Ben Jerry’s Ice Cream: Brand Character Statement Ben Jerry’s Homemade ice cream is ice cream as it should be, made with fresh and natural ingredients blended with something unexpected and original. It combines the tradition of Vermont where the company is, and the creative iconoclasm of hippies which Ben and Jerry were in the 1960s. Ben Jerry’s ice cream brand begins with the best ingredients, like real fresh cream and fresh fruits, which are processed according to traditional methods of ice cream making. Everything that goes into Ben Jerry’s ice cream – ingredients, preparation, packaging, distribution, and service – bears the mark of its Vermont origins: friendly farmers with solid down-home values and humour, attached to traditions that extol nature and good food. Ben Jerry’s ice cream makes ice cream fun to eat with unexpected mixes; it seems as if it had been made by two imaginative guys working in the farmhouse kitchen. Ben Jerry’s ice cream as a corporation is traditional, but not conservative: no starched shirts here, but flannel ones with funny and unexpected patterns. Everything Ben Jerry’s ice cream does reflects the strong values of Vermont tradition without compromising the creativity and progressive 1960s values of its two original entrepreneurs. It was started by friends, with an idea and no means, not by food technicians blessed with financial backing. It represents entrepreneurship and the victory of the little guy against the big corporations (which it has contempt for). It is generous as only a small artisan without a large accounting system to control cost can be: There are lots of real chunks of brownies in the Chocolate Fudge Brownie Ice Cream and large amounts of dough in the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream. Ben Jerry’s ice cream is committed to the environment in which we all live. The brand is very active in several â€Å"green† political causes. While this may have its origins in the founders’ hippie past, it is nevertheless a very current and very strong corporate commitment. Ben Jerry’s ice cream is corny as if corniness were an article of faith. It believes that seriousness only serves to protect the dim-witted. Ben Jerry’s ice cream product names often wink at its consumer: Cherry Garcia winks at its hippie past. They do not aim to be taken seriously. They are just a way to foster a bond with like-minded people. Ben Jerry’s ice cream doesn’t seek novelty for novelty’s sake: it is open to new ideas and doesn’t have hidden preconceptions or prejudices. While it is creative, it doesn’t hold creativity as an essential virtue. Nor does it hold â€Å"incongruity† as a vice either. (Chevron, 1998) Applying the Brand Character Statement From the time when a BCS is developed and agreed to, it must be used with absolute consistency and no exceptions. It is important to understand that not all of the points it makes have to be included in the brand’s communication all the time. What is essential, however, is to ensure that no point of the BCS is ever violated by any communication whatsoever. In the Ben Jerry’s ice cream example it says that: â€Å"Ben Jerry’s ice cream brand begins with the best ingredients, like real fresh cream and fresh fruits†. This means that, wherever BJ uses cream or fruit, it must use fresh cream and fresh fruit. But it also allows BJ to market sorbets (which do not contain cream) and vanilla or coffee ice creams (which do not contain fruits). Ben Jerry could not, however, market a simple vanilla or coffee ice cream which would violate another mandate from the BCS which requires it to blend tradition with the unexpected. In practice, all its vanilla ice cream is mixed with fruit, and the â€Å"Coffee, Coffee! BuzzBuzzBuzz† is sure packed with unexpected ingredients and textures. (Chevron, 1998) The Brand Parent As detailed as a brand character statement may be in writing, it is still open to interpretation. Some of those inferences may be quite contradictory, particularly when they are made by managers who are under the threat of an immediate danger, or by the sophists of a far-away advertising agency. It is best to appoint one person as â€Å"brand parent† with the responsibility of applying the BCS and of warding off threats to its integrity. Once installed, the brand parent must be the mandatory gate for all of the brand communication, including PR, packaging, promotion, etc. The parent’s authority should be exercised worldwide. (Chevron, 1998) Attributes of a Brand Parent It is important to observe the following rules for the brand parent: The person must have excellent teaching skills and have enough seniority in the organization to command respect. The brand parent is not a marketing manager and does not interfere with local marketing plans other than those plans that run against the BCS. The brand parent reports directly to the top of the corporation (president or CEO) and receives frequent public demonstrations of support from his bosses: The assignment will be made very difficult by many, particularly international managers who may see the brand parent as enc roaching on their authority, and advertising agencies who may see the BCS as hindering their creative freedom. The brand parent disposes of a research budget which serves to measure progress made in each country towards linking in the consumer’s mind the values of the BCS with the brand. The results of this research should have some impact on the compensation of local marketing staff. In addition to creating a â€Å"brand parent† function, a successful branding strategy must carefully create buy-in within an organization. This is made all the more necessary by the â€Å"top-down† approach used in the Delphi Process. The author and his team recommend that one of the first tasks of the brand parent be to implement local research with the HBCQ so as to find the brand’s â€Å"character gaps† or the brand’s character traits which local communication needs to reinforce. The brand parent should then challenge the local marketing staff to develop an action plan to bridge those gaps and, if at all possible, tie a reward to the achievement of these greed-to objectives. In addition to furthering the goal of communicating the values of the BCS, these actions will help develop a sense of ownership for the project among the local marketing staff. We cannot over-stress the importance, from the outset of the execution of a branding strategy, of establishing the organization which will direct its execution. The concept underlying the creation of a brand character statement is a powerful one and most managers will readily agree to use it. Yet, experience shows, once the pressures of running the day-to-day business resume, those good intentions can vanish quickly. (Chevron, 1998) Measuring progress Progress made in establishing brand character must be measured. If no measurements are made, the BCS exercise is likely to remain just that – an exercise. The basic principle for this monitoring consists in comparing the brand profile as it is expected to be, based on interviews conducted among the brand owners, with a brand profile based on consumer interviews. An initial measurement will permit determination of the initial â€Å"brand character gap† while subsequent research will (hopefully) show how this gap has been reduced. Brand profile measurements among consumers can be accomplished rapidly and at a relatively low cost with a shortened version of the HBCQ. This research tool has the advantage of being self-administered, and, because of the internal redundancy of its questions, of providing reliable test-retest data on the seven scales it measures. In addition, it allows measurement of the remaining â€Å"character gap† along its seven scales, thereby providing invaluable direction to those in charge of its communication. Some had warned that the questionnaire would be hard to use if people had difficulty â€Å"anthropomorphising† the brand. For some reason, qualitative researchers use these anthropomorphic analogies for research in most European countries (except Germany), but the same techniques are strongly criticized and seldom used in the USA. Our experience using HBCQ research in the USA, as well as abroad, has been very positive and has shown no problem of understanding, even in pilot tests of consumer perceptions of an ice cream brand conducted among rural Midwest respondents. The monitoring effort should be biennial and sponsored and closely supervised by the brand parent. We strongly recommend that the results be used to allocate special rewards within the company and its advertising agency. (Chevron, 1998) Yearly Review Suggested Note that while progress in establishing brand character should be measured once every other year, the brand parent would be well advised to conduct a yearly review of the process used to implement the BCS. (Chevron, 1998) ? The Brand Building Process Contd. Brand Architecture Process Brand Architecture is an organizing structure if the brand portfolio that specifies brand roles and the nature of relationships between brands. The brand architecture schemes have been referred to brand equity charter, leverages and brand profitability and the new rules of brand management leading to the efficacy of the attributes, derived advantages and brand system emerging in relation to the buying power of the customers. The first step in establishing a brand equity management system may be focussed towards finalizing brand equity into a document, the brand charter that provides relevant guidelines to the marketing managers. Such documentation strategy requires defining the firm’s view on the significance of the equity concept, describing key brands in terms of associated products or names and the manner by which they have been branded and marketed the second step in establishing a successful brand equity management is to integrate the results of the brand track survey performed periodically. While architecting the brand strategy, it is important to understand the preliminary definition of brand equity is not the same for the firm named brands that have their own names. In case of firm owned brands, ? Case Studies – Case Study 1 Marlboro Marlboro. You get a lot to like, filter, flavor, flip-top box. Where theres a man theres a Marlboro-with a filter that delivers a smoke of surprising mildness. Better makins. Marlboro More flavor More filter More cigarette. If you think flavor went out when filters came in-Try Marlboro. Make yourself comfortable-Have a Marlboro Marlboro. Why dont you set tle back and have a full flavored smoke Settle Back. You get a lot to like here in Marlboro Country. Come to where the flavor is. Come to Marlboro Country Come to where the flavor is. Come to Marlboro Country. Marlboro. A Western landscape, a rugged cowboy and the colour red have come to embody years of advertising tag lines for Philip Morris Marlboro cigarettes. These three elements, combined or separate, are recognizable as the American call to Marlboro Country even without the brand name, sales pitch or slogan. The brilliantly designed campaign, the strong image of the mythical American hero, the cowboy, and a successful series of responses to market challenges by the Marlboro team has created an immediately and universally recognized icon representing an idealized and appealing American lifestyle out of possibly the only product on the market (aside from weapons) that kill and injure when they are used as they are intended to be used. (08Ja) Background In the 1920s, Marlboro was first advertised as a premium cigarette for women, a milder version of the smokes well dressed men might puff on after dinner. But the brand never took hold, and by the 1950s concerns over the connection between smoking and cancer drove many smokers to filtered brands. Philip Morris didnt have a filtered cigarette, so it scrapped the old campaign in favour of re-launching Marlboro as the companys filtered alternative. After deciding to introduce filters to the brand, Marlboro executives still had the brands feminine image to deal with. It didnt help that filtered cigarettes were considered softer versions of the real thing, cigarettes for sissies. For help, Marlboro turned to Leo Burnetts advertising company. In a 1972 documentary, Burnett recalled the brainstorming session in which they stumbled upon their icon. I said, Whats the most masculine symbol you can think of? And right off the top of his head one of these writers spoke up and said a cowboy. And I said, Thats for sure. (08Fe) Burnett remembered a cover of Life magazine (Aug. 22, 1949) of C. H. Long, a range boss for the JA Ranch near Amarillo, Texas. A model was posed like Long, some cowboy-sounding words were added, and the ad was slapped into print in a Dallas newspaper. It was the birth of the most successful advertising campaign in history, the icon of the century, according to Advertising Age. (08Fe1) The first Marlboro men werent limited to cowboys. They were all sorts of rugged individuals who smoked their cigarettes while performing equally manly tasks, from fixing their cars to fishing or hunting. (08Fe) The rather abrupt advertising about-face sparked a similar turn in sales. By 1957, Marlboros sales were skyrocketing. Unfortunately for Philip Morris, however, 1957 also brought with it one of the first rounds of negative publicity. A study published in Readers Digest linked smoking with cancer. (08Fe) In response, Marlboro once again turned to show its softer side. But this time it made sure to do so in a way that might retain the masculine appeal the company had worked so hard to cultivate, while calming the nerves of anxious smokers. Instead of focusing on the mysterious tattooed Marlboro Man, it turned the camera to sultry singer Julie London, who would share a smoke with her lucky male companion in between verses of the dreamy new Settle Back with a Marlboro theme. 08Fe) These commercials, paired with print ads that showed apparently wealthy men relaxing for a smoke, lasted for a while. But as American politics became more complicated in the 1960s, Jack Landry, the Marlboro brand manager at Philip Morris, saw an opening into which the cowboy fit like a glove. (08Fe) In a world that was becoming increasingly complex and frustrating for the ordinary man, Landry explained, the cowboy represented an antithesis a man whose environment was simplistic and relatively pressure free. He was his own man in a world he owned. (08Fe) Marlboros television advertisements in the 60s reflected the idea of freedom in wide-open spaces, especially once he theme from the movie The Magnificent Seven was added to the scenes of cowboys leading their herds through dusty canyons of Marlboro Country or charging off to rein in a stray colt. (08Fe) Part of the success of the campaign might be attributable to the fact that Marlboro forged some credibility by using real cowboys in some of the ads instead of actors just playing the part. (08Fe) The image took hold with enough force that even through a ban on televised tobacco advertisements that began in 1971, the Marlboro Man survived unharmed. Instead of riding off into the sunset, the image turned up in print ads and on billboards all over the count ry. (08Fe) Today, Marlboros are smoked by 40 percent of U. S. mokers over 11, some 25 million people, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. They consume 154 billion Marlboros a year. (08Fe1) Analysis Marlboro is not only an iconic brand in United States of America, but in other countries too. But this is contrary to the common perception that a cult brand needs to be in line with culture of the consumers. So ideally a brand icon such as ‘Marlboro Man’ should not be an icon in other countries of the world except United States because he took birth because cowboy is a symbol of masculinity in USA. The reason behind this is ambiguity. This is further discussed by taking examples of different countries and perception of the people over there. The American cowboy The Marlboro man which was initially identified with recognizable personalities later became an anonymous icon representing a way of life associated with the wilderness, not a specific individual. The setting for the ads is the untamed frontier, the American hinterland. The Marlboro man is portrayed as both a product of the frontier and as a role model representing the idealized American spirit. As such, he stands for a sloughing off or a rejection of the trappings of the modern civilized world and an embrace of the frontier spirit. He chooses to live as a â€Å"true American† and, thereby, emerges as superior to the bureaucrats and organization men of the civilized world who pervert or ignore the heritage and birthright of all Americans. Through the Marlboro man, Americans are able to participate vicariously in the myth of America and its greatness. By using the brand, people can link themselves to that tradition; conforming â€Å"yes men† may triumph when climbing the corporate ladder, but during a smoking break the true American prevails. (A. H. Walle, 1997) When analysing the response of American audiences, therefore, the Marlboro man is best explained as a brand image which taps and replicates a basic paradigm by which Americans view and judge themselves. It is niched in the American self-image and it is clearly linked to the supposed beneficial influences of the frontier on both national character and personal worth. (A. H. Walle, 1997) The Westerner goes East A. H. Walle, a professor at University of Buffalo, USA, in his research paper â€Å"Global behaviour, unique responses: consumption within cultural frameworks† recites an incident during one of his visit to Germany. Back in the 1980s when the cold war was still frigid and the Iron Curtain was still a bastion, I drove to Berlin and in the process had to cross through a section of what was then East Germany. During the trip, my companion wanted to stop at one of the East German â€Å"duty free shops† along the way in order to get some luxury goods at low prices. (A. H. Walle, 1997) Walking into the store, I was met with a life-sized picture of the Marlboro man, which was carefully positioned so it would exert a visual impact on all entering customers. I told my companion that I found all this to be quite ironic; here I was, beginning my first interaction in an Iron Curtain country and I find myself being greeted by a classic icon of American capitalism, not by German communists. (A. H. Walle, 1997) Fairly quickly, a young female clerk at the store came over to us and urged us not to draw attention to the poster; she then confided that she was planning to steal it as soon as an opportunity presented itself. The woman went on to say that she intended to put the poster in her bathroom so she could see it every morning when she got out of the shower. She observed, â€Å"look at the picture, there’s not a fence anywhere†. (A. H. Walle, 1997) To this East German woman, the Marlboro man was a seductive icon, but to her it did not represent the heritage of the American frontier. Juxtaposing the image of a man who lived without fences to the realities of her own life and the shadow of the Berlin Wall, she viewed the Marlboro man as an alternative to the oppressive dictatorship in which she lived. We both saw the same ad; I interpreted it as an American while she processed it in ways which fit into her life. The product and its promotion were homogeneous; the meaning and response were not. (A. H. Walle, 1997) A Return to the Hinterland It is well known that the tobacco companies are increasingly marketing their products in Third World countries. It is also well known that many of the advertising symbols used in the Western world are also employed in Third World advertising and promotion of tobacco products. The Marlboro Man is an example of that tendency. (A. H. Walle, 1997) This fact, however, does not necessarily indicate that those who live in Third World countries respond to these images in ways which parallel the response of Western consumers. Consider the following observation of David Sokal who worked for the Medical Care Development Inc. in West Africa in the 1980s: While working in West Africa†¦I encountered many cigarette advertisements†¦During one [conversation with a young man] he remarked that the Marlboro man was really impressive†¦Consider the picture of a sun-bronzed cowboy on a handsome horse rounding up fat, healthy cattle. To a rural African child this is wealth and prosperity. In many villages if there is a horse at all it belongs to the village chief. Most herdsmen go on foot, and most cattle are very thin (Sokal, 1985, pp. 467-8). The key point Sokal makes is that in the African cultural milieu of which he spoke, the Marlboro man represents high social class, economic success, and the mainstream establishment. In North America, in contrast, the Marlboro man is a marginal individualist who accepts a working-class status in order to reject the confines of an â€Å"organization man† existence. By doing so, he can live as a real man and he achieves personal fulfilment as a result of his sacrifice. To the East German, in contrast, the Marlboro man represents a generalized freedom evaluated against a backdrop of political repression at home. To the African, the same image represents status, wealth, and material success. It is obvious that the same advertisement can trigger completely different responses among various audiences. Although the Marlboro advertising strategists may have thought that they were marketing a product in global ways, they merely provide various markets with what amounts to a Rorchach â€Å"ink blot test† in which people project their own personal hopes, dreams, and fears on to a neutral image which can suggest several things; it means nothing until interpreted by the viewer. (A. H. Walle, 1997) Ambiguity/Transformation Theory Certain messages possess a degree of ambiguity (intended or unintended) which facilitate multiple interpretations. To whatever degree ambiguity exists, specific groups and individuals will be free to use the message as a blank canvas on which to paint their own vision. To whatever degree a communication is concrete and unambiguous, in contrast, the greater the propensity for the receiver to interpret the message according to the â€Å"meaning† which is intended by the communicator. Actually, of course, there is always a degree of both concreteness and ambiguity in all communications; it is possible, however, to place a communication on a continuum with concreteness and ambiguity as polar opposites and the specific communication lying somewhere on that continuum. Such a model is useful in considering the Marlboro man. (A. H. Walle, 1997) The Cowboy as Ambiguous Icon As has been shown, the cowboy (as represented here by the Marlboro Man) is an ambiguous character which is subject to multiple interpretations. Its image does not possess a universal and concrete meaning. As a result, individual people and groups are able to invest the icon with interpretations which are meaningful to them. This ambiguity allows a universal and homogeneous icon, the Marlboro man, to address different markets in a uniform manner even though each group interprets this familiar icon according to its own needs and orientations. No doubt, this ambiguity was not intended by those who created the Marlboro man; these promotional specialists were obviously seeking to link the American vision of the cowboy (and its mythic links to the American psyche) with the Marlboro brand. Nonetheless, an ambiguity did creep into the icon, which allowed various audiences to transform its meaning in ways which were uniquely relevant and appropriate. Indeed, the cowboy is a multi-dimensional character. From the perspective of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the concept of the â€Å"noble savage†, the cowboy represents a superiority which results from living close to nature. As an opposite vision, the â€Å"natural man† can also be viewed as someone who sloughs the benefits of civilization and devolves down the rungs of cultural development to barbarism or worse. Both visions have been thrust on to the image of the cowboy in heroic depictions, on the one hand, and antiheroic portrayals, on the other. In addition, the cowboy can be viewed from a distinctively American perspective or as a generalized icon dealing with human universals. Both orientations have been embraced by different groups at different times. And finally, the cowboy can be viewed in hyper-specific manners as was the case in East Germany and Africa. This flexibility was not foreseen or intended by the strategic planners of Marlboro; yet it ultimately served the brand’s purpose very well. This flexibility can be viewed as a windfall which allows and facilitates effective international promotion. Ambiguity/transformation theory provides a way to deal with this phenomenon. By recognizing that the ability for an image to be transformed lies in the degree of ambiguity which exists within it, the analyst and strategic planner will have a way to predict the degree to which an advertisement can be transformed by specific groups. By so evaluating the communication, it is possible to develop tactics which mesh with the overall goals of the organization. (A. H. Walle, 1997) Discussion Although the ambiguity inherent in the Marlboro man was an accident, the example points to the strategic value of ambiguity under certain controlled conditions. Having observed Marlboro’s accidental success with ambiguity, it is possible to discuss the option of engineering promotional messages which consciously embody an ambiguity. By doing so, a homogeneous brand image can be merged with specific responses by distinct target markets. As argued above, some communications are fragile and ambiguous. The Marlboro Man is an ambiguous icon which can be interpreted in multiple ways. It lacks an inherent, concrete meaning; as a result, different groups are able to interpret it in ways which mesh with their needs and world views. Although the ambiguity in this example was accidental, it demonstrates the strategic potential which can exist in forging images which are imprecise; by presenting homogeneous campaigns based on ambiguous images, uniform corporate communications can be mated with unique local response. Marketing managers need to appreciate the potential value of such ambiguous campaigns. Juxtaposed, the polar opposites of the continuum of ambiguity and concreteness can be discussed as shown in Table. ? Table 1 Ambiguous V/s Concrete communication compared (A. H. Walle, 1997) AmbiguousConcrete CharacteristicsThe communication can be interpreted in a no. of ways. The way in which a communication is interpreted is a function of needs, wants, feelings, etc. of those who receive the message. The communication is explicit and will generally be interpreted in a specific way which is inherent in the communication itself. The meaning is largely determined by the communicator, not the receiver of the message. ValueOrganizations often want to choose a uniform means of communicating with consumers and potential consumers because of the efficiencies involved in doing so. By choosing ambiguous, yet uniform, tactic of communication, the organization can gain homogeneous recognition in the market place, on the one hand, and allow the individual markets to respond to the product in their own way, on the other On some occasions the organization wants to express a precise and explicit message that all consumers and possible consumers will interpret in identical ways. By choosing a concrete strategy, the organization will achieve the goal of explicit and unambiguous communication at the trade-off cost of preventing individual target markets from responding to the product in unique ways. DiscussionAs indicated, ambiguity and concreteness are polar opposites on a continuum. As such, many points exist between the poles. Nonetheless, it is possible to envisage a communication as embracing on orientation more than the other and to conceptualize a strategic value of having a communication which lies on some particular point of that continuum. ? Implications It is possible for homogeneous communications to be interpreted in diverse ways by various target markets. In view of the fact that this option can result in effective organizational communications, it deserves strategic consideration. Although ambiguity/transformation theory can be used to explain unintended results of organizational communications, it can also be used by those who seek to engineer ambiguity into homogeneous advertising campaigns. In the case of the Marlboro man, the ambiguity which exists was unintended. Nonetheless, Marlboro benefited from the ambiguity. Some communications are more ambiguous than others. To what extent does the organization want specific target markets to forge unique interpretations of homogeneous commercial messages? In view of the fact that the degree of ambiguity in promotional campaigns can be viewed as a matter of strategic choice, the question is more than merely academic. (A. H. Walle, 1997) ? Case Studies – Case Study 2 Mountain Dew People have always needed myths. Simple stories with compelling characters and resonant plots, myths help us make sense of the world. They provide ideals to live by, and they work to resolve lifes most vexing questions. Icons are encapsulated myths. They are powerful because they deliver myths to us in a tangible form, thereby making them more accessible. Icons are not just brands, of course. More often, they are people. We find icons among the most successful politicians- think of Ronald Reagan-artists and entertainers like Marilyn Monroe, activists like Martin Luther King, and other celebrity figures, such as Princess Di. People feel compelled to make these icons part of their lives because, through them, theyre able to experience powerful myths continually. Iconic brands operate similarly. When a brand creates a myth, most often through advertisements, consumers come to perceive the myth as embodied in the product. So they buy the product to consume the myth and to forge a relationship with the author: the brand. Anthropologists call this ritual action. When Nikes core customers laced up their Air Jordans in the early 1990s, they tapped into Nikes myth of individual achievement through perseverance. As Apples customers typed away on their keyboards in the late 1990s, they communed with the companys myth of rebellious, creative, libertarian values at work in a new economy. Holt, 2003) As these examples suggest, iconic brands embody not just any myth but myths that attempt to resolve acute tensions people feel between their own lives and societys prevailing ideology. Such tensions are widespread. An i deology, by its nature, presents challenging moral imperatives; it lays out the vision to which a community aspires. But, inevitably, many people live at a considerable remove from that vision. A national ideology may, for example, promote the ideal of a family with two parents, even though many citizens contend with broken homes. The contradictions between ideology and individual experience produce intense desires and anxieties, fueling the demand for myths. That demand, in turn, gives rise to myth markets. Its in these markets, not in product markets, that brands compete to become icons. Think of a myth market as an implicit national conversation in which a wide variety of cultural products compete to provide the most compelling myth. The topic of the conversation is the national ideology, and it is taken up by many contenders. (Holt, 2003) The winners in these markets become icons; they are the greatest performers of the greatest myths, and they bask in the kind of glory bestowed on those who have the prophetic and charismatic power to provide cultural leadership in times of great need. More often than not, in America at least, those who win in myth markets are performing a myth of rebellion. No matter the era or the ideological climate, Americans are resolutely pragmatic and populist in spirit, deeply distrustful of political dogma and concentrated authority. For guidance and solace, Americans turn to those who stand up for their personal values instead of pursuing wealth and power. The countrys myths draw on its stockpile of rebels, people who are often a threat to the prevailing ideology. The most successful icons rely on an intimate and credible relationship with a rebel world: Nike with the African- American ghetto, Harley with outlaw bikers, Volkswagen with bohemian artists, Apple with cyberpunks. And even before these, there was the soft drink Mountain Dew. Lets take a look at how, back in the 1950s, a small bottler in Tennessee succeeded with a rebel myth that addressed one of the most potent ideological contradictions of the day. (Holt, 2003) The Case of Mountain Dew To understand the early iconic power of Mountain Dew, we must hark back to the American ideology of the 1950s and 1960s, which was deeply influenced by World War II and the Cold War. The success of American military operations executed according to a rationalized, hierarchical model and the nations ability to out-science the Nazis in the race to develop the atomic bomb announced the beginning of a new era. Ideology lauded scientific expertise, the power of which would be unleashed by professionally managed bureaucracies. Popular culture was filled with visions of technology used to create fantastic futures and to help the country conquer new markets and beat back the Soviet bloc. Ideas about rugged individualism had become anachronistic; manhood was now to be earned in a corporate environment. The man who was mature enough to subsume his individuality under the umbrella of corporate wisdom was praised. Outside of work, these ideals found expression in the new modern living practiced by nuclear families in planned suburbs. These values produced a litany of contradictions. For men, these ideals felt coercive and emasculating when measured against Americas historical populism. Books like William Whytes The Organization Man and David Riesmans The Lonely Crowd, which damned the new conformity of corporate America, became best-sellers. Myth markets soon sprang up-using the Western frontier, the Beats bohemia, and the hillbilly backwater to provide salves for these tensions. The hillbilly first caught the publics attention in the 1930s in Lil Abner, a comic strip in which Al Capp exaggerated the hillbillys lack of civility to create biting social satire. As the 1950s unfolded, the hillbilly- a figure who was in touch with his innate animal qualities- seemed powerful and dangerous, the exact opposite of the corporate man. Elvis Presley, the poor Mississippi hillbilly who brought primitive black music to a white audience, oozed a titillating sexuality and sent young people in search of rock-and-roll records. CBSs The Beverly Hillbillies, a populist allegory that championed pragmatic knowledge over book learning, character over self-presentation, and traditional hospitality over proper etiquette, became one of the most popular television shows of the 1960s. Mountain Dews inventors named their product after an old-time Appalachian folk song that told of the pleasures of mountain dew – moonshine liquor. They filled the beverage with caffeine and sugar so that it would deliver a heart-pumping rush and gave it fewer bubbles than most sodas so that it could be chugged. They then created a comic hillbilly character-Willy-who drank Mountain Dew to get high. Invoking Appalachian stereotypes like the blood-feuding Hatfields and McCoys, the bottles label featured a barefoot Willy pointing his cocked rifle at a neighbour running away in the distance. Tied to Willys hip was a stoneware jug, the type usually associated with homemade booze. When PepsiCo bought the brand in 1964, the company kept the hillbilly character, renamed him Clem, and put him in animated television ads. One ad, called Beautiful Sal, features a cast of barefoot country folk. Two bumpkins court Sal, a buxom redhead in a brief, tattered dress. Sal refuses flowers from both men and tugs their hats down over their faces before she struts away. Enter Clem. Half Sals height, Clem seems like an unlikely mate. But from under his ten-gallon hat, Clem reveals a tall bottle of Mountain Dew. Sal swipes the bottle and takes a few gulps. As Clem gazes lustily, Sal lifts a leg and hollers. Yahoo, Mountain Dew! Her long hair snaps into curls beside her head. If the audience failed to understand that Dew has the power to change attitudes in a heartbeat, the muzzle flash that explodes from Sals ears seals the deal. She growls like a panther in heat, embraces Clem passionately, and smothers him with a kiss. The spot then cuts to a single-toothed old man who reaches behind his head, wiggles his finger lasciviously through a bullet hole in his hat, and says, Mountain Dewll tickle yore innards, cuz thars a bang in everbottle. Sales took off like a shot in eastern rural areas. Mountain Dew had succeeded in creating a kind of manhood that rivalled the buttoned-up emotions and routines of the organization men. Its hillbilly was a devilish prankster who called on male viewers to let loose their own wild man. Traversing Cultural Disruptions Mountain Dews success as an icon becomes all the more impressive when one considers how it outlived the ideological tension it was initially positioned to address. National ideology works something like Stephen Jay Goulds idea of punctuated equilibrium or Clay Christensens and Michael Tushmans descriptions of innovation cycles in technology markets, which have extended periods of incremental innovation disrupted occasionally by radical technological changes. As an ideology loses its relevance, people lose faith in its tenets. Experimentation ensues, historical ingredients are reworked, and society finally arrives at a new consensus. When such a shift in ideology occurs, people are forced to adjust their aspirations and their views of themselves. Myths provide a powerful sense of structure at these junctures, and they grow up spontaneously around the emerging ideology, forming new myth markets. These are the moments when we see new icons take off and incumbents struggle to remain relevant. Mountain Dew, which has enjoyed dramatic growth since the 1960s, is one of only a few iconic brands that have been able to increase their market power across disruptions in national ideology, cross cultural chasms instead of being dismantled by them. In 1978, a new television serial ‘The Dukes of Hazzard’, quickly became a huge hit outside major metropolitan markets. And Mountain Dew took the cue as well, retooling its wild man to deliver a redneck rebuttal to Wall Streets incarnation of the frontier myth. A look at Mountain Dews 1981 television ad Rope Swing shows how the brand moved into this new mythic territory without betraying its constituents understanding of what the brand stood for. The ad depicts an informal teen outing in lush, hilly terrain. A sinewy young man dressed only in shorts and running shoes stands with his buddies on a ledge high above a river. He waits for the perfect moment to swing out, Tarzan-style, over the water on aknotted rope. On the opposite bank, four teenage girls swing an empty rope out to meet him halfway. Filmed in slow motion, he executes the switcheroo perfectly, his body taut and rippling as he releases the first rope to grab the second, after which he swings safely to the other side. The girls cheer his crossing a clear rite of passage and greet him, bouncing excitedly. Intercut with the action, the hero appears in close-ups chugging a bottle of cold Mountain Dew. By the spots end, hes polished off the entire bottle without coming up for air. Shaking water from his hair, he faces the camera, eyes shut but mouth wide open. The film freezes with him seemingly shouting, Ah! As corporate executives donned cowboy gear in the mid-1980s, Mountain Dew responded even more assertively with a campaign called Doin It Country Cool. A dozen vignettes show our redneck studs, this time decked out in cowboy regalia, once again showing off their athletic talents and buff bodies to cheering young women. Mountain Dew argued, through myth that virile guys live to play dangerously, not to sweat it out at the office. The brand retained its iconic power by reinterpreting the wild man to fit the new ideological reality. Again, Mountain Dew championed the wild man against the emasculation of corporate work, but this time by asserting physical toughness and derring-do over the flaccid cowboys of Wall Street. From Redneck to Slacker By 1987, Mountain Dew was again an endangered icon as the nations ideology underwent another shift. The country became disenchanted with the ideals of the Wall Street frontier in a matter of months as Reagan left office, scandals rocked the financial world, and the stock market crashed. A deluge of popular books and films excoriating arbitrageurs for their greed and indulgence marked the end of this era. Before long, it became clear that the very nature of the economy was changing: Companies had to be more agile and aggressive to compete globally, and workers faced an increasingly Hobbesian, winner-take-all labour market. In the new era of the free agent, in which seniority systems were thrown out in favour of performance driven meritocracies, every job was up for grabs to the most talented and most tenacious worker. During this period of cultural disruption, a new, turbocharged version of Reagans frontier myth took hold, this one lauding heroic individual achievement. Now manhood was defined by the ability to tackle extremely difficult and sometimes dangerous challenges that demanded both mental and physical toughness. Myths of the day defined heroes as those who competed most ferociously, such as rebel athlete Michael Jordan with his brand of in your face basketball. Professionals no longer savoured expensive dining and Rolexes. Now they headed into the wilderness for tests of will against whitewater and mountains, and the must-have item was an SUV-if not a ranch in Montana. This new version of the frontier myth galvanized both male and female professionals and those who competed in the labour market to join their ranks. But most people ended up in a secondary labour market with depressed wages and no job security, or in service work that promised only stifling, micromanaged employment. Contradictions between the free-agent frontier and the realities of work were extraordinary: While many young people were moving into jobs as telemarketers and retail clerks, popular culture was lauding executives who in an average week conquered markets, technology, Whitewater, and rock walls. To make matters worse, in households across America parents pushed their kids ever harder to make it in this fiercely competitive environment The myth market that sprang up to feed these anxieties centred on a new rebel figure, the slacker. As glorified by Richard Linkletters film of that name and by Douglas Coupland in his quasi-novel Generation X, the slacker is a character who would rather pursue quixotic activities than grow up and get serious about a career. Channels such as Fox, MTV, and ESPN2 immediately picked up on the slacker ethos and delivered programming that emphasized its do -it- yourself sensibility, extreme version of manhood, and iconoclastic tastes. Slacker heroes excelled not at rule-bound professional sports but at improvisational sports like skateboarding, which they pursued on their own without rules and without corporate interference. In the music industry, rap, techno, and alternative rock all emphasized the do-it-yourself ethos: Anyone can and should make music, with a turntable and some old records, a computer, or a beat-up guitar. So-called extreme sports, in which guys fearlessly risk bodily harm to perform never-before-attempted stunts, became the rage. The professional wrestling program Smack-Down! , featuring enormous costumed men spilling fake blood on each other, was the entertainment choice of the day. Ultraviolent video games enticed guys to spend hour after hour revelling in over-the-top conquests- without getting off the couch. The slacker myth market had taken the masculine expressions of the free-agent frontier myth and turned up the adrenaline to an extreme. Slackers made fun not only of the ideals of the free-agent nation (particularly in the comic strip Dilbert) but also of the people who tried to dictate their lives: marketers. The rock band Nirvana came on the scene with its jab at youth branding Smells like Teen Spirit, and the hit film Waynes World proposed an ironic kind of one-upmanship over corporate marketing. Instead of buying what corporations sold, slackers reclaimed old stuff-TV programs, music, clothes that industry had given up on. Professionals may have had the power and money, but they couldnt force slackers to buy their wares. Instead, slackers could use their own creativity to make the refuse of popular culture valuable. And where did all this leave Mountain Dew? In the face of the new American ideology Mountain Dews redneck was reduced to irrelevance just like the hillbilly before him. So Mountain Dews wild-man ethos was reformulated once again, this time within the new world of the slacker. A TV ad called Done That, part of Mountain Dews Do the Dew campaign, was the companys breakthrough into this new mythic territory. The ad opens with a hair-raising shot of a guy jumping off a cliff and free-falling toward a narrow canyons river bottom. Accompanied by a thumping thrash-metal soundtrack, a stomach-tightening shot trails behind the jumpers feet as he falls away from the cliff. The music stops abruptly, and the camera zooms in on four young men, dressed like low-rent gym rats, standing in the Mojave Desert. The guys hang on one another in a kind of casual street camaraderie. In rapid succession, each mugs for the camera and comments on the skydiving the viewers have just seen: Done that Did that, Been there,Tried that The camera cuts back to live action, showing an athlete diving off a 20-foot waterfall on a boogie board and surfing the rapids. The four dudes return, still among Mojave cacti, and quickly announce their boredom with that high-risk activity as well. But the dudes dismissive statements paint only half the picture. Their cocky body language betrays no fear of the camera, as each leans toward it to make his feelings absolutely clear. The guys, parodying the jockeying of young bucks in business, play at being cocksure daredevils. The soundtrack resumes as abruptly as it had stopped, and we cut to a Mountain Dew dispensing machine in a jungle setting. Whoa! Never did it, Never guzzled it. Cans blast like cannon shells from the machines opening. Each dude snatches a can from midair and chugs it down under the desert sun. Sated, they say in rapid succession: Did it,Done it,Liked it,Loved it In the three sequels to Done That, the stunts become increasingly fantastic and absurd: waterskiing behind a helicopter past icebergs in the Arctic, rollerblading off the Sphinx in Egypt, wrestling a crocodile in the Amazon, taking a platform jump off Londons Big Ben clock tower. And the dudes become harder and harder to impress. After a skier shoots off a cliff and falls with no landing in sight, he somersaults and opens a parachute. The dudes appear in front of a sand dune to dismiss him: Blase, Pass^, Okay, Cliche. A rock climber rappels headfirst, a mountain biker leaps in front of a wall of flames, a surfer launches off a sand dune, a scuba diver feeds a voracious shark by hand, and a snowboarder tumbles head over heels down a steep slope, but the dudes posturing grows only more indifferent: Obvious, Frivolous, Tedious, Whatawuss! Wi th the Do the Dew campaign. Mountain Dew reinvented the wild man as a slacker. In these spoofs of extreme sports, all presented as do-it-yourself quests, the brand asserted that the real men of Americas free-agent frontier werent the most buff or competitive athletes but the creative guys who pursued their stunts as whimsical art. Slackers didnt just face down dangerous situations that came their way. They sought out insane life-threatening risks. The Dew guys upped the ante on masculine risk taking to absurd levels, which, in the end, made fun of the idea that manhood has anything to do with such feats. The people with real power, in Mountain Dews worldview, were people with extreme-and very particular tastes. Slackers had no power as workers, but they could assert their will in the corporate world by asserting their opinions. Companies and their managers would have to take notice. How to Build an Icon Today Mountain Dew is a $5 billion brand, surpassed in size only by Coke and Pepsi. During the past two decades, its sales have risen faster than those of any other carbonated soft drink. Key to this phenomenal growth has been the ability of managers at PepsiCo and its ad agency BBDO to reinvent the Mountain Dew myth each time American ideology ruptures and is remade. But Mountain Dews experience is not unique: The same principles apply to the other iconic brands Ive studied. In brief, a brand becomes an icon when it is able to do the following five things. Icons dont target consumer segments or psychographic types. They go after veins of intense anxieties and desires running through society, the psychological consequence of the national ideology. While market fragmentation is the rule in many sectors of the economy, icons necessarily speak to a mass audience. Unlike conventional branding, icons dont mimic pop culture; they lead it. They create charismatic visions of the world to make sense of confusing societal changes in much the same way as have Marilyn and Elvis, JFK and Martin Luther King, Ronald Reagan and Rambo, Steve Jobs and Bart Simpson. Icons earn extraordinary market power because they deliver myths that repair the culture when its particularly in need of mending. They put existing cultural materials to new purposes in order to provoke audiences to think differently about themselves. Mountain Dew was a breakthrough success in the 1990s because, in the midst of a labour market shake-up, the brand provided a symbolic solution to young men who werent stars of the new free-agent nation. Icons dont seek to mirror the thoughts and emotions of their customers. They speak as rebels. To assemble a credible populist challenge to the national ideology, iconic brands draw on people who actually live according to alternative ideals. And icons dont simply borrow the trappings of rebel lifestyles, mimicking their clothing or language. Rather, they understand the rebels point of view so well that they can speak with the rebels voice. Mountain Dew didnt simply offer up extreme sports or retro clothing. Instead, by creatively mixing and matching slacker elements, the campaign evoked the slacker Zeitgeist. Unlike conventional brands, icons dont behave as if they have a certain DNA, an essential truth that must be maintained. Icons must be reincarnated when ideology ruptures because the value of their myth is erased. What remains intact as an artefact of the original brand, however, is its political authority. When an icons myth loses value, its constituency still looks to the brand to shed light on the kinds of contradictions it has addressed in the past. Because the brand has been a trustworthy and committed advocate, consumers believe that it will speak for them again. Mountain Dews Do the Dew campaign, for instance, appears to be worlds apart from the hillbilly and watering-hole ads. Yet the brands remake was welcomed because it drew on a deep reservoir of political authority. Mountain Dew was, once again, championing the id over the ego for young men who felt excluded from manhood as defined by the nations ideology. Icons own an imaginative politics that can be reclaimed virtually at will, even if the brand has fumbled or abandoned this commitment for years. Cultural knowledge is critical for building icons yet is sorely lacking in most managers arsenals. The Do the Dew campaign worked because its creators understood the angst of low-wage earners looking up at the new heroes of the marketplace, a tension that was invisible to managers who understood Generation X simply as a psychographic jumble of attitudes and emotions. And the campaign worked because its creators were so immersed in the slacker subculture that they could use it to express the slacker ethos in a new way rather than just parade slacker gear in their ads, as many other brands did at the time. Getting Close to Culture When the nati

Nothing is so pwerful as the word whose idea has come.doc essays

Nothing is so pwerful as the word whose idea has come.doc essays Debate Topic: With regard to the claim that norms and ideas make a difference in the behavior of governments, Nothing in the world is so powerful as an idea whose time has come. There are countries or individuals that have more power than the others in the same community. This power depends on many details, most of which are very hard to see. Determining which of them is more important is even harder. So understanding Hugos following words is very difficult: Nothing in the world is so powerful as an idea whose time has come. Of course the idea is important but claiming nothing is more important is incorrect. Even though idea is the base of every action it is not the most powerful, because every idea needs realization. An idea without realization is nonsense; it is words that can do nothing. No one knows what would happen if the idea was the most powerful. Maybe some wise individuals would rule the world, like Eduard Shevardnadze controlled Georgia. Every time before the elections he expressed his ideas about how he would make the lives of Georgians better. And every time the ideas were only words that nobody realized. If the ideas were the most powerful then Shevardnadze would be the president of Georgia even now, but fortunately appeared Saakashvili, the person who could go against ideas of Eduard Shevardnadze. Georgians were ready to support anyone who could go against Shevardnadze and when Saaksashvili (the real opposing force) appeared everyone, who could come in Tbilisi, came there and assisted Mikhail to overthrow Shevardnadze and his government. There was Hitler who had idea to conquer the world, but his idea was not so powerful as military forces of Soviet Union. In this case military forces appeared to be more powerful than the idea. There can be many cases in world politics where economics become much more important than the idea. The last part of Victor Hugos phrase (who ...

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Babson College (GPA, SAT and ACT Scores for Admission) Babson College GPA, SAT and ACT Graph Babson College GPA, SAT Scores and ACT Scores for Admission. Data courtesy of Cappex. How Do You Measure Up at Babson College? Calculate Your Chances of Getting In  with this free tool from Cappex. Discussion of Babsons Admissions Standards: Far more applicants are rejected than accepted by Babson College. Successful applicants will need to have standardized test scores and high school grades that are well above average. In the graph above, the blue and green dots represent accepted students. You can see that most successful applicants had high school grades in the B / A- range or higher. Admitted students tended to have combined SAT scores of 1250 or higher (RWM), and ACT composite scores of 26 or better. Strong math scores are particularly important at Babson. Note that there are quite a few red dots (rejected students) and yellow dots (waitlisted students) mixed in with the green and blue in the middle of the graph. Many students with grades and test scores that were on target for Babson College did not get in. Also note that a few students were accepted with test scores and grades a bit below the norm. This is because Babsons admissions process is based on more than numbers. The college uses the Common Application and has holistic admissions. The admissions folks will be looking at the rigor of your high school courses, not just your grades. Also, they will want to see a winning essay, interesting extracurricular activities, an engaging short answer, and strong letters of recommendation. You can further strengthen your application by doing an optional interview, and all applicants must do a supplemental essay in the form of a letter to your Babson roommate. To learn more about Babson College, high school GPAs, SAT scores and ACT scores, these articles can help: Babson College Photo TourBabson College Admissions ProfileWhats a Good SAT Score?Whats a Good ACT Score?Whats Considered a Good Academic Record?What is a Weighted GPA? Articles Featuring Babson College: Top New England Colleges and UniversitiesTop Massachusetts CollegesBoston Area Colleges If You Like Babson College, You May Also Like These Schools   Bryant University:  Profile  |  GPA-SAT-ACT GraphVillanova University:  Profile  |  GPA-SAT-ACT GraphStonehill College:  Profile  |  GPA-SAT-ACT GraphUniversity of Connecticut:  Profile  |  GPA-SAT-ACT GraphFordham University:  Profile  |  GPA-SAT-ACT GraphProvidence College:  Profile  |  GPA-SAT-ACT GraphNortheastern University:  Profile  |  GPA-SAT-ACT GraphGeorgetown University:  Profile  |  GPA-SAT-ACT GraphBoston College:  Profile  |  GPA-SAT-ACT GraphUniversity of Pennsylvania:  Profile  |  GPA-SAT-ACT GraphNew York University:  Profile  |  GPA-SAT-ACT GraphBentley University:  Profile  |  GPA-SAT-ACT GraphDrexel University:  Profile  |  GPA-SAT-ACT Graph

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Macro and Microeconomics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

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An investigation into issues surrounding consumer online purchasing Dissertation

An investigation into issues surrounding consumer online purchasing influenced by Facebook and Twitter - Dissertation Example A primary research method was used and a survey instrument with 30 questions based on the Likert scale was used. This was administered to a research sample of 200 and the responses analysed using SPSS. Findings from the research indicate that fashion firms use a number of methods and tools for promotion. These include Facebook posts, online reviews, and posts about latest events, trends, celebrity wear, online galleries, discounts and promotion codes. In addition they use eWord of Mouth advertising, buzz marketing and viral marketing. Facebook has also introduced Facebook stores that are micro sites for small and medium enterprises and introduced the Facebook Commerce, which is similar to e-Commerce but based on the Facebook marketplace. Facebook users place a high level of reliance and trust on the online reviews and posts and base their purchase decisions on these reviews. The research concludes by indicating that Facebook has emerged as the new marketplace for fashion products sin ce it brings together customers, sellers and hosts promotions and reviews that attract customers. Table of Contents 1. Introduction 13 1. Introduction 13 1.2. Literature review 15 1.2.1. Internet users 15 1.2.3 Online word of mouth 15 1.2.4. Social media 17 1.2.5. Social media marketing 17 1.2.6. Consumer’s purchase decision behaviour 19 1.3. Research Aims and Objectives 21 1.4. Time schedule 21 1.5 Resources 23 2. Literature Review 23 2. Literature Review 23 2.1. Decision making with Facebook 25 2.1.1. Items purchased with social media 29 2.1. 2. Facebook for selling and buying 29 2.1.3. Emergence of Facebook Store 35 2.1.4. Emergence of Facebook F-Commerce 37 2.2. Word of mouth and e-Word of mouth 39 Figure 2.1. Model for branding in eWoM (Jansen, et al, 2009) 39 2.3. Communication through social media 41 2.3.1. Buzz Marketing 43 2.3.2. Viral Marketing 45 2.4. Summary of the literature review 47 3. Methodology 49 3. Methodology 49 3.1 Introduction 49 3.2 Research Objectives 51 3.3 Research Philosophy 53 3.3.1 Deductive Approach 53 3.4 Research Design 55 3.4.1 Primary and Secondary Data 55 3.4.2 Quantitative Method 59 3.5 Sampling 61 3.6 Survey 63 3.6.1 Survey Design 63 3.6.2 Survey Limitations 65 3.7 Research Limitations 67 3.8. Summary 67 4. Findings and Analysis 69 4. Findings and Analysis 69 4.1. Analysis of various groups in the survey 69 Q1. I use Facebook to look at fashion items that inspire my own wardrobe. 71 Q2. I enjoy using Facebook because it gives me access to fashion ideas I would not otherwise have. 71 Q3. I use Facebook to look at celebrity styles and fashion items 73 Q4. The fashion item posts I see on Facebook inspire me to buy the same things. 75 Q5. I am compelled to buy fashion items to fit in with my friends who post their items on Facebook. 77 Q6. I use Facebook for fashion inspiration because it is free and I have constant access to it unlike fashion magazines. 77 Q7. I buy fashion items spontaneously 79 Q8. I am easily influe nced to purchase items because of fashion posts 81 Q9. I follow fashion on Facebook because it is updated much quicker than any other modes of media. 81 Q10. Once I purchase a new fashion item I post the details on Facebook 83 Q11. I actively search for fashion advice posted by people and pages on Facebook 85 Q12. I mostly use Facebook to be able to see what everyone else is wearing 87 Q13. I trust in the recommendations on products through Facebook 87 Q14. I take advice from Facebook and research online before a purchasing decision. 89 Q15. I am likely to be influenced to buy a particular brand if it is