The Diffusion of a Cell

Free Essays on International Direct Marketing

I. Introduction Only 20 years ago, direct marketing was considered a speciality employed by book publishers, record clubs or magazine publishers seeking subscriptions. Meanwhile direct marketing has become a marketing tool utilised by more than half the U.S. Fortune 500 companies. Due to direct marketing’s success it is now the basis for various sub disciplines. Database marketing, relationship marketing, one-to-one marketing and others all offer interesting extensions and variations of direct marketing’s basic techniques. More and more companies, in Europe and the United States, are using direct marketing as one part of their overall marketing mix. As Pat Harpell, CEO of Harpell Inc., says: â€Å"Nothing delivers measurable, quantitative results against an ever-shrinking marketing budget like direct response programs.† (www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3815/is_13_13/ai_79008982) II. Direct Marketing „Direct Marketing consists of direct communications with carefully targeted individual consumers to obtain an immediate response. Thus, direct marketers communicate directly with customers, often on a one-to-one, interactive basis. They closely match their marketing offers and communications to the needs of narrowly defined segments or even individual buyers. ... They usually seek a direct, immediate, and measurable consumer response.† (Armstrong and Kotler, 2000, p.476) Direct marketing has its beginning in the mail order business and the term ‘Direct Marketing’ was first introduced by Lester Wunderman in 1961 (Baker, 2003). Today’s trend goes towards narrow targeted or one-to-one marketing. Thus many companies are using direct marketing as a primary marketing approach or as a supplement to other approaches in order to reach targeted customers more efficiently and also to build more personal relationships with them (Armstrong and Kotler,... Free Essays on International Direct Marketing Free Essays on International Direct Marketing I. Introduction Only 20 years ago, direct marketing was considered a speciality employed by book publishers, record clubs or magazine publishers seeking subscriptions. Meanwhile direct marketing has become a marketing tool utilised by more than half the U.S. Fortune 500 companies. Due to direct marketing’s success it is now the basis for various sub disciplines. Database marketing, relationship marketing, one-to-one marketing and others all offer interesting extensions and variations of direct marketing’s basic techniques. More and more companies, in Europe and the United States, are using direct marketing as one part of their overall marketing mix. As Pat Harpell, CEO of Harpell Inc., says: â€Å"Nothing delivers measurable, quantitative results against an ever-shrinking marketing budget like direct response programs.† (www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3815/is_13_13/ai_79008982) II. Direct Marketing „Direct Marketing consists of direct communications with carefully targeted individual consumers to obtain an immediate response. Thus, direct marketers communicate directly with customers, often on a one-to-one, interactive basis. They closely match their marketing offers and communications to the needs of narrowly defined segments or even individual buyers. ... They usually seek a direct, immediate, and measurable consumer response.† (Armstrong and Kotler, 2000, p.476) Direct marketing has its beginning in the mail order business and the term ‘Direct Marketing’ was first introduced by Lester Wunderman in 1961 (Baker, 2003). Today’s trend goes towards narrow targeted or one-to-one marketing. Thus many companies are using direct marketing as a primary marketing approach or as a supplement to other approaches in order to reach targeted customers more efficiently and also to build more personal relationships with them (Armstrong and Kotler,...

Art of America Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Art of America - Research Paper Example This painting was done between 1503 and 1506 (Mayhew, 46). Leonardo Da Vinci connected pyramid structure to place the woman tranquilly and basically in the place the fine art. Her neck, face and breast glow with the same magnitude of the light that forms her hands. The light is therefore able to give a number of surfaces and underlying geometry of circles and spheres. The woman is depicted sitting upright while folding her arms, which is a sign of her held posture. It is only her gaze which is well directed to the observer and this gaze seems to welcome the observer in silence. This woman appears very alive in a very unusual measure. It can be deducted that there is an intimate conversation between the lady and the observer (Jeanne). This paint became more famous when it was stolen and then recovered. It was believed that it had been lost forever, but after two years it was recovered after one of the employees had stolen

The growth of McDonald's company in the European market Case Study

The growth of McDonald's company in the European market - Case Study Example The main competitors include Tex-Mex, Nando’s, and Southern Fried Spicy Chicken Restaurant. In addition, research indicates that the demand is drifting away from the plain hamburgers offered at McDonald’s. As such, lack of product diversity has been a barrier to successful expansion into the European market (Han, 2009). McDonald’s company has to establish products that go beyond its identity (Toivanen, & Waterson, 2011). As such, it should go beyond the conventional hamburger place and offer a variety of products. In addition, the foods offered ought to be unique from those from the competitors. It is worth noting that McDonald’s Company is focusing on hamburgers and fries with low fat content. With the increasing lifestyle concerns related to nutrition, the European market is in dire need of products that are healthy. McDonald’s should focus on producing products that meet the nutritional demands of consumers, taking note of the increased demand to healthy eating habits. McDonald’s ought to recognize that consumers are the source of revenue. To maximize on its expansion in the European market, McDonald’s should embrace customer service as a complementary to offering foods. Customer satisfaction forms the foundation to customer loyalty. As such, the company should place customer service as a primary product. In addition, the company may practice target marketing as a promotional mechanism. Advertising its products to the right market would ensure that the company adopts an efficient marketing approach. It is notable that the visual impression is significant to consumer preference. Therefore, the company should focus on aspects such as packaging that go beyond marketing to create an appeal for its products. McDonald’s business strategy involves product differentiation and diversification to have an edge over its competitors. As such, the company ought to focus on new products such as McCafà ©, its coffee brand, to diversify

Romeo and Juliet Essay Example for Free

Romeo and Juliet Essay The Globe Theatre is a big circular theatre based on the South bank of the Thames in London. Shakespeare held his newest plays there before he publicly showed them anywhere else. The positions of where people sat varied from, the richer people sitting high up in the stands, and the poorer people who had to stand in the middle. The Globe Theatre was very basic, costumes and properties were kept backstage in the tiring house. The actors were well dressed and there were 3 roofed galleries. All performances took place in the afternoon. The stage itself had a trap door to get on and off, it was also a very high stage. In this essay I will be exploring how Shakespeare uses devices for dramatic affect. In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare refers to where people and other objects are positioned on the stage. An example of this is; Romeo: but soft what light from yonder window breaks? It is the east and Juliet is the sun. This phrase implies that Shakespeare is asking the audience to imagine its dark and its night time and all they can see is a bright light appearing from above. This bright light suggests that she is life giving and beautiful, all eyes are drawn up to her in the theatre. Shakespeare uses positional language, such as, Romeo: Thou art as glorious to this night being over his head. This suggests that Juliet is on a balcony high above the stage and Romeo is below her. Also reinforces dark night-time reference with Juliet as shining sun. Shakespeare uses many metaphors in the play as it lets the characters show how they feel about each other. For example, Romeo: Juliet is the sun. He says this as the sun brings happiness and joy to everyone. He is also acknowledging that Juliet and her family are wealthier and have higher social standing than Romeos. He continues to use them later in Act 2 Scene 2. An example of this is, Romeo: O, speak again bright angel. This is because Romeo loves listening to the sound of her voice, he does not want her to stop speaking as he is totally focused on her. In Act 2 Scene 2 of Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare uses words with powerful connotations, as Romeo says, Deny thy father and refuse thy name, or if thou will not, be but sworn my love, and Ill no longer be a Capulet. This suggests that their families may not agree that theyre in love and that even if their families may not get on with each other, they are truly in love. Romeo realises the consequences of his love for Juliet as he chooses forceful words such as deny and refuse. Shakespeare also uses visual imagery, such as, Romeo: two of the fairest stars in all of heaven do entreat her eyes to twinkle in their spheres till they return. This quotation shows that Romeo is comparing Juliets eyes to the stars and is saying how her eyes are beautiful. Having the Globe theatre as the stage would draw the attention of the audience towards the twinkling sky. He continues to use visual imagery, for example, Romeo: As that vast shore washed with the farthest sea. This creates the impression that their love is huge, further than the eye can see. Shakespeare uses personification to show the love that Romeo and Juliet have, an example of this is, By love that first led me to enquire lent him eyes. This shows that love is personified, as Cupid the Roman God of Love. Romeo admits his love to Juliet from the first moment their eyes met. Also, Romeo says With loves light wings did I oerpearch these walls, for stony limits cannot hold love out, and what love can do, that dares love attempt. He uses soft words and alliteration loves light. This phrase implies love gave him strength and that he is willing to do anything for her. In addition he says love enabled him to get to her not only by physical strength but with emotional strength. Finally, Shakespeare uses tragic irony, for instance, Romeo says, Hence forth I never will be Romeo. The audience know he is going to die but he doesnt. He is giving out clues to the audience that he will soon die. He is saying he will not be the ladies man anymore and feels Juliet is the only one for him. He continues to use this as Romeo says, Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon who is already sick and pale with grief. He is saying that the sun is Juliet and the envious moon is her family. This shows a positive with a negative, and shows love then shows what will happen later, death. To conclude, Shakespeare used many different ways to show how Romeo and Juliet felt about each other; he not only used the written word but also used the Globe Theatre as a dimension, especially with the balcony scene. I believe that it would have been very entertaining to have watched one of Shakespeares plays in The Globe Theatre as the actors would have performed right in front of you and around you, you would have felt totally included.

Do Humans Use 100% of Their Brains? :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Do Humans Use 100% of Their Brains? Where did the persistent statement that humans use 10% of their brains originate and is it valid? It was first coined by William James, a philosopher and psychologist. Some professionals have even stated even lower percentages, like Margaret Mead saying that we use 6% of our brains (3). If this statement is true, it implies that humans could behave very differently and perhaps with greater thought and purpose. If the statement is a fallacy, it supports the brain equals behavior theory, such that the brain is not harboring unused capacities and behaviors. The 1012 neurons in the brain have not all been researched for activity or not, but researchers have found no evidence for unused abilities or large, unused regions of the brain. Researchers know that humans do not use every region of their brain for every behavior, unless we are doing something so complex that it requires all of the brains capacities. At any given point in time, about 5% of the neurons are active, but over time and change of ones behavior, PET scans and fRMIs show that the vast majority of the brain is active (2). Perhaps this is an evolutionary adaptation: to conserve energy and prevent an electrical and chemical overload from all the neurons firing and inhibiting. The brain is about 3 pounds, using an inproportionate 20% of the bodys oxygen- rich blood, but is only 2% of the bodys total weight (3). The significance of the brain receiving so much of the bodys energy supply, reveals its ability to perform important functions. The heart and the lungs main function is to provide the brain with oxygenated blood, presumably because the brains will be performing essential neuronal activity relevant to the days behavior. The highly specialized regions of the brain give some insight into the many functions that the brain is capable of doing. So the development of the brain into specific sections that have been researched to facilitate specific functions, provides evidence that these regions are active in a normal humans lifetime. The fact that the brain has a highly ordered procedure for developing, leads researchers to believe that each region of the brain is essential. In fact, researchers have found several regions to account for one function, to imply that the collaboration of several brain regions is sometimes necessary for normal functioning. Other evidence against the statement that humans only use 10% of their brains. Do Humans Use 100% of Their Brains? :: Biology Essays Research Papers Do Humans Use 100% of Their Brains? Where did the persistent statement that humans use 10% of their brains originate and is it valid? It was first coined by William James, a philosopher and psychologist. Some professionals have even stated even lower percentages, like Margaret Mead saying that we use 6% of our brains (3). If this statement is true, it implies that humans could behave very differently and perhaps with greater thought and purpose. If the statement is a fallacy, it supports the brain equals behavior theory, such that the brain is not harboring unused capacities and behaviors. The 1012 neurons in the brain have not all been researched for activity or not, but researchers have found no evidence for unused abilities or large, unused regions of the brain. Researchers know that humans do not use every region of their brain for every behavior, unless we are doing something so complex that it requires all of the brains capacities. At any given point in time, about 5% of the neurons are active, but over time and change of ones behavior, PET scans and fRMIs show that the vast majority of the brain is active (2). Perhaps this is an evolutionary adaptation: to conserve energy and prevent an electrical and chemical overload from all the neurons firing and inhibiting. The brain is about 3 pounds, using an inproportionate 20% of the bodys oxygen- rich blood, but is only 2% of the bodys total weight (3). The significance of the brain receiving so much of the bodys energy supply, reveals its ability to perform important functions. The heart and the lungs main function is to provide the brain with oxygenated blood, presumably because the brains will be performing essential neuronal activity relevant to the days behavior. The highly specialized regions of the brain give some insight into the many functions that the brain is capable of doing. So the development of the brain into specific sections that have been researched to facilitate specific functions, provides evidence that these regions are active in a normal humans lifetime. The fact that the brain has a highly ordered procedure for developing, leads researchers to believe that each region of the brain is essential. In fact, researchers have found several regions to account for one function, to imply that the collaboration of several brain regions is sometimes necessary for normal functioning. Other evidence against the statement that humans only use 10% of their brains.

Consumer Behavior Comparison Essay

1. Using the tricomponent attitude model, compare the differences in attitude of consumers towards Kraft Foods versus their attitude towards Vegemite. The tricomponent attitude model is made up of Cognitive, Affective and Conative component. The three components are interrelated and integrate to form an attitude of a person toward any product or service in consumer scenario. Here we are studying how the consumers react to Kraft Food and Vegemite. Cognitive Component Cognition is basically making decisions going through a thinking process. So this thinking process can occur on the basis of knowledge and perceptions that already existed in the consumers’ minds. The Cognitive Component of attitude is developing a belief based on past experience or perception and whenever the consumers are exposed to attitude object (about which we are to form certain attitude) and those belief will form a typical behavior towards that attitude object. The consumers can be seen in the case study to be protective over Vegemite as they perceive it to be a national symbolic food with the long history. The brand itself had lasted centuries with its unique salty base as breakfast spread as compared to traditional sweet base spreads. Kraft Foods being the brand owner did not do anything to the brand until the later years where they did a rebranding of the product to suit modern culture and needs. The consumers clearly triggered heavy resentment over the undesired new name as they had perceive â€Å"Vegemite† to be worthy of a name to more relevant. Here Kraft Food suffered a marketing backlash whereas consumers’ support for Vegemite rally strong. Affective Component This Component of Attitude formation is all about emotional feelings of a consumer about the particular product or brand. Consumers have certain emotions regarding the attitude objects either favorable or unfavorable; good or bad, it may be regardless of any quality, specification, features, utility or brand name. Vegemite lasted centuries of success without any interference from Kraft Food in terms of product modification or receipe changes. Kraft Food knew that Australians held Vegemite with high regards and deeply rooted in the history and culture. Despite a dip in sales after foreigners infux, the strong support of the old brand can be seen as Kraft Food carelessly picked an odd name for their re-branding. In their â€Å"Name me†¦Ã¢â‚¬  campaign, strong sentiments of the brands were reveal as hate groups emerge to hate the new Vegemite name. The consumers feel strongly violated as the name did not resonate with the hearts of the supporter. Kraft Food succumb to pressure an d rename the product. Conative Component This final component is concerned with the likelihood or tendency that a specific action will be undertaken by an individual regarding attitude object. It is treated as an expression of consumer’s intention to buy. It may include action itself. Consumers usually make purchases for positively evaluated brands. Their intentions towards those brands are positive, so their attitude towards those brand would be positive. Although the new â€Å"iSnack 2.0† was much disliked, the success of the receipe is shown with the improvement in sales figures. Consumers in this case, reacted to the over hyped publicity generated by negative marketing, resulting in curious new consumers trying out the new product. Vegemite in this case, was successful. On the other hand, Kraft Food was said to be making use of the clever marketing strategy by inducing resentments from the consumers with the â€Å"iSnack2.0† name. Compared with vegemite, Kraft Food is perceived to be crafty and had to resort to underhand means to achieve desirable results. 2. Thinking about the different methods Kraft used to encourage consumer input for their new Vegemite product, what kind of consumer learning took place during the entire process? Consumer learning is the process by which individuals acquire the purchase and consumption knowledge and experience they apply to future related behaviour. Most of the learning is incidental and some of it is intentional. Elements of Consumer learning The basic elements that contribute to an understanding of learning are motivation, cues, response and reinforcement. Consumers will be motivated to learn if the information is relevant to their needs and goals while cues serve to direct consumer drives when they are consistent with consumer expectations. Response is how consumers react or behave to a drive or a cue while reinforcement increases the likelihood a response will occur in the future as a result of a cue. Kraft encouraged consumer input for their new Vegemite product through the â€Å"How do you like your Vegemite† and the â€Å"Name me..† campaign. By getting the consumers to be involved, the Australians will feel that they ‘own’ the brand which created the sense of belonging. Kraft asked consumers to log on to the website and post their ideas on the different ways they ate the product. Instrumental Conditioning Instrumental Learning theorists believe that learning occurs through a trial and error process in which the positive outcomes in the form of results or desired outcomes lead to repeat behaviour like Repeat Purchase or Repeat Positive Word of Mouth. Both positive and negative reinforcement can be used to encourage the desired behaviour. The timing of repetitions influences how long the learned material is retained. Learning usually persists longer with distributed re-inforcement schedule, while mass repetitions produce more initial learnings. In view of how Kraft Food did was the â€Å"Name me†¦Ã¢â‚¬  campaign. They failed to select a proper name for the first time, but they acknowledge the mistake and repeat the campaign a second time. Meanwhile, they took four months to replace the â€Å"iSnack2.0† labelled jars off the shelves before replacing with â€Å"Cheesybites†. The consumers are conditioned by this instrumental method. 3. Vegemite is a food product sugge sting customers would have lower levels of involvement with the brand. However, the fall-out from ‘iSnack 2.0’ imply otherwise. What aspects of involvement theory were presented in their response? Involvement theory recognizes that consumers become attached to products, services or brands to differing levels and they engage in a range of information-processing activities, depending on the significance of the purchase (Sciffman et al. 2008). The involvement level shown by the consumers in ‘iSnack2.0’ is high is because Vegemite is considered to be a national brand and a part of Australia’s heritage (Superbrands Australia, 2012). Beside this, the ‘How do you like your Vegemite’ and the ‘Name Me’ campaign further increase the involvement level of the consumers as they felt a sense of ownership in the creation phrase of the product (Sciffman et al. 2008). From the case of ‘iSnack 2.0’, the hemispheral lateralization theory can be used to explain the responses of the consumers. The hemispheral lateralization theory, also known as split-brain theory, is the learning theory around the basic principle that the left and right side of the brain specialize in the kind of information they process. The left side of the brain, which specializes in cognitive activities, can be put as rational and logical, while the right side of the brain, which specializes in pictorial and holistic information, can be put as emotional and instinctive (Sciffman et al. 2008). When Kraft chose the name ‘iSnack 2.0’, the left hemispheral of the consumers processed the decision-making and they responded negatively because the logical thinking is that the selected name is more related to technology products such as iPod and iPhone by Apple. This made the decision looks ‘wierd’ and ‘irrevelant’ to the public and will also results in consumers thinking that Kraft is trying to ride on the success of Apple’s products (Miller, 2009). On the other side, the right hemispheral of the consumers also contributed to the consumers responding negatively because Australians have high loyalty and feelings for Vegemite (Foley, 2009) and the fact that Kraft did not let the consumers have a say in the winning name intensifies the negative feeling that Kraft, an American company, is not allowing the Australia public to have a say in the brand they felt they have ownership in. And by choosing a name that is perceived to be unsuitable and outrageous, it further fuels the feeling that the company is showing disrespect to the brand Australians love (Sciffman et al. 2008). 4. Do you think Kraft can change perception of ‘iSnack 2.0’ by changing the name to ‘Cheesybite’? Explain your answer. Perception is the process by which people select, organize and interpret stimuli to form a meaningful and logical picture of the world and it is important in marketing strategies for marketers because consumers make decisions based on what they perceive, rather than on the basis of objective reality. (Sciffman et al. 2008). When ‘iSnack 2.0’ was chosen, it triggered negative responses and outrage from consumers across a number of social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter, online forums, newspaper and magazines. ‘iSnack 2.0’ was perceived to be ‘weird’ and ‘irrelevant’ and make no sens e to consumers as to why a food product was given a technological name that is normally related to technology products such as iPhone and iPod (Miller, 2009). The name was also perceived to be a marketing stunt by the company as the negativity generated increased the exposure of the product. This led to the sales rising 47 percent in the first two weeks and the product being available in 15% of Australian households (Foley, 2009). However, ‘iSnack 2.0’ also led to hatred and anger as there are consumers who suggested boycotting the product (Collerton, 2009). By deciding to change the name of ‘iSnack 2.0’ to ‘Cheesybite’, Kraft can change the perception of the product. The product is a combination of ‘Vegemite’ spread and cream cheese (Kraft Foods Australia, 2011), which is as what ‘Cheesybite’ suggested and made more sense to consumers. Another reason is that ‘Cheesybite’ is chosen in a popularity vote by more than 30,000 Australian and New Zealanders, instead of by the company, therefore will relate better to consumers (AAP, 2009). Once the more popular and logi cal choice of ‘Cheesybite’ replace ‘iSnack 2.0’, sentiment will soften due to the Australia loyalty to the brand and the incident will slowly fade away. 5. If ‘Vegemite’ could be given a brand personality, what do you think it would be like? Compare this to how the ‘Cheesybite’ personality might be. Brand personality is an act or a process of the personality traits that a brand possesses. It is the viewing of a brand as a person and defining the traits that a brand has. A brand personality is something consumers can relate to and it develops over time (Parameswaran, 2006). An effective brand will increase its brand equity by having a consistent set of traits. There are five main types of brand personalities and they are Excitement, Sincerity, Ruggedness, Competence and Sophistication (Friend, 2010). ‘Vegemite’ is best described as having the personality of Sincerity which is interpreted as down-to-earth, honest, wholesome, and cheerful (Friend, 2010). Vegemite is an Australian brand that reaches to the hearts of its consumers and therefore brand loyalty is high. Kraft has retained the down-to-earth nature of ‘Vegemite’ by not changing the content, with the only updates applying to external factor such as packaging and the occasional consumer promotion. ‘Cheesybite’ is best seen as having the personality of Excitement under the 5 dimensions of brand personality. The name ‘Cheesybite’ gives consumers an exciting, daring and spirited feeling (Friend, 2010). This will attracts consumers with high innovativeness as they are risk takers and are more likely to adopt new products (Tellis et al, 2009) The different personalities of ‘Vegemite’ and ‘Cheesybite’ give consumers totally different perception and feeling and this is important for Kraft to position itself in the different market segment to establish a good name. Bibliography AAP, 2009, Vegemite Cheesybite replaces iSnack2.0, The Sidney Morning Herald. http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/vegemite-cheesybite-replaces-isnack20-20091007-gm5u.html Collerton, S. 2009. iSuck 2.0: Unhappy little Vegemites. ABC News. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-09-28/isuck-20-unhappy-little-vegemites/1445034 Foley, Meraiah. 2009. Vegemite Contest Draws Protests. The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/business/global/03vegemite.html?pagewanted=all Friend, Camille. 2010. The 5 Dimensions of Brand Personality. Fuel Your Branding. http://www.fuelyourbranding.com/the-5-dimensions-of-brand-personality/ Kraft Foods Australia. 2011. http://www.kraftbrands.com/kraftvegemite/Pages/product-information-cheesybite.aspx Kraft Foods Australia. 2011. http://www.kraft.com.au/products/media_release_vegemite_vote.aspx Miller, K E. 2009. Title fight. The Drum Opinion. http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/26916.html Parameswaran, M.G. 2006. Building Brand Value: Five Steps To Building Powerful Brands. Tta McGraw-Hill Education. Schiffman, Leon, David Bednall, Aron O’Cass, Angela Paladino, Steve Ward, and Leslie Kanuk. 2008. Consumer Behavior. 4th ed. Pearson Education Australia Superbrands Australia. 2012. http://www.superbrands.com/au/content/view/300/1/ Tellis, Gerard J, Eden Yin and Simon Bell. 2009. Global Consumer Innovativeness: Cross-Country Differences and Demographic Commonalities. Journal of International Marketing, American Marketing Association. Vol. 17, No 2, 2009, pp 1-22.