Selling Our Future - Sense of Place Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Selling Our Future - Sense of Place - Essay Example This is mostly so especially in the developing countries like Kenya where land is scarce and the population is constantly growing (Brown, 2009). Economically the figures show that the economy of such a country is growing through the measure of GDP. However, if the trend in population growth being experienced continues then this would be like we are poaching from the future. This is because as it is currently, the resources are already at a strain as illustrated by Brown (2009) and in future then this GDP growth will start to decline. This greatly relate with me as an accounting student in that it helps understand how ecological factors affect the growth of economy. The Kenyan experience is an interesting one because surprisingly, in the past Kenyans have enjoyed good rich soils and rainfall patterns. This has however changed due high population that in turn has cleared a huge part of land that was previously forest cover for settlements. This has led to changes in rainfall pattern and drought occurrences are very common and thus hurting the country even more economically. This thus greatly relates to what Brown (2009) says that trees are very valuable in terms of rainfall and the environment in general. Land is viewed as a property that is mainly for economic gain and ethically there are no rules that guide the owners of the land on how to use it (Leopold, 1948). The conservation ethics should be steered to each and every person if the trend is to change for the better. The animals are also part of this population because as the human population increase, so is the animal population and this occupancy has led to less and less space available. This has caused the continuous the depletion of the lands and in the long run the economy. Like Brown (2009) expresses that the world’s economy behaves like a ponzi economy in that at a glance the economy may improve. This may be due to certain activities like excessive fishing where the lives of the

Elements of packaging Essay Example for Free

Elements of packaging Essay There are six components of packaging which consumer was asked to rank according to his preferences. Consumers have ranked the most preferred components by 1 and least preferred by 6. The data analysis for this ranking has been done by calculating the total of the response in each category. The least total will be the highly preferred attributes because it would have received first ranking more than any other. One the basis of the same we can see Colour is a component that received maximum of first rank (20), second rank (19) and third rank (13) and hence its total is least. Whereas Text is the least preferred attribute as it has received six rank 30 times and its total is maximum of all the attributes. The second attractive components for respondents were graphics followed by shape, size and material. Figure III. 11: Elements of Packaging When the preference ranking of the components of packaging was compared on the basis of gender an interesting fact came into the picture. For both the categories of respondents the preferred factor was Colour. But the following factor has been different in each case. Female on one hand preferred graphics after Colour on the other hand male preferred shape after Colour. The third preferred elements for male respondents are graphics whereas for female respondents it is packaging material. Size of the package is the fourth preferred element for female respondents while for male it is material. At last text is the element least preferred by both the gender groups. Figure III. 12: Elements of Packaging (Gender Specific) Elements of Packaging (Ethnic Background Specific). For respondents from Asian background Colour is the most important aspect of the packaging followed by shape, material, graphics, size and text respectively. Figure III. 13: Elements of Packaging (Asian) As one can see in Figure III. 14, Colour is the most important aspect for White community for packaging. Next to Colour is the graphics or images. Material of the material comes third in the preference list, followed by size, shape and text. Figure III. 14: Elements of Packaging (White) For the Black African community graphic, size and material are equally important and preferred. These are followed by Colour, shape and text of the packaging. Figure III. 15: Elements of Packaging (Black African) Respondents of Black others community feel that shape is the most important aspect of packaging followed by Colour. Graphics and size is equally important after Colour, followed by material of packaging. Text is least important component. Figure III. 16: Elements of Packaging (Black Other) Others prefer Colours most from all the aspects of packaging. It is followed by size. Shape and graphics are equally important after size o the packaging. Text is least important while material is fifth in the row. Figure III. 17: Elements of Packaging (Others) Elements of Packaging (Rank Specific) This section compares the elements o packaging and ethnic background on the basis of ranking. As seen below, colour has been ranked first by majority of Asian and White community people. Difference among various ethnic group and their preferences is evident here. Figure III. 18: Elements of Packaging (Rank 1) Asian marked shape as second on their ranking while variance within white community for this rank can be seen from the graph. Figure III. 19: Elements of Packaging (Rank 2) For rank three size has been the preferred element for Asian community where as for white it was colour graphics and size equally important. Figure III. 20: Elements of Packaging (Rank 3) Majority of respondents from White community ranked shape on fourth preferred element. Differences among various ethnic groups are evident in the figure below. Figure III. 21: Elements of Packaging (Rank 4) Text and Material are the element of packaging which were ranked fifth by majority of respondents followed by size and shape. Figure III. 22: Elements of Packaging (Rank 5) Text has been the least preferred element of packaging by most of the ethnic background. Figure III. 23: Elements of Packaging (Rank 6) I. i. Qualitative Research Qualitative research was based on the interview conducted by the researcher to the employee of Mark Spencers Ms. Trudi Barnes, who works as a packaging developer. I. i. a. Interviewing procedure The interview was based on structured questionnaire with majority of open ended question allowing the respondent think and respond on each and every question. The interview was scheduled on the post lunch hour as the crowd in the store is least during this period. Researcher noted down each and every response of the respondent with the help of pen and paper. Interview took approximately 45 minutes to complete. Respondent has been very cooperative for the interview session. It started with the general introduction about the research, its aims and objectives. The respondent has been told about her rights to withdraw from the interview if she feels uncomfortable in any way. She has been clarified that this data will be used for this particular study only and if in any case it is being utilized for any other purpose she would be informed and her consent would be taken for that. I. i. b. Interview questions The packaging developer’s job is to find out and understand the packaging requirement from the buyer and brief the internal design studio about the same. She has been converting the client specifications to the design specification and working as a link between the consumer and designer of the organization. Design studio looks at all the criteria of de3signing from the customer needs to the art work complications, design set and corporate guidelines. The packaging Developer than gets the designs from them and ensures that the packaging is appropriate for the product from technological point of view and pass it to the printer which actually prints it. As respondent states, â€Å"It’s the suppliers who pay for the packaging and we just set the design for them. † For the respondent her job is quite interesting. Her area is mainly the Menswear its accessories Footwear and Kids wear its accessories. Accessories like hats, cufflinks, watches hankies. The Colour and design is decided only by the design studio. In the month of February itself she was about to brief the autumn packaging out of which some will go into Christmas corporate design. She states â€Å"It’s the design Studio which does the research before making decision. It goes worldwide to find out the trends develop a design. † Her statement â€Å"I dont know exactly why the Colour of MS bags was changed to purple this Christmas where as last Christmas it was red. Colour palette for an occasion is picking out Colour for carrier bags the store deco. But my packaging was in Red with White Snow Flakes on it. It was also decided by the design studio (red background). † Indicates that design studio works independently without interference of any other department including her as even she is not involve in major changes done with the designs of packaging. She provides inputs to the design studio on which they work as her statement â€Å"When I put in the briefing then the design studio develop the look for Menswear/women swear but they both are treated differently as the menswear is more masculine women’s wear in more feminine. It is similar Colours but with slight difference. When asked whether or not packaging influence consumers she immediately responded â€Å"Packaging does influence customers. † She further elaborated that â€Å"They (consumers) have always challenged us to be clearer on our swing tickets. We got shout that our Natural material and fabric should shout the benefits. (Complaints like product benefits should be clear should provide all product related information)† She talked more about swing tickets which are the little card hanging of the garment. According to her it is important that the customer should get the right information about the product. She explains that impulse purchase will be different in different areas of retail organization. In her area Hankies are one of the impulse purchase made by the customers since it is quite traditional gift. She explains further â€Å"believe or not lots of hankies are sold during Christmas time. Eg: 2 packs are launched for Fathers Day. I am launching Card dispensers which will be full of hankies. We start with outstanding value hankies then the novelty new designs are coming out as well. † when asked about relationship between festivals and their products she responded â€Å"I am not too clear with the question regarding the relationship between festivals our products all right so products like cufflinks in Menswear will be in red pink or even a heart shape during Valentines. † According to her gifts are divided into various segments like corporate and personal apart from the routine segments like men’s women’s and so on. â€Å"Display box corporate design promotions are going on in the store deco. Pink Red is the Colour for these valentines especially on foods a lot many things are there. † She responded on the importance of graphics and Colours that each of these factors is equally important. According to her, â€Å"Both Colour graphics are equally important. Gift items which are put into boxes are there in Menswearso I think probably its the design/graphics that attract the customer the most the customer feels yeah I could buy this. it puts a gift idea into the customers mind. † According to the respondent success can be attached to the packaging of the product but not the failure as failure of any product will be due to product itself not its packaging. Success or failure of a product is obviously measured by the sales. Organization put constant effort to understand the reasons of drop in the sales and looks look at everything the product, packaging and what its saying on the packaging. We plan constantly. During the festival season organization focuses on various product categories on which sales is expected. Menswear mainly focus on Christmas, Valentines and the major one is the Fathers Day. Respondent agrees to the changes in Colour used for packaging during special occasions. For instance on Fathers Day the Colour is changed but she doesn’t control the decision of the Colour. It’s the design studio. Design studios show us some scenes but they do the research from design trends.

All I Ever Needed To Know About Love Essay -- essays research papers

All I ever needed to know about love, I learned form the Goo Goo Dolls. This band with songs such as â€Å"Iris†, â€Å"Slide†, and â€Å"Black Balloon† speak of the longing that comes with love lost for example in the song â€Å"Black Balloon† The singer talks about the fact that â€Å"A thousand other boys could never reach you, how could I have been the one.† In â€Å"Iris† The speaker talks about the fact that regardless of what the world thinks, his love will continue, â€Å"you can’t fight the tears that ain’t coming, but I know you can feel me some how†¦ I don’t want the world to see me cause I don’t think that they’d understand.† In the song â€Å"Slide† they speak more of the sexual side of love â€Å"I wanna wake up where you are.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Music as a whole has always appealed to the senses and the emot...

Welding with Children

Seth Bohlander English 1102 Mrs. Hammonds 10 October 2010 Bruton’s Change â€Å"Welding with Children† is a short story that illustrates thematic ideas from beginning to end. Throughout the story, Bruton, an older redheaded man with papery skin, shows that his parenting skills have suffered, and he is embarrassed with how he raised his four daughters in the past. With his daughters now grown, the reputation of their upbringing still haunts him. Examples like Bruton’s car being referred to as the â€Å"bastardmobile† show just what type of reputation he is dealing with.Though as the story progresses, Bruton shows change. Through a series of epiphanies or awakenings, he realizes he can’t undo his previous mistakes, but believes he can redeem himself by parenting his grandchildren the correct way, all while welding with children. From the beginning of the story, Bruton shows his carefree attitude on things that are considered important to most people. After dropping out of college in his first semester, he states, â€Å" I may have flunked out that semester, but I got my money’s worth learning about people that don’t have hearts no bigger than birds shot† (Gautreaux 200).His attitude shows he has no drive to fix problems. In an interesting way, he sees some sort of accomplishment from his failure. This attitude is similar to how he raised his children. He knows he messed up, but feels he can do nothing but live with his mistakes. Bruton continues to show his stagnant attitude throughout the story until experiencing his first epiphany. While driving home, one of the grandchildren Freddy says something that indicates to be a curse word. When asked where he heard words like those, Freddy says he heard it on a late night comedy program.Bruton is enlightened, and thinks back on his four daughters. â€Å"None of them has any religion to speak of. The girls grew up watching cable and videos every night, and thatâ⠂¬â„¢s where they got their view of the world, and that’s why four dirty blondes . . . thought they lived in a Hollywood soap opera (Gautreaux 202). This is suggests that television is to blame. Seeing that history does repeat itself, Bruton takes advantage of the situation and sits the kids down and begins teaching them about the bible.The sense of urgency shows this to be an important aspect of parenting that he forgot. Before being enlightened, Bruton believed that the reason his four daughters turned out the way they did, was solely his wife’s fault. Since she was gone all the time, he found it easy to point the finger to her. He never felt accountable, but after the first awakening, Bruton takes full responsibility for his actions and signs of change. With the weight of responsibility on his back, Bruton turns to the only people he knows who can help him. The Tree of Knowledge†, a group of men whom have already insulted Bruton, give him three helpful suggest ions. They tell him to clean his yard, join the Methodist church, and keep the children with him as much as possible. At first, the suggestions appear to be patronizing, but somehow Bruton sees a positive message through their comments. Turing to these men for advice shows that Bruton is sympathetic. After the vicious comments that were made to Bruton’s daughters, he shows signs of forgiveness and remorse to go to these men for help.In conclusion, Bruton sends a message that is simple and bold. Embracing opportunity enables the probability of change. â€Å"Time for a change† (Gautreaux 210). Being assigned the duty to babysit his grandchildren appeared to be a simple task, but seeing the opportunity to fix a problem that has been passed down through two generations makes Bruton a heroic and dynamic character. Work Cited Gautreaux, Tim. â€Å"Welding with Children. † Perrines’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense, 10th ed. Thomas R. Arp and Greg Johnso n. Boston: Wadsworth, 2009. 198-211. Print.

South Africa Brewers Ltd.

By now it has become the second largest brewer by volume in the world. South Africa Breweries (SAB) has been in business for a century. The change in the political system in 1990 in South Africa, through the dissolution of apartheid, paved endless opportunities. In 1994, SAB was invited to participate in joint ventures with Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, Angloa to revitalize brewing industry – brewing 49 out of every 50 beers consumed in South Africa. They practically killed competition. (McQuade 2004) In 1993, SAB expanded to Hungary and bought Dreher which opened the doors to Europe because it subsequently established operations in Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Russia, Czech Republic. In the 90’s SAB likewise entered into operations in China. In 1999, it got itself listed back in the London Stock Exchange to raise capital for expansion. SAB expanded to Central America in 2001 – thus, that year saw SAB as the 5th largest brewer in the world and the fastest growing from 1996 to 2000 with brewing operations in 21 countries and an output of 77m hectoliters of beer. McQuade 2004) 1998 strategy was to maximize its 100 years of brewing experience in South Africa and develop beer markets in emerging economies by investing significantly in its core business. So, it commenced brewing operations in 5 African counties, 3 Chinese provinces, 4 Eastern European countries since 1995. Therefore, SAB continued to develop South Africa; invest for growth in the international business; pur sue incremental growth. Therefore since its global expansion in 1994 the trend in sales and profits grew steadily upward. SAB categorically indicted in 2002 that emerging markets is its forte. Finally in July 2002, SAB successfully acquired Miller Breweing Co. the 2nd biggest brewer in U. S. A. by paying Philip Morris US$3. 6 billion in stock of the merged company and SAB assumed the US$2 billion debt of Miller. (McQuade 2004) This merger was decried by some analysts because the rationalization of strong growth business is not true but it is just that SAB wants Miller as a mature cash cow. And the merger in totality is losing market share. True enough – the share dropped to 18. % in 2003 in London trading. So, aggressive reforms were adopted – considering they unknowingly awakened to the truth that Miller is such a badly managed company the dragged SAB with it. (McQuade 2004) 2004 Strategic Posiiton: By end 2003, the rest of the African markets gave 3. 2% growth. In China, the organic growth was 5. 7%. In India, the first full 2003 operation returned a breakeven. The home base market South Africa saw mixed fortunes as consumer spending became erratic. The seesaw of growth and downturn average 4% per annum. The North American US market went down 3. 7% from acquisition with its core brands losing market share. In Europe, exceptional profit growth showed 39%. Restructuring of the Central American business had to be undertaken due to depressed performance. SAB opted to continue the conversion of the company into a marketing focused enterprise with a strong portfolio of relevant brands in the region. (McQuade 2004) Therefore, SAB Miller opted that from 2004, they will adopt the following strategies to grow shareholder value thru: 1) driving volume and productivity ) optimizing and expanding existing positions through acquisitions 3) seeking value added opportunities to enhance position as a global brewer 4) growing brands in the international premium beer segment (McQuade 2004) Long Term Effect: From the result of 11% share growth for the financial year ending March 2003, there is still a big room to maneuver operational efficiency; strengthen regional brands and market positions; pursue ac quisitive growth; pursue real value for shareholders. Brand management will a crucial focus through an the intensified role of a Group Marketing Director. SAB believes that there are real opportunities to increase sales in growing international premium brands. (McQuade 2004) SAB is confident of its strong national and regional brands principally based on the mainstream segments of the market. The challenge further requires invigorating the said brands to sustainable health and position. With a all its brands stable and well positioned, SAB envision to sustain their continued growth befitting their prime position and prestige in the world’s brewing industry. (McQuade 2004) Recommendation: It is indeed a crystal clear given that South Africa Breweries Ltd and its century old experience and its established brands and prestige stands solid – in its base operations, South Africa and the African Continent. Its global venture in the decade of the 90’s still favored them with the opportunities. They savored the rewards from those first steps. It still saw a sustainable trend until it acquired Miller U. S. A. There are some hidden waves in its other global, emerging ventures in the sense that they only saw sustained growth in Europe and the African markets. China, India, Central America and U. S. A North America gave them the initial years of 2003, 2004 as dicey. True enough, it reckoned revitalizing brand management to be their stronghold focus. However, SAB and SAB Miller never mentioned anything in detail about inherent people management and operational management insights that will need a thorough study. What the case study reflected is that SAB brings in their technical and operational expertise into an acquired emerging market facility. They presumably likewise brought in â€Å"South African professionals† to handle management of an entirely foreign operation in an entirely foreign land. The first and foremost consideration in global business is the profound cultural analysis of â€Å"where one is stepping its foot in†. The story goes that St. Agustine consulted St. Ambrose during his visit in Milan in 387 AD as to whether he should fast on a Saturday or a Sunday – the famous saying was born: â€Å"when in Rome, do as the Romans do†. And knowing â€Å"how to do things the Roman way† will require thorough information and analysis and initial trial and error practice. Adopting and adapting to the local temperament and conditions is not just a matter of the ABC or 123 of their laws but more so of their norms and values. Managing share values of a company and brand strategy is beyond the arithmetic of the exercise. It is also appreciating that the workforce that will contribute to such share values and premium brand strategy require a most personalized and inherent approach.