Introduction to and Fundamentals of Strategic Marketing. case 1 Essay

Introduction to and Fundamentals of Strategic Marketing. case 1 - Essay Example a) The Company: Kroger is one of the largest retail grocery chains in the US. The company has been known for the number of banners that it deals in (Kroger - About us, 2009). The company has over 320,000 associates and they serve customers in more than 2,476 supermarkets. The company has the following local banners including Kroger, Ralphs, Fred Meyer, Food 4 Less, Fry’s, King Soopers, Smith’s, Dillons, QFC and City Market. Kroger operates as many as 779 convenience stores, 393 fine jewellery stores, and 737 supermarket fuel stations apart from the 41 food processing plants in the US (Kroger - Operations, 2009). The company’s headquarters are located in Cincinnati, Ohio. The company has been recognised for the various charitable efforts and high levels of corporate social responsibility that the company displays. b) Product: It is clear from the above description of the company that the company deals with numerous different markets. However the food stores contribute to almost 95% of the total sales of the company. The other products and services that the company provides include Pharmacies, Jewelry stores, and supermarket fuel centers. c) The Market: Kroger holds the number one of two position in as many as 39 of the 42 markets. One of the biggest markets of the company is a market with over 9 Korger Stores. The company stands second in the list of top grocery stores in the country and holds as much as 11.4% of the total markets next only to Wal – Mart (KrogerFactbook, 2008). d) Marketing Strategy: Kroger currently utilizes a three tier marketing strategy. The company keeps its customer needs in the fore front while developing any strategy. The company produces and sells its products in three quality tiers. Each of these three tiers caters to the needs of the various markets and the customer segments. The company similar to Wal Mart, provides

What is the difference between Art & Design Essay

What is the difference between Art & Design - Essay Example This paper will review the dissimilarities between the two, and what brands the two so differently. One of the key dissimilarities that exist between art and design is the purpose in which they are created. The work of art starts from nothing other than an empty canvas. Through feeling and opinions, works of art are put on canvas that brings out what the artist feels. They are inspired by these emotions which then capture the attention of the audience (Fichner-Rathus 89). Designers, whether starting on a new piece, will always have a fixed point from where to start. They are used to communicating something that people already know exists. By doing this, they motivate the audience to do something with regards to another form of art. The interpretation of the messages communicated by art and design is also a difference between the two. Artists set out to convey a certain message. However, it is usually not always certain if the massage being conveyed has one or many meanings. As there are many interpretations for different art by different audiences, art connects differently with people. Designs are meant to convey a meaning (Fichner-Rathus 95). If they convey something different other than what the designer intended, then they have not met the requirement. The taste exhibited by the audience is likely to judge art and design differently. The taste that an audience may exhibit might determine how they interpret the message being brought forth by a piece of art. Likes and dislikes can alter the interpretation of the message, and the meaning by an artist. Design, regardless of taste, can be successful (Fichner-Rathus 97). If a certain design achieves the objective of making the audience do a task, it is only a matter of opinion if it is exceptional or poor. Art and design are seen differently. Exceptional art is seen as talent, whereas exceptional designing technique is considered skill. Artists have the natural ability to put creativity on a canvas at a

Conformity and obedience Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Conformity and obedience - Research Paper Example To the contrary those who rebelled or disobeyed probably got eaten by a tiger or fell off a cliff in the primitive settings of our species’ development. (Kassin, et.al, 2007) Hence, obedience to significant others has a definite value. In other words, â€Å"child socialization values, the values that parents hold in high regard and try to impart to their children, occupy a central place in the studies of the family and social stratification. Socialization values not only condition parental behavior in childrearing practices, they also help shape children's value systems and behavior, which affect their life chances and pathways to success.† (Xiao, 1999, p.641) Conformity has its value too, in terms of its social utility. In order for societies to maintain cohesion and harmony, a certain degree of shared virtues, behaviour and values are to be upheld by all members of the society. Otherwise, discord and disharmony are likely to ensue. As the famous adage ‘When in R ome, be a Roman’ hints, conformity holds great survival value for any individual anywhere in the world. But it must be remembered that our country is founded on principles of individual freedom and rights and the concept of ‘individualism’ is cherished and held dear by most of the citizens. Hence there are equally powerful and legitimate countervailing tendencies in the form of conformity and individualism. As author Wilfred McClay notes succinctly in his journal article for The Virginia Quarterly Review, â€Å"As the example of Huck Finn suggests, American thought and expression have always been rich with figures of heroic individuality-and correspondingly poor in convincing and binding representations of community or social obligation. Whether one considers our accounts of the great colonial religious controversies, such as those involving rebels Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson, or the moral fables embedded in our popular culture, such as that offered in th e movies One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Dead Poets' Society, and Fiddler on the Roof, we seem to have a boundless appetite for fables of personal liberation. We are almost invariably asked to side with the put-upon individual, cast as an unjustly thwarted soul yearning to breathe free, and we are instructed to hiss at the figures of social or political authority, the John Winthrops and Nurse Ratcheds of life, whose efforts to sustain order establish them instead as monsters and enemies of humanity.† (McClay, 2001, p.392) One particular illustration of a call for individualism is seen in the movie Dead Poets Society. In this Robin Williams starrer, topics of conformity and obedience are explored cinematically. Williams, who moves into a vacant English professor position in a up-scale prep school (Welton Academy in Vermont), finds his students tough to deal with in the beginning. The students are prone to make trouble both inside and outside the classroom. Williams takes u pon himself to channel their energies into more creative activities and subjects of poetry and literature serve as inspirational tool, with which he wins over the minds and hearts of the pupils. The students start behaving much better as a result and in the process engage in the learning and enjoy the classroom experience. With stimulated minds and liberated thoughts, the students are confounded and conflicted by the emergent and the established. Despite

1. Who is Cathy Crowe 2. Who is Gabor Mate Essay

1. Who is Cathy Crowe 2. Who is Gabor Mate - Essay Example The book delves into stereotypes the homeless have to go through as they attempt to improve their living conditions. Crowe also creates the contrast existing in Canada, a country that is considered among the rich in the world but also has some of its citizens being homelessness. Crowe has also presented lectures on homelessness in different institutions and halls. Crowe serves as Ryerson University practitioner where she visits the institution to interact with students on matters around social justice covering topics such as affordable housing for al Canadians and homelessness in general. Crowe has adopted a practical approach in her lectures, which involves walking through the streets while discussing and demonstrating issues on health, poverty and homelessness (Shahzad, 2013). Due to her input into the homelessness debate, Crowe has received various recognitions including honorary degrees and awards such as the International Nursing Ethics Award while also featuring as the subject in a documentary â€Å"Street Nurse† produced by renowned filmmakers Emmy and Gemini (Diebel, 2010). MateÃŒ  is a renowned speaker and author focusing on subjects such as stress, various forms of addiction and childhood development. MateÃŒ  perspective in these subjects involves analysis of situations based on case histories, scientific investigations and personal reflections aimed to encourage, enlightens and empowers people to recover from particular mental conditions. Matà ©, a professional doctor derives his experience from years he served in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside where he interacted with many patients suffering from mental diseases HIV/AIDs and addicted to hard-core drugs. Additionally MateÃŒ  has over twenty years of experience in palliative care and family practice. Gabor Matà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s experience in mental illness is based on his past as a Jewish born in

5 TD OBM Resistance to Change Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

5 TD OBM Resistance to Change - Coursework Example The challenge was based on the difference in the cultural patterns. The country where the site and office was installed, English was not the First Language and the locals there had difficulties comprehending English for communication and professional purposes. Other obstacles that were faced included the new environment, new trends, new culture and new people surrounded. The overall environment was such that the entire project had to be started from scratch. It was a new challenge with new goals, obstacles and objectives. We as the organization had to win the hearts of the people, and satisfy the government in terms of the local labor relationship and other basic elements. The initial resistance was due to the fear and lack of experience in the different countries. If I were the C.E.O I would take upon the technological change in an incremental manner. I would introduce trainings and other official programs. A step wise transition and transfer from currently established setup to new technology would be phased out which would allow for preventing any imbalance in the

Cell Bio Lab Report Essay Example for Free

Cell Bio Lab Report Essay The purpose of this lab was to test the biological activity of ConA by performing a hemagglutination assay. If ConA is active then agglutination will occur due to ConA’s free receptors being able to bind to the glucose residues on the sheep’s red blood cells. If ConA is not active then no agglutination will occur. To test the hemagglutination reaction, two types of ConA solutions were compared, a purchased control ConA solution in buffer as the positive control, and a purified solution of ConA in buffer previously purified in lab. Each solution was at a 2mg/ml concentration of ConA in ConA buffer, which is necessary for ConAs biological activity. Two variables were added, Galactose and Mannose, to the ConA solution to compare the effects each had on the hemagglutination reaction. I hypothesize for ConA to be able to agglutinate the red blood cells if in the adequate concentration and if in the presence of Galactose, not Mannose. Mannose will inhibit the ConA from binding to the red blood cell’s membrane, preventing agglutination. RESULTS The reaction plate containing the ConA dilutions was incubated over the weekend and resulted in all wells being pink, appearing as if every well had agglutinated. There was a vague outline of the non-agglutinated cells in various wells. The last agglutination was observed at titer 0.0625 (1/16). Agglutination was seen in rows A, B D, and E (row A contained the control ConA, row B contained the control ConA + Galactose, row D contained the sample ConA, and row E contained the sample ConA + Galactose). In the well rows C and F which contained control ConA + Mannose and sample ConA + Mannose, agglutination did not occur at any concentration of ConA. Row G, the negative control appeared to have agglutinated as well as Row H, which contained only ConA buffer. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION The results did not support my hypothesis for the biological activity of ConA. There are some sources of error that could explain the results obtained. It’s possible there was a problem with either the ConA buffer or the sheep red blood cells to allow for all wells to turn pink and appear agglutinated. Another explanation of the irregular results was there might have been cross contamination from not changing tips when transferring to different ConA concentrations, or if bubbles were introduced while diluting the ConA, making the results difficult to interpret. For wells A, B D, and E as ConA became more diluted or decreased in concentration, it became more difficult for it to effectively crosslink and agglutinate the red blood cells. Well D, the positive control that contained the purchased ConA resulted in agglutination of the first couple wells, then no agglutination as the ConA concentration decreased, similar to Row A. Wells B and E that had the Galacatose additive obtained the same titer of the control ConA because ConA does not bind Galactose. Galactose doesn’t interfere with ConA from binding to the sugar residues on the red blood cells. Mannose on the other hand, is an inhibitor to ConA’s binding sites. The Mannose in solution competed with the ConA and did not allow to bind to the sugar residues on the red blood cells as seen in rows C and F. Row G, the negative control, should have resulted in non-agglutination, similar to the rows containing the Mannose additive. The results observed showed agglutination formed in this row. Lastly, Row H should have shown non-agglutination through out because the well contained only ConA buffer, not ConA protein. In conclusion, the results did not clearly explain the biological activity of ConA with the hemagglutination assay. The experiment contained too many anomalies to get a clear determination of ConA’s functionality post purification. The results did show that a change in the concentration of ConA would alter the strength of the reaction. Also, ConA’s ability to bind to sugar residues can be affected if ConA has to compete or is inhibited to bind to a cells membrane. LITERATURE CITED Cell Biology 3822 Lab Manual, Cell Surface Glycoprotein Receptor Analysis Using Concanavalin A Lab 7. Pearson Learning Solutions. 2012: 147-154. Madeleine Zaechringer. Cell Biology 3822 Analysis of purified ConA via Hemagglutinatino Assay Lab 7: Powerpoint. 2014.

Steps To Developing The Marcom Plan Marketing Essay

Steps To Developing The Marcom Plan Marketing Essay A strategic plan is an organizations way to define the direction in which it is going to go in terms of performance and the way it is going to allocate its resources in order to do so. To define the strategy of the organization, it is important to recognize its current standing and the possible opportunities through which it can pursue a particular course of action. Generally, strategic planning deals with at least one of three key questions: What do we do? For the NGO and Productivity Board context, we are going to raise the awareness of the general public concerning productivity. For whom do we do it? This is going to be by following our marcom plan. How do we excel? This can be done by ensuring that the disadvantages to over providing information are alleviated. A strategic plan must be in line with the missions vision, mission statement, values and strategies. Our duty as advisors of the NGO is to use the tools of the strategic plan i.e. PESTEL, SWOT, ATM approach etc. (which are discussed earlier in this assignment) and devise a marcom plan in order to determine the overall direction of the organization as well as plan the allocation of resources. The marcom plan is defined in detail in the following sections. 8.1 Marcom plan Marcom is an abbreviation for marketing communications. Marcom is targeted communication and interaction with customers by using one or more means of media, such as direct mail, the press, television, radio, billboards, telemarketing, and the Internet. A marketing communications campaign may use a single tactic of communication (or advertising), but more frequently combines several means. Marketing communication wires the development of brand awareness, which means that consumers deduce information about the product into insights about the products characteristics and its position within the bigger market. Businesses also use marketing communication to preserve the products existing customer base, and to strengthen relationships with customers and suppliers. Marcom strategy defines the businesss plan for product information dissemination and brand awareness development. 8.2 Marketing communications planning framework (Model) The marketing communications planning framework (MCPF) is a model for the creation of an integrated marketing communications plan created by Chris Fill. The MCPF is intended to solve the inadequacies of other frameworks. Fig 3: Marketing communication planning framework The above diagram shows the marketing communications planning frame work. We have already covered the context analysis through the earlier chapters of this assignment through the components of this analysis which includes: Define market or subject Trend Analysis Competitor Analysis Opportunities and Threats Organization Analysis SWOT-i matrix Strategic Plan The other factors of the marketing communication framework (Promotional Goals, Strategy, Communication Mix and Control and Evaluation) will be provided in Task 2, i.e. the recommendations that will be provided by each group member. This plan will have to make in a very systematic manner, assuming certain procedures have been made before the recommendations can be devised. These procedures are discussed in the following section. 8.3 Steps to developing the Marcom plan Marcom (marketing communication) plans can be very expensive. Developing a marcom plan in a systematic manner is crucial to spending its budget optimally and efficiently. Some steps in preparing a plan are as follows: Analyzing the Market Situation (Situation Analysis) Here we ought to know what position we presently hold in minds of prospects, what position we want to achieve, the action plan we have to undertake in order to attain that position, whether there is a unique difference in our products and whether that difference can be developed. For the purpose of our assignment we see that our NGO coupled with the Productivity Promotion Board is not in a competitive position and Define the Purchase (Or Information Receiving) Environment The marketing communications receiver and the buying influence pattern of the customer should be identified. The productivity context does not include goods being bought, hence this is not necessary. However study must be made whether the public is more responsive to one type of marketing than another or in one particular period than another. For example in the festive season (Christmas and New Year) very few people if not no one will bother about any productivity campaign. Establish the Marketing Objectives These objectives can vary from product to product. For the NGO with the PPB (Productivity Promotion Board) it includes the awareness of the general public concerning productivity and making everyone engaged in the productivity movement. Select Positioning Concepts Most Suited to Purchasing Environment The market positioning of the product should be made after considering the life cycle of the product, i.e. we should identify at what stage in its life cycle is the product which is to be promoted (Growth, maturity, saturation or decline). However for the purpose of the productivity context, there is no revenue to be considered following the sale of any product, hence the campaign for productivity awareness is not in any way affected by a product life cycle. Confirm the Basic Marketing Strategy This involves choosing among a list of alternatives the best marketing strategy for the product according to the market conditions and the product life cycle. This will further be discussed in Task 2 of this assignment. Create the Communication Objective whereby each objective should be Specific, Realistic, and Measurable The objective in this case, is a specific communication task to be accomplished among a defined audience in a given amount of time. An objective should be stated in terms of expected results, not in terms of activities or processes, i.e. for example to establish a 35% preference for Brand X among a target of 20000 buyers Develop Strategy A strategy outlines how the objective is to be accomplished. Communication strategies often deal with the message and identify the overall communications approach to be used; e.g. communicate the cost savings in using Brand A via testimonial advertising to be identified buying influences in the target markets. A wide variety of communication means can be used, for example space advertising, direct mail, PR activities, Trade shows, etc. The strategy must determine the proper allocation of resources that the budget permits into several categories in order to achieve the stated objectives. This will further be discussed in Task 2 of this assignment. Develop Tactics Tactics refer to the specific steps or procedures to be taken in order to meet objectives. They often deal with media as the media plans represent the actual tools which will be used to accomplish the desired result, for example to advertise throughout the year on television. This will further be discussed in Task 2 of this assignment. Benefits of having a Marcom plan Marcom is the promotions component of the marketing mix that comprises of product, price and placement. The key aspects of marketing communication include senders diffusing information to receivers via media. The firm which is marketing its product or service is very often the sender, while consumers are the receivers. Many businesses discuss marketing communications in terms of the marketing communication mix, which is also known as integrated marketing communications (IMC). The essential benefits of IMC include advertising, personal selling, public relations, sales promotions and direct marketing. Advertising Advertisements in the IMC mix are mainly paid commercials in media such as TV, radio, press, billboards and websites. Advertisements are good at updating and convincing mass audiences. Advertising reaches consumers both before and after the contact with the product being marketed. This before-and-after effect helps with valuable word-of-mouth publicizing as consumers recall the information they will receive through the productivity campaign. Public Relations Public relations are indirect communications through news outlets and other credible sources. This type of marketing communication requires the cooperation of the news media. The public is likely to believe public relations messages above all other types of marketing communications. Public relations will reach the public best before they make their purchase. Direct Marketing Direct marketing is marketing communication through postal mail, email or over the telephone. It is information that is prepared quickly and customized to consumers whose contact information is kept in the businesss database. Direct marketing creates a rapport with the targeted person. Operating not unlike sales promotions, direct marketing affects the public instantly. 8.5 Disadvantages to Providing Too Much Communication Strategy Communication strategies are employed by companies of all sizes. These strategies are aimed at determining how information will be circulated to the public when it comes to new product launches, PR or marketing in general. Communication tactics can also refer to the way in which businesses converse with stakeholders and staff. In the development and implementation these strategies, however, companies need to be watchful to not provide too much communication. There can be disadvantages to doing so. Sensitivity One of the detriments to providing too much communication is that it may result in some sensitive information being leaked to the public. This can be especially dangerous in the case our NGO in the way that if one piece of information is leaked that contradicts our marketing campaign, then our message will come off as confusing and unclear to the public. Also, this will harm our credibility and reputation in the publics eye. Brand Brand image is important for business. A business brand is its individual and core identity. The struggles for promotion at times flood the market with advertisements, and this can erode the effectiveness of the publicizing effort. Too much promotion may send the wrong meaning to the customer base and harm the brands reputation. 8.5.3 Control When information is spread to the public regarding a company or an organization, there is always the risk of someone misusing that information in a detrimental way. This could damage the business reputation and hurt its standing in the business community. By limiting the flow of information to outsiders, the marketing manager can keep a tight control over the information and determine how and when it is shared with others. This also means limiting the information as it shared within the company as well. Employees should always be among the first to know important information but only as necessary. Miscommunication Miscommunication is also a potential drawback to providing too much communication. When communication is provided frequently, it is possible that errors may occur and transfer a message that was not originally intended. Miscommunication can lead to public relations concerns that can be risky for the company and its reputation.