Brand Equity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Brand Equity - Essay Example Attrition can quickly set in, rendering them vulnerable to competition. "Consumer-based brand equity is defined as the value of a brand signal to consumers." (Swait 1998, p. 7) . For Marcoms, once again, proactive commitment to customers separates successful companies from the rest. Because positive equity is so critically important an element of customer loyalty, operational flexibility and value innovation are especially meaningful here. Earlier, the lack of customer loyalty in the supermarket industry was discussed, with real equity being quite elusive for most chains (see appendix 1). At the heart of Marcoms equity package is providing convenience, quality, a variety of services, for customers who want it and who will pay more to get it. It is a premium service identified as such by customers because it delivers more. The equity pressure for companies like Marcoms is that, as they continue to raise the bar on customer expectations, they must also be able to see over the bar and continue to anticipate customer needs (Boone and Kurtz 2002). There are a lot of parallels between (1) the effect on loyalty of customer self-expression and choice and (2) the old-fashioned idea of romance and courtship. Customers are fickle; romance can be fickle. Boy meets girl. Boy wins girl. Boy loves her but takes her for granted. Choice is largely driven by a customer's relationships with a service, and with the companies that offer them. It's about experience, and levels of trust and commitment, through contact with suppliers. Because, in most industries, choices are so readily avai lable, customers are increasingly less hesitant to change suppliers. When replacement is perceived as more positive than negative, they'll move on. Industries such as banking and managed care have seen this occur (see appendix 2). This must translate to positive relationships and contacts, earning and keeping customer loyalty (Crawford 2003). "This perspective on brand equity focuses on the impact on consumer utility of a brand's signal credibility, rather than on the mere clarity of the provided information" (Swait 1998, p. 7) For Marcoms, the long-term value strategy is built on creating strong relationships with customers and anticipating their requirements. A significant new challenge is emerging with regard to value. Companies must now strategize with respect to both the physical product and the "virtual" product, such as information. Overlaps in physical and virtual product occur in many industries, particularly those where a tangible product, such as an automobile, and an int angible product, such as service advice or computer-based information support, coexist. Emancipated thinking and embracing the "possible shapes of things to come" now includes strategies that go beyond reliance on the company's own resources. Increasingly, companies are seeking strategic partnerships and relationships that bring complementary strengths, provide greater customer value, and result in higher share of customer (Boone and Kurtz 2002). Marcoms can build its brand equity through advertising. Marcoms should create a positive brand image and promotes its main goals and strategies appealing to emotions and mind of consumers. Perceptions and tributes towards Marcoms brand will be

Those Winter Sundays Essay Example for Free

Those Winter Sundays Essay Upon first reading the poem â€Å"Those Winter Sundays† by Robert Hayden, I was an objective reader who assumed Hayden was looking back with nostalgia at his lost childhood. Without researching the poem, as well as Hayden himself, I had no way of knowing his background as an adopted child to unhappy parents in a dysfunctional household. After reading several sources, I’ve formed a somewhat new outlook on the poem and what it means not only to we the readers, but also to Hayden the poet. One of the aforementioned sources used was Ann M. Gallagher’s â€Å"Hayden’s ‘Those Winter Sundays’† in which Gallagher basically provides an objective explication of the poem. She picks apart the poem’s main characteristics, and manages to understand something that I as an explicator had not: that Hayden obviously came from an unhappy childhood. Gallagher expands on that topic without ever mentioning any research she had done on Hayden’s biography, but solely on evidence from the text itself. Another of the texts used was Pontheolla Williams’ book Robert Hayden: A Critical Analysis of His Poetry. In this book, Williams spends most of the first few chapters delving into Hayden’s biography and where he grew up. Hayden was raised in Detroit with his adoptive parents, William and Sue Hayden; however, he still frequently visited his biological mother, Ruth Sheffy, in New York, and his biological father in Indiana (3-4). In this book, Williams connects how the difficulties of growing up with two sets of parents contributed to â€Å"Those Winter Sundays.† My final source was Phillip M. Richards’ article, â€Å"Robert Hayden (1913-1980): An Appreciation† from the journal, The Massachusetts Review. This source focuses more on Hayden’s intellectual journey such as where he went to college, which scholars influenced him, and how this was portrayed in his poetry. Richards reveals that Hayden was privileged to attend college with the â€Å"cream-of-the-crop of the Southern black college world,† and that this greatly influenced his poetry (602). Each source brought new information to my attention, and I found all of that information essential to further understand the poem itself. For example, Williams’ book revealed a whole background analysis on Hayden that without knowing, one might neglect to connect â€Å"Those Winter Sundays† with Hayden’s actual life. Hayden’s adoptive parents’ marriage was not a particular happy one, and so Hayden’s description in the poem of â€Å"the chronic angers of that house† which he grew up in becomes more than just the squeaks and groans of an old house, as I first contemplated in my explication (9). After reading Williams’ book excerpt, I saw a new aspect of the poem, understanding the tension between Hayden and his adoptive father who was â€Å"[dissatisfied] with his uncertain status as an adoptive parent and the fact that he and Mrs. Hayden did not get along very well† (4-5). Had I not known this, my understanding of the poem would have been limited. Likewise, in Phillip Richards’ article, new information about Hayden’s intellectual past was made evident and gave me a new perspective on how that played into Hayden’s work. When Richards states that â€Å"Hayden has been so influential a poet because he developed such a suggestive model of the history poem, a poem that searches the personal or public past for significant truth that the poet might present to his audience,† this pattern is brought to attention in â€Å"Those Winter Sundays† (611). Hayden is reflecting on the history of his childhood, finding the truth behind his father’s affection and ultimately, their relationship. This pattern was evident not only in Hayden’s work, but also in that of his intellectual colleagues’ which helped to shape his style. Had I not read this source, I would not have made the connection between â€Å"Those Winter Sundays† and Hayden’s intellectual journey. Finally, Ann M. Gallagher’s article was a perfect example of what an objective explication should look like. Until reading this article, I didn’t really know the extent of what was expected in an explication. Gallagher draws information solely from the text itself that my own was definitely lacking. For example, Gallagher brings attention to the seemingly unhappy marriage between the Haydens when she states that â€Å"one slowly becomes aware that it is not only the child who does not thank the hardworking father. ‘No one ever’ did†¦where, for example, is the woman of the house? Why is there no one to minister in love or duty†¦?† (246). In one statement, Gallagher has managed to open an entirely other facet of Hayden’s motivation. Gallagher’s explication changed my understanding of not only the poem, but of what a thorough explication entails. Additional sources are not only helpful when writing a paper, they are essential. Not because one’s own ideas are not good enough, but because to enhance and expand upon those original ideas, research must be done. I would never have known Hayden’s family background had I not researched it, and I would have been completely ignorant of that side of â€Å"Those Winter Sundays.† Likewise with his intellectual background, as well as the evidence from the text itself; had I not come upon others’ opinions and revelations, I would not have been able to make my own. While it is, of course, inexcusable to copy another’s work, it is conducive to use that work to further enhance your own ideas.

New Zealand Healthcare: Impact of Health Targets and Policy

New Zealand Healthcare: Impact of Health Targets and Policy Analyse the impacts of health targets, campaigns and policy on the New Zealand healthcare demand by using the following determinants: User fees An aging population Increased Immunisation requirements Helping smokers to quit Better diabetes and cardiovascular services More convenient health care in the community Increased Immunization MINISTRY OF HEALTH TARGET: â€Å"90 percent of eight months old will have their primary course of immunization on time by July 2014 and 95 percent by December 2014. The quarterly progress result includes children who turned eight months old during the three month period of the quarter and who were fully immunized at that stage.† It has been shown that the increase rates of children having immunization has a significant contribution in improving the New Zealand’s children health as evidenced by reducing the number of long-term disability triggered by illnesses. The Ministry of Health site one example of the impact of immunization where there is a significant decrease of pneumococcal infection in babies. Since this pneumococcal vaccine introduced in New Zealand, the number of children contracting this virus under two years old has halved (from over 96 percent dropped to 46.4 percent). Those children infected with this virus gets very susceptible and the worst thing will happen was to die if left untreated or developed worst complication. It is also reported that in this modern time, families having a children under two years old is now keen on visiting primary health care services often for vaccinations. The improved rates of contact was seen specifically for Maori and Pacific children as manifested by decrease in the number of hospital admissions for Maori and Pacific children for illnesses. â€Å"By creating an immunization target, tracking immunization events on National Immunization Register and raising the importance of immunization for the children, they will have taken huge strides in recognizing and addressing children health needs† (Ministry of Health 2002). Better help the smokers to quit MINISTRY OF HEALTH TARGET: â€Å"95 percent of hospitalized patients who smoke and are seen by a health practitioner in public hospitals and 90 percent of enrolled patients who smoke and are seen by a health practitioner in general practice are offered brief advice and support to quit smoking.† Indeed, smoking is dangerous. Smoking is said to kill about 5000 individuals each year in New Zealand and diseases that are smoking related are a major prospect rate to the health sector. Majority of the smokers want to quit and the government introduces a simple effective way that can be provided regularly by both primary and secondary care. Last 2007, the Ministry of Health published an update for Smoking Cessation Guidelines which they call it ABC approach. It will help the healthcare workers specifically the frontlines of health such as doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals to understand the key steps in helping those individuals who smoke to quit on smoking. This approach is to Ask people about their smoking status and document their response, provide a Brief advice on how to stop smoking regardless of their motivation and desire to quit and provide an evidence-based Cessation treatment. This approach does not use to replace the smoking treatment yet this is to provide a key strategies to help in educating and bringing the awareness to every individual who smoke to stop smoking. This approach is also used to lessen the smoke-related hospital admission. Though it is very hard to stop smoking completely, it is said that one out of forty people who receive a good advice using ABC approach will help them to stop from smoking. The government believes that a little help can make all the difference. Better Diabetes and Cardiovascular Services MINISTRY OF HALTH TARGET: â€Å"90 percent of the eligible population will have had their cardiovascular risk assessed in the last five years.† Diabetes and Cardiovascular conditions foresees as a future major health burden in New Zealand. This two conditions said to be the major cause of morbidity in New Zealand and majority affects Maori, Pacific and South Asian peoples. As the people ages, and the lifestyle change, these conditions are possibly to increase significantly. This condition is greatly preventable with lifestyle changes and treatments for those who are at risk individuals. As of now, it is considered as a major and growing reason of disability and premature death. According to report given by Ministry of Health there are nearly 200,000 individuals diagnosed with diabetes and there are also thousands of people who have diabetes but not yet had it diagnosed. Through this targets with the aim of an increase percentage of the entitled peoples will have their cardiovascular risk assessed in the last five years, increase percentage of individuals with diabetes will avail free checks annually and an increase percentage of individuals with diabetes will receive improved diabetes management. The government will help to improve the health condition of those person suffering from this condition and will be able to live the life as normal as possible. The New Zealand government specifically the Ministry of Health is working to manage the existing issue. They are developing number of innovative programs underway to reach those people. They are making sure that those person having diabetes and cardiovascular problem are being managed effectively and are making the necessary changes to reduce the risk. They are now coordinating with the District Health Boards, Local Government and some Non-government organizations to attain the target for better assessment of this two conditions at specified time. Aging population New Zealand has an ageing population. This is one of three demographic trends that characterize recent changes in New Zealand’s population structure: declining fertility, the ageing of the baby boom generation and an increase in average life expectancy. As a result, the composition of New Zealand’s population pyramid is changing, with a widening at the top in the older age groups (Stephenson and Scobie 2002). â€Å"New Zealand is not alone in addressing the implications of population ageing. Many countries are facing the prospect or reality of an increase in the proportion of the population aged 65 and over. One of the main concerns created by an increasing older population is the impact this might have on the demand for and provision of health care and disability services (Ministry of Health 2002d).† â€Å"Changes in the trends in age-specific illnesses will have an impact on the demand for future health and disability services. It indicates that it is not old age per se that results in increasing health costs and demands, but the increased survival of people with poor health into old age. Increased demand for health services may relate to the growth of unhealthy lifestyles in Western countries, with a reliance on processed foods, reduction in exercise and an increase in sedentary jobs. These are associated with increasing obesity, diabetes and heart disease (Jackson 2002). â€Å" Therefore, the potential impact of population ageing on health systems is closely linked to theories about how trends in disability associated with chronic medical conditions and increases in life expectancy might interact with the demand for health services. User Fees The momentum towards achieving health target strengthened the concerns around sustainable health care financing and adequacy of the financing arrangements in this country. There is a necessity of increasing several options to finance health services in other areas of New Zealand and of these options is the institution of user-fees for health. Notably, these fees are charges imposed at the use of idea for different phase of health services and they might be charged as registration fees, consultation fees, fees for drugs and medical supplies or charges for any health services rendered, such as outpatient and inpatient care. Experts who promote user charges in health services view it as a pricing device which signals users and providers of health services as well as health planners in charge of health service outlets on how to manage health resources through payment for services. All the New Zealand residents and citizens can avail the health services for free provided by the government. However, due to the increase in the number of patients visiting to hospitals or any other public facilities there is a long queue before they can be scheduled to ask for a medical advice. And because of this, there is also an increase demand for medical professionals to work in a government facilities to serve for the patients. The government must allocate health care workers enough to solve this issue, they have to properly manage everything such as providing free medicines as well as to manage the number of staff and making sure that there is a less number of staff turn-over to manage the costs. More convenient community healthcare This target by the Ministry of Health was meat already. Ever since they began to change the healthcare delivery system of New Zealand the health of every individual in the community has a significant improvement. There is a lot of New Zealanders seek for medical advice and treatment from the health services. And it is said that 90 percent of those contacts occur in the community sector. It is called primary health care because it is the first place that people’s health needs are met. In 2009, the Ministry of health began to improve their services in the community. They introduce a better, sooner and more convenient approach in delivering health services in the community. This is to focus mainly on the individual health and achieve a better health outcome thereby decreasing the number of individuals going to hospitals if their condition doesn’t need an immediate medical treatment. If the person has to be admitted in the hospital the community will going to provide a referral for the person to be admitted in the hospital. In effect the new approach is removing barriers and creating a continuous health service. After all, from the patient’s point of view is that they don’t necessarily know who the person treating them, they do care about whether the services they receive are good.

Macbeth: Choices :: Macbeth essays

Macbeth: Choices         Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare characters often could not escape the consequences of their choices. The choices that some characters made in the play put them in a position which they could not escape. In most of these cases the character feels remorse for the choice they had made. The characters that I will be concentrating on are Macbeth, Macduff, and Lady Macbeth. These characters are the best examples of how characters could not escape their choices in the play.         Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The actions of Macbeth during the play sometimes put him in a situation which he could not escape. An example of this is when Macbeth murders Duncan. After he does it he regrets it and is afraid to think about it. This is shown in the quote: I am afraid to think what I've done; look on't again I dare not./(50- 51, Scene 2, Act 2) Another example is after Macbeth had Banquo killed and he sees Banquo's ghost at the table. He goes crazy and starts yelling at the ghost and he realizes that he cannot change what he has done so he tries to ignore it. That same scene Lady Macbeth says: Things without all remedy should be without regard: what's done is done./(11-12, Scene 2, Act 3) These examples show how Macbeth cannot escape the choices he made.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Macduff's allegiance to the country of Scotland leads to consequences which he cannot change. Macduff's allegiance is shown when he left Scotland and his family to go to England. There he met with Malcolm and started raising a army to overthrow Macbeth.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The result of this is the slaughtering of Macduff's wife and children by Macbeth's men.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   He blames himself for their death and he knows he can do nothing to change it. This is seen in the qoute: Sinful Macduff, They were all struck for thee! Naught that I am, Not for their own demerits but for mine fell slaughter on their souls. Heaven rest them now!/(224-226, Scene 3, Act 4)      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Lady Macbeth cannot escape the consequences of her choices either. She pressured Macbeth into killing Duncan when he did not want to. She also smeared the blood all over the guards and put the daggers in their hands. She went along with the murdering of Banquo and tried to tell Macbeth that he could not change what he had done in the second quote of my second paragraph. All of the choices she made had a huge impact on her life and we see what she has become in the

How Harper Lee Develops the Symbol of the Mockingbird

Mockingbirds are a symbol of sheer innocence; their existence causes no harm to others and the sole purpose of its life is to make mellifluous music for all to enjoy. The mockingbird’s sweet chorus is destroyed and disregarded in to kill a mockingbird, as the harmless characters of Boo Radley and Tom Robinson are exiled and imprisoned despite their altruism. The use of the mockingbird in the title provides distinction and coincides through characters and events during the novel.Harper Lee develops the symbol of the mockingbird in the novel through the town pariahs Boo Radley and Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson is accused of a crime he did not commit and in reality was helping another person without a reward. In chapter 10 Jem and Scout are shown an opening to the malevolence in society and are taught a moral lesson and the only sin considered by Atticus, â€Å" Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit em’, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mocking. This quote foreshadows the up-coming events involving Tom Robinson and the injustices he will have to endure, even though the Mockingbird is not deserving of anguish, he is still put to death through the hands of others who would shoot any bird, regardless of what kind it may be. Scout and Jem at the beginning of the novel are oblivious to the harsh racial segregation and the moral teachings of Atticus only have literal meanings until they become immersed in the enmity of racism, where their innocence is later destroyed and the blurred barriers between their father and Maycomb become clear.Atticus is responsible for maintaining the stability of Maycomb and the co-existence of good and evil; he influences his children to have morally good actions and values unlike many other children of Maycomb. Atticus strives for the rights of the mockingbird and the defenceless Tom Robinson, despite the fact that he knows as soon as Mayella Ewell screamed he was a dead man. Atticus allowing Tom Robinson to a trial allowed the ignorance and hatred in Maycomb to some extent deteriorate, even Mr.Underwood a man who never spoke about the â€Å"miscarriages of justice†¦ likened Tom’s death to the senseless slaughter of song birds by hunters and children. † Just as Atticus defends the innocent and vulnerable Tom Robinson, he also provides refuge and respect to Boo Radley, a prejudiced against outcast of Maycomb. From the beginning of the novel Atticus respects Boo Radley telling Scout and Jem not to play in his yard, as he deserves the sanctity of privacy. Town gossip and the children’s fantasy surrounding Boo Radley constrain him to his home, which is veiled in mystery, â€Å"Inside the house lived a malevolent phantom.People said he existed, but Jem and I had never seen him. People said he went out at night when the moon was down, and peeped in windows†. Later in the novel the children realise that there was an error in their judgement of Boo Radley and th eir fear of him was unjust and cruel as behind the concocted hysteria is a kind-hearted and an innocent mockingbird as Boo Radley inflicts no harm on others and is just an innocuous victim of a cruel narrow-minded society.

Starry Night, by Vincent Van Gogh Analysis

Rebecca Shulman February 25, 2013 ENGL 205-04 Epic and Romance Paper #1: Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh, 1889 Swirls mix with white, yellow, blue, and black as the town sleepily yet still so helplessly moves on with its life. No one can truly understand the mystery of the night until they’ve watched it grow. The night is born so magically as the sun of the day descends over the horizon and the moon peeks in through the shadows. It’s a darker sun, and although it is not quite as bright as the first, it is still able to shine down and create a new light for those who wake.The earth is cooled to the core as the town howls with blue breezes, while the wind chills the bones of those who walk the streets. I ponder at this painting, and wonder what thoughts pop in the minds of those whose eyes before mine have already fallen upon this golden wonder. It seems like such a small and quiet village, where the trees, so dark and gloomy as they are at dusk, grow ascending from the ground and are never ending structures.Behind the eyes of the painter was the thought of an ever-changing starlit sky in France, comparing dark with light and how it’s effects were so important to how life can look in one of the many perspectives. The oils are swimming expectantly across the page, creating this wild cotton candy vibe to the soft creamy delight of sweets that enter my imagination while I sit and stare at the tinted buttercream colored moon.As it smiles in my direction, I imagine what it’d be like if there were tiny raindrops slowly falling, but there isn’t a single cloud among such radiant tiny balls of fire. The lines in the sky dance and twirl like waves of an ocean crashing along the shore during the mightiest of storms. I can’t help but wish that I could be a part of this memorable scene, thinking what it would feel like to swim amongst the honey dipped stars so high above me, as I raise my hands and lift my chin, aiming towards the he avens.I’d look below me as my arms spread so angelic, looking down toward the low-lit buildings as I surf around this world full of beautiful wild colors of nature. Though there is a glow throughout the drawing, there is also a clear exactitude of how the sky and land are separated by colors. Where the skies glow of yellow is stronger than it is near the ground, the brightness of the waning moon shows how far that beauty can shine over the land like a guide, or a distant friend.

Let them Call It Jazz Research Paper Example

Let them Call It Jazz Research Paper Example Let them Call It Jazz Paper Let them Call It Jazz Paper The story Let Them Call It Jazz is written by Jean Rays and it talks about Salina, a dark skinned, young woman who has no money, no home and no idea of what to do next in her life. She came to England with the intent of becoming a seamstress at a shop in London, but has had no luck getting hired. Instead she finds herself kicked out of the bed-sit she rents weekly and learns that her life savings has been stolen. Jean Rays has used specific characterization techniques to convey certain attitudes toward racial oppression. Her narration and dialogue, her personality and the other characters reaction to her are integral in communicating the racism message in the story to the reader. Jean Rays was influenced by her own experience with the whites and wanted to speak out about the racist acts by the people of England. The other characters reaction is shown when she moved into a ewe flat, she was disliked instantly and was told by her neighbors Must you stay? Cant you go? this shows that the people of that age then disliked people who were not white and did not treat them properly. Her previous land lady, not only stole Salines money, but also lied to the police when Salina reported that her money was stolen, saying She certainly had no money when she came here, She able to pay a month s rent in advance for her room. This caused Salina to leave the flat to find another one. Racism through the reaction of other characters is further shown when Salina was singing on her own and the neighbors disliked it. They called the police and when she was being told off my the police, You cant make that noise here. Get along home. Youve been drinking. I, the woman who had called the police was looking at me and smiling and the other people at their windows this proves that racism was dominant during that time.