The phenomenon of bipolar affective disorder

The phenomenon of bipolar affective disorder has been a mystery since the 16th Century. History has shown that this affliction can appear in almost anyone. Even the Great painter Vincent Van Gogh is believed to have had bipolar disorder. It is clear that in our society many people live with bipolar disorder; however, despite the abundance of people suffering from it, we are still waiting for definite explanations for the causes and cure. The one fact of which we are painfully aware is that bipolar disorder severely undermines its† victims ability to obtain and maintain social and occupational success. Because bipolar disorder has such debilitating symptoms, it is imperative that we remain vigilant in the quest for explanations of its causes and treatment. Affective disorders are characterized by a smorgasbord of symptoms that can be broken into manic and depressive episodes. The depressive episodes are characterized by intense feelings of sadness and despair that can become feelings of hopelessness and helplessness. Some of the symptoms of a depressive episode include anaerobia, disturbances in sleep and appetite, psychomotor retardation, loss of energy, feelings of worthlessness, guilt, ifficulty thinking, indecision, and recurrent thoughts of death and suicide (Hollandsworth, Jr. 1990 ). The manic episodes are characterized by elevated or irritable mood, increased energy, decreased need for sleep, poor judgment and insight, and often reckless or irresponsible behavior (Hollandsworth, Jr. 1990). Bipolar affective disorder affects approximately one percent of the population (approximately three million people) in the United States. It is presented by both males and females. Bipolar disorder involves episodes of mania and depression. These episodes may alternate with profound epressions characterized by a pervasive sadness, almost inability to move, hopelessness, and disturbances in appetite, sleep, in concentrations and driving. Bipolar disorder is diagnosed if an episode of mania occurs whether depression has been diagnosed or not (Leiby,1988). Most commonly, individuals with manic episodes experience a period of depression. Symptoms include elated, expansive, or irritable mood, hyperactivity, pressure of speech, flight of ideas, inflated self-esteem, decreased need for sleep, distractibility, and excessive involvement in reckless activities (Hollandsworth, Jr. 1990). Rarest symptoms were periods of loss of all interest and retardation or agitation (Gurman, 1991). As the National Depressive and Manic Depressive Association (MDMDA) have demonstrated, bipolar disorder can create substantial developmental delays, marital and family disruptions, occupational setbacks, and financial disasters. This devastating disease causes disruptions of families, loss of jobs and millions of dollars in cost to society. Many times bipolar patients report that the depressions are longer and increase in frequency as the individual ages. Many times bipolar states and psychotic states are isdiagnosed as schizophrenia. Speech patterns help distinguish between the two disorders (Turner,1989). The onset of Bipolar disorder usually occurs between the ages of 20 and 30 years of age, with a second peak in the mid-forties for women. A typical bipolar patient may experience eight to ten episodes in their lifetime. However, those who have rapid cycling may experience more episodes of mania and depression that succeed each other without a period of remission (DSM III-R). The three stages of mania begin with hypo mania, in which patients report that they are energetic, extroverted and ssertive (Hirschfeld, 1995). The hypomania state has led observers to feel that bipolar patients are â€Å"addicted† to their mania. Hypo mania progresses into mania and the transition is marked by loss of judgment (Hirschfeld, 1995). Often, euphoric grandiose characteristics are displayed, and paranoid or irritable characteristics begin to manifest. The third stage of mania is evident when the patient experiences delusions with often- paranoid themes. Speech is generally rapid and hyperactive behavior manifests sometimes associated with violence (Hirschfeld, 1995). When both manic and depressive ymptoms occur at the same time it is called a mixed episode. Those afflicted are a special risk because there is a combination of hopelessness, agitation, and anxiety that makes them feel like they â€Å"could jump out of their skin†(Hirschfeld, 1995). Up to 50% of all patients with mania have a variety of depressed moods. Patients report feeling dysphonic, depressed, and unhappy; yet, they exhibit the energy associated with mania. Rapid cycling mania is another presentation of bipolar disorder. Mania may be present with four or more distinct episodes within a 12-month period. There is now evidence to uggest that sometimes rapid cycling may be a transient manifestation of the bipolar disorder. This form of the disease exhibits more episodes of mania and depression than bipolar. Lithium has been the primary treatment of bipolar disorder since its introduction in the 1960's. It is main function is to stabilize the cycling characteristic of bipolar disorder. In four controlled studies by F. K. Goodwin and K. R. Jamison, the overall response rate for bipolar subjects treated with Lithium was 78% (Turner,1998). Lithium is also the primary drug used for long- term maintenance of bipolar disorder. In a majority of bipolar patients, it lessens the duration, frequency, and severity of the episodes of both mania and depression. Unfortunately, as many as 40% of bipolar patients are either unresponsive to lithium or cannot tolerate the side effects. Some of the side effects include thirst, weight gain, nausea, diarrhea, and edema. Patients who are unresponsive to lithium treatment are often those who experience dysphonic mania, mixed states, or rapid cycling bipolar disorder. One of the problems associated with lithium is the fact the long-term lithium treatment has been associated with decreased hyroid functioning in patients with bipolar disorder. Preliminary evidence also suggest that hypothyroidism may actually lead to rapid-cycling (Gurman,1991). Pregnant women experience another problem associated with the use of lithium. Its use during pregnancy has been associated with birth defects, particularly Ebstein's anomaly. Based on current data, the risk of a child with Ebstein's anomaly being born to a mother who took lithium during her first trimester of pregnancy is approximately 1 in 8,000, or 2. 5 times that of the general population (Leiby,1988). There are other effective treatments for bipolar disorder that are used in cases where the patients cannot tolerate lithium, or have been unresponsive to it in the past. The American Psychiatric Association's guidelines suggest the next line of treatment to be Anticonvulsant drugs such as valproate and carbamazepine. These drugs are useful as antimanic agents, especially in those patients with mixed states. Both of these medications can be used in combination with lithium or in combination with each other. Valproate is especially helpful for patients who are ithium noncompliant, experience rapid-cycling, or have comorbid alcohol or drug abuse. Neuroleptics such as haloperidol or chlorpromazine have also been used to help stabilize manic patients who are highly agitated or psychotic. Use of these drugs is often necessary because the response to them are rapid, but there are risks involved in their use. Because of the often severe side effects, Benzodiazepines are often used in their place. Benzodiazepines can achieve the same results as Neuroleptics for most patients in terms of rapid control of agitation and excitement, without the severe side effects. Antidepressants such as the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI†s) fluovamine and amitriptyline has also been used by some doctors as treatment for bipolar disorder. A double-blind study by M. Gasperini, F. Gatti, L. Bellini, R. Anniverno, and E. Smeraldi showed that fluvoxamine and amitriptyline are highly effective treatments for bipolar patients experiencing depressive episodes (Leiby,1988). This study is controversial however, because conflicting research shows that SSRI†s and other antidepressants can actually precipitate manic episodes. Most doctors can see the usefulness of ntidepressants when used in conjunction with mood stabilizing medications such as lithium. In addition to the mentioned medical treatments of bipolar disorder, there are several other options available to bipolar patients, most of which are used in conjunction with medicine. One such treatment is light therapy. One study compared the response to light therapy of bipolar patients with that of unipolar patients. Patients were free of psychotropic and hypnotic medications for at least one month before treatment. Bipolar patients in this study showed an average of 90. 3% improvement in their depressive ymptoms, with no incidence of mania or hypomania. They all continued to use light therapy, and all showed a sustained positive response at a three month follow-up (Turner,1998). Another study involved a four week treatment of bright morning light treatment for patients with seasonal affective disorder and bipolar patients. This study found a statistically significant decrement in depressive symptoms, with the maximum antidepressant effect of light not being reached until week four (Hollandsworth, Jr. 1990). Hypomanic symptoms were experienced by 36% of bipolar patients in this study. Predominant hypo manic symptoms included racing thoughts, deceased sleep and irritability. Surprisingly, one-third of controls also developed symptoms such as those mentioned above. Regardless of the explanation of the emergence of hypo manic symptoms in undiagnosed controls, it is evident from this study that light treatment may be associated with the observed symptoms. Based on the results, careful professional monitoring during light treatment is necessary, even for those without a history of major mood disorders. Another popular treatment for bipolar disorder is electro-convulsive hock therapy. ECT is the preferred treatment for severely manic pregnant patients and patients who are homicidal, psychotic, catatonic, medically compromised, or severely suicidal. In one study, researchers found marked improvement in 78% of patients treated with ECT, compared to 62% of patients treated only with lithium and 37% of patients who received neither, ECT or lithium (Gurman,1991). A final type of therapy is outpatient group psychotherapy. According to Dr. John Graves, spokesperson for the National Depressive and Manic Depressive Association has called attention to the value f support groups, and challenged mental health professionals to take a more serious look at group therapy for the bipolar population. Research shows that group participation may help increase lithium compliance, decrease denial regarding the illness, and increase awareness of both external and internal stress factors leading to manic and depressive episodes. Group therapy for patients with bipolar disorders responds to the need for support and reinforcement of medication management, and the need for education and support for the interpersonal difficulties that arise during the course of the disorder.

Evaluation Essay Essay

The National Basketball Association, popularly Known as the NBA, was established in New York City on June 6, 1946, as the Basketball Association of America and the Chicago Bulls became a member of the NBA after their establishment in 1966. Since becoming the NBA, the basketball played during the playoffs has proven to be far more competetive than that played during the regular season of at least 60 games per team. This was proven beyond doubt when the Chicago Bulls defeated the Brooklyn Nets in the 2013 playoffs after trailing by 14 points with only 3 minutes and forteen seconds of regulation time left. This was quite hard to believe and turned out to be an unexpected reality despite the susceptibility of the Chicago Bulls to injury and the absence of their superstar, Derick Rose. With the emergence of the 2008 number 1 draft pick of the NBA, Derick Rose, drafted by the Chicago Bulls, there was hope for an NBA title for the city of Chicago which has not had any hope since the Michael Jordan era. After the horrible 2012/2013 regular season in which the Bulls suffered a great deal of injuries worst than any other NBA team, the Bulls head into the playoffs still short handed. The first impression about this Bulls’ team is their resilience considering their success into the playoffs despite the injury woes. The first round featured the Bulls and the Nets in what is suppose to be a seven game series with the winner being any team with the first four wins. The two teams meet at the Barclays Center in New York for game 4 of the series with the Bulls leading two games to one. The game appeared to be pretty even within the first three quarters untill the nets blowout to a 14 point lead with exactly 3 minutes and 14 seconds of playtime left on the clock. At this point, no one could see the possibilty of a Bulls win considering the absence of a superb playmaker like their all-star point guard, Derick Rose who used to lead them to numerous comeback wins. Notwithstan ding, the bulls backup point guard, Nate Robinson, who is just 5†² 9†³ tall, Weighing 180 lb popularly reffered to as ‘little Nate’ by most basketball journalists and analysts went to work. He can be reffered to at this point as the savior, but who could have imagined that at a crucial point like this, it will be the backup point guard, who is not ony the smallest player on the bulls roster but also one of the least regarded who will bail them out. With the nets leading by 14 at this point, all hope was lost but the Bulls coach, Tom Thibedeau, was still on his toes with the hope to salvage the situation.  Nate took over, first by hitting a three point basket. The lead was down to 11, but the Nets’ coach was pretty relaxed and still had hope for a victory while little Nate thought otherwise. He made 90% of all the points made by the Bulls from this point on. With the Nets loosing the ball at the other end, the bulls converted at the other end. By the time the short clock was at 1:14, the bulls had made and 8:0 run, and the battle was far from done. This was quite unexpected for many reasons. The basketball played during the playoff is way more competitive such that it is rare to see an 8-0 run at a crucial point such as in this situation. In addition to this, the bulls were very short handed compared to a very health Brooklyn team with promissing reserves as well. It all came down to this; â€Å"Who had the passion, who had the drive† as one of the journlists noted. At this point, even though ‘Little Nate ‘ was the main playmaker for the bulls, all the players stepped up their game. Everyone was alert. The rebounding was up, the defending up, the players seemed unstopable at this point. Still, everyone still doubted a bulls win who were still down by 6 points with 1:14 left on the clock. Notwithstanding, the bulls believed in themselves and kept the pace. With the players doing a great job, there was one man who can be reffered to at this point as the fuel, the coach, Tom Thibedeau. He was sensational, and constantly on his toes and he is regarded as someone who believes in winning with no regards to whoever is on the court, whether they are stars, superstars, rookies or average players. This was the mentality he impacted on the bulls despite the absence of their best player. With 1:11 left, the bulls continue to make their run through Nate. Relative to his performance that night, this little guy appeared very tall and not even Brook Lopez, a very big guy of 7 ft 0 and 275 lb on the opposing team could stop him. Lopez put a huge body on ‘little Nate’ whose intelligence overcame the doggy defence. He continued to nock down shots to everyone’s suprise. â€Å"Big things come in small packages† one of the journalists said in reference to his astounding performance. Both teams were level at the end of the fourth quarter and headed for overtime. This was a turn ing point for both teams. While the nets played well, the bulls were clearly the team with the bigger drive to win. Nothing could be seen to limit the bulls not even age in the case of veteran center Nazr Mohammad, the oldest guy on the bulls roster who came off the bench and hit a huge basket with a great offensive rebound that  solidified the bull’s win in the third overtime. In conclusion, the bulls win over the nets in game 4 of the 2013 NBA playoffs was a thriller and no body could have seen it coming. It is worth noting that, believe and hardwork was the driving force of such an unexpected comeback.

Swot Analysis of Starbucks

Management 303 SWOT Analysis of Starbucks Corporation Section I – Organizational History / Mission Statement In 1971, Starbuck’s opened its first location in the touristy Pikes Place Market in Seattle. The Starbucks name is derived from the coffee-loving first mate in the novel, Moby Dick. The logo, a two-tailed mermaid encircled by the stores name, continues with the theme and background of the name. From the beginning, Starbucks prides themselves on not only providing their customers with high-quality whole bean coffees, but also with providing them with an inviting atmosphere. The mission statement, â€Å"to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time†, is seen today in the more than 15,000 locations in more than 150 countries. Section II – Strengths and Weaknesses In my opinion, the top two strengths of Starbucks is their strong brand image associated with their high-quality coffee and their committed and strong workforce. Their top two weaknesses in my opinion are their high premium prices and lack of internal focus. Strength 1 – Strong Brand Image According to G Serrano, â€Å"The strongest attribute that consumers associate with the Starbucks brand is its being known for specialty/gourmet coffee. Starbucks is a widely-recognized brand. Its top-of-mind recall is high. It is both a household name and a buzzword. † By becoming a household name people go to Starbucks to get the â€Å"Starbucks Experience†. This means that Starbucks has made their stores so inviting that people actually get up early in the morning, grab the paper or a good book and drive down to the local Starbucks and basically just chill out. They provide an optional light snack, a good cup of coffee, free Wi-Fi and the comfort of your own home. Being highly recognized for all of the above qualities has contributed in the growth and expansion of their many locations throughout the US and abroad. This is a huge strength in that that being on top of the market share pretty much ensures that no matter what they will continue to stay on top because of their branding and their popularity. Strength 2 – Committed and Strong Workforce Not only does the coffee drive customers to Starbucks, but the dedicated employees who care about their jobs and their customers do as well. Starbucks thinks so highly of their employees, they call them â€Å"partners†. The partners are the ones who create the atmosphere that makes the customers feel the way they do about Starbucks. As Hammers stated in her â€Å"Workforce Management† piece, â€Å"The company’s rich benefit blend keeps turnover low and employee satisfaction high. And that's why it's the Optimas Award winner for Quality of Life. As business owners and managers, our job is to make sure that our employees or partners, for that matter, are happy and well-trained. When this happens, as it has with Starbucks, it outwardly shows to the clientele and it makes them want to come back time and time again. Weakness 1 – High Premium Prices Starbucks is a premium brand that commands premium prices. As competitive pressures increase, the company could b e undercut by lower price rivals such as McDonalds or Duncan Donuts. Recession or downturn in the economy, like we are facing now, affects consumer spending. If Starbucks continues to increase prices over the next few years in the face of increasing coffee prices, there could be a downside to their forecast. In this highly competitive market and with less disposable income to spend, consumers turn to lower priced venues and competitors. † Starbucks should look into some sort of cost saving efforts when it comes to the coffee beans that they buy. I know they are known for their premium brands, but with prices on the steady increase something Weakness 2 – Lack of Internal Focus Starbucks has grown by leaps and bounds over the past decade or so. They seem to be consumed with growing their market share by increasing the amount of locations they have within the states as well as abroad. Serrano states just this point in saying â€Å"The growth strategy was not really the failing point. In fact, this augured well for the company’s bottom line. What the company’s executives failed to see was the fact that if it wanted to saturate the market, its product and service offerings were not really meeting the characteristics of the market. That is why the market perceived Starbucks as merely concerned with growth in the number of stores and profits. The wide potential market base did not see Starbucks as concerned with their needs. † Starbucks goes through a lot of effort to get the opinions of their partners and their clients. They even have a board of people who read the queries on a monthly basis to see where improvements can be made. Since they are putting in all the effort, they need to follow through and start listening to the very people that give them their profits. Expanding will do no good if you don’t have any customers. The more they neglect what their partners and customers are saying, the more they are going to lose touch. Section III – Opportunities and Strengths In my opinion, the two biggest opportunities for Starbucks are increasing their CRM and database marketing and expanding into new product lines. Strength 1 – Increasing CRM and Database Marketing One of the greatest opportunities for Starbucks is to increase their CRM and Database Marketing. At the moment Starbucks just asks you what you want, you pay for it, they make your drink and you are on your way. In order to better serve their clients and give back to them, they could come up with some type of rewards program. Many large retailers and food chains have already begun these programs. This would help them stay in touch with their clients by sending them emails of upcoming events, new drinks and new offers. They could also attach a rewards program for the customers who have a daily addiction to their drinks. This basically becomes a win-win situation for not only Starbucks but for their customers as well. Strength 2 – Expanding Product Lines and Services We all know that Starbucks has the best selection of coffees around. Unfortunately, that is all they do. I think one of the greatest opportunities for them would be for them to expand their food line to go along with their drinks. Seeing that they are open all day long and into the night, they could benefit greatly by developing a larger lunch line. They currently have small salads and finger sandwiches at some of their locations. By increasing their menu they could also increase their profits. This would help give them a competitive advantage of other cafes along the same lines as them.

The Mosuo Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Mosuo Culture - Essay Example First of all, it is necessary to find out, whether Mosuo represent separate culture According to Triandis (1995) culture as a notion must have certain attributes and Mosuo can be called to be culture for having these attributes -place, separate geographical location and historical background. Therefore, the main aspects of Mosuo culture are norms, attitudes, rules, shared beliefs and behaviors - for this reason Mosuo is also supposed to be subjective culture. What is more important is that all the elements of such culture are transferred from generation to generation. (Triandis 1995) The Chinese government considers the Mosuo to be the members of the Naxi minority. It is possible to say, that Mosuo possess the common territory with the Naxi, but they have different language, cultural aspects and economic situation and rules. The reason for such conjunction of Mosuo and Naxi is due to the deep gap in knowledge about Mosuo. Only recently the historians and authors have come to understanding that Mosuo are absolutely different from Naxi - through their culture, religion and language. The cultures of Naxi and Mosuo may be compared only in terms of them occupying common territory for residence and for better understanding the differences between these two minorities - looking for similarities between the two nationalities make become time wasting. Certain theories state, that Mosuo native language is "eastern dialect" or "dongbu fangyan". The Mosuo culture is thoroughly described by the scholar Lamu Gatusa. (Mackerras 2003) From Triandis (1995) it becomes clear, that Mosuo belong to collectivist economy, because Mosuo society consists of individuals (residents) considering themselves a as part of a big collective i.e. family; the links between separate individuals are very strong, which makes it possible to assume that there is hardly any tint of individualism in Mosuo culture. Mosuo are absolutely motivated by imposed duties and norms. They consider collective priority to be more important, than personal goals and achievements. Mosuo strongly emphasize connections with other community members (I guess it is better to use the word community, than the word 'tribe', as still Mosuo appear to live in an organized manner with strong traditions and values). Although their collectivism is considered vertical for the reason of men having lower status in society, nobody feels oppression; Mosuo culture tends to collectivism in its fundamental conviction that people are bounded into tied groups through common interests and goals. (Triandis 1995) Mosuo cul ture consists of in-groups and out-groups. In-groups are the representatives of a certain family, characterized by similarities and ability to cooperate without demanding equal returns and without leaving family as it may lead to anxiety among other members. However, friends and collective may be also included into the in-group. Each member of Mosuo in-groups can simply be excluded for mistreatment of someone, insult or similar acts. It is necessary also to note, that Mosuo culture sees itself as "links in a long chain" consisting of descendants and ancestors. (Triandis 1995) As it is seen, the word 'link' is the core aspect of the Mosuo life; they value any kind of links - either those

The Development of Art and Music Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Development of Art and Music - Assignment Example The term â€Å"classical† in Western culture refers to the two cultures of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome which dominated Europe and large parts of Asia from their Eastern Mediterranean base. The art of this period is preserved in magnificent marble statues, mosaics such as those at Pompeii and some paintings. Human figures were favorite subjects and there is a cleanness of line and a celebration of physicality in the art of this time. Mythology was often depicted, but also ordinary citizens and famous people of the age. Not very much is known about music, except that it was a part of most dramatic performances, from plays in the theatres to spectacles with gladiators in the Coliseum. This period ends with the fall of Rome in the fifth century and then everything is rather quiet through the period known as the â€Å"Dark Ages†. The earliest evidence we have of dark ages and medieval music shows a close connection with religious activities, which is not surprising since the Church was the place where most intellectual activities and almost all reading and writing activities took place. Illustrated books show psalms and hymns, sometimes with basic musical notation, and a key innovator in this field was Pope Gregory the Great (540-604), who promoted the use of plainchant, monotone single voice or choir delivery of short uplifting texts across the increasing territories of Christianity. One of the most notable composers was Hildegard of Bingen ( 1098-1179) who wrote chants and â€Å"sequences† which were used in worship, again using voice as the main carrier of the melody but some more daring intervals than those common in the Gregorian chants. In art religious subjects dominated and the pictures of saints or Bible figures were designed to convey a narrative, for example by depicting objects which had sy mbolic significance, or which reminded the viewers, most of whom could not read, what the key elements of the story were.

Introduction to human resource Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Introduction to human resource - Assignment Example 1. HR is responsible for recruiting and training employees. For this, they formulate and conduct different strategies of interviewing and testing the candidates. After that, HR recommends names for selection to the top management. 3. In order to facilitate the employees in their tasks and to enable them to achieve the assigned objectives, HR provide the employees with all resources they require with due approval of the top management. 4. HR helps the accountants prepare salary of individual workers. For this purpose, HR conducts attendance and maintains record of absentees so that the pay for unapproved absenteeism can be cut from the salary. Regarding their interaction with the HR professionals, the interviewees said that they listen to the HR professionals carefully and pay full heed to what they instruct because they visualize them as a link between them and the top management. My aunt said that HR professionals’ instructions have to be respected because they come from the top management. My brother said it is advisable to try to maintain excellent terms with the HR professionals because their evaluation makes a difference. My friend said he maintains a formal interaction with the HR professionals. I agree to the statement of each of them regarding this matter. My aunt and friend perceived HR professionals as representatives of the top management while my brother perceived HR professionals as spies. I agree more to the response of my aunt and friend than my brother in this matter. HRM plays a very important function in any organization. Workforce is the most valuable asset of any organization. Being its managers, HR professionals assume prime importance in the organization. The central role of HR professionals in the organization interests me. I would best be able to serve the strategic role of HR because this involves special display of emotional intelligence (EI) on the part of the HR professional. By

Balancing Stakeholders Interests In Case Of A Conflict Essay - 2

Balancing Stakeholders Interests In Case Of A Conflict - Essay Example The CAW accepted a wage freeze that would last three years approximately. Vacations would have to go for lesser time and employees would have to contribute higher towards their benefit plans. From the abstract what is clear is that the bailout necessitated that employees do most of the heavy lifting. Suffering wage cuts, taking shorter vacations while the owners who happen to also be external stakeholders do not seem to suffer that much. How then can the interest of employees and shareholders be balanced in case a conflict arises? To answer this question I will use Edward Freeman’s stakeholder’s theory to delve in depth into this issue pitting both moral responsibilities and profit maximization objectives of the business unit. Stakeholder hypothesis is a theory of executive management and trade ethics that deals with principles and values in running an organization. In the conventional view of the firm, the investor view, they are the proprietors of the company and the corporation has a compulsory duty to put their needs first, to boost value for them. Stakeholder conjecture fights that there are added parties involved, including workers, clientele, providers, investors, society, legislative bodies, political lobby groups, trade links, and unions. Even rivals are sometimes counted as stakeholders - their position being consequent from their aptitude to affect the company and its stakeholders. The nature of what is a stakeholder is extremely contested The stakeholder view of policy integrates equally a resource and a market-based view and adding up a socio-political stage. This outlook of the corporation is used to describe the precise stakeholders of a firm (the normative presumption (Donaldson) of stakeholder identification) mutually examines the conditions beneath which these parties ought to be treated as stakeholders.

Analyzing Martin Luther Kings' "A Letter from Bermingham Essay

Analyzing Martin Luther Kings' "A Letter from Bermingham Jail" - Essay Example While his idea that peaceful demonstrations are essential in exerting pressure on the government to pay attention to discrimination issues has been widely accepted, there are those who criticized the demonstrators for failing to give the government enough time to respond to the matters. From a critical point of view, there is evidence that Luther is right on the idea that the government has consistently ignored the plight of the black Americans and that peaceful demonstrations are crucial to push the government to look at these issues. This article seeks to analyze critically the arguments of Martin Luther King in his article in Birmingham jail. Luther’s idea that discrimination is an urgent issue that the government has ignored for a long time is sound and has garnered a lot of support. The discrimination of black Americans in the US has been a serious issue for a long time. Evidently, the Blacks were discriminated in all areas including employment, courts, and other public areas. The victimization of Black Americans, referred to as â€Å"negroes,† was common as the authorities perceived this minority group as criminals. A good example is the case in Ferguson when a white police officer, Darren Wilson, shot an unarmed teenager, Michael Brown, after suspecting him as a potential criminal. Later, it was proved that the teenager was innocent, but the court justified the action of the white Policeman. The BlackLivesMatter movement points out that a black person is shot every 28 hours period by a white policeman and that more than 25 percent Black Americans live in abject poverty. These statistics support the idea of Luther that â€Å"justice too long delayed is justice denied† (2). From this angle, Martin Luther’s letter in Birmingham jail presents the true picture of the injustice perpetrated against blacks in the US. Secondly, Luther presents the idea that the US government has been adamant to handle the issues of the Black people is debatable (4).

Perceptions of performance feedback Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Perceptions of performance feedback - Essay Example ent follows though busy with commitments" and out of 15 people, no one strongly agreed, 14 agreed, 1 neither agreed nor disagreed and no one chose the rest of the options. The eleventh question was "Receive coaching and training" and out of 15 people, no one strongly agreed, 9 agreed, 6 neither agreed nor disagreed and no one chose the rest of the options. Questionnaire # 2 Perceived Perception of Change The first question was " I am part of the decision making process" and out of 15 people none strongly agreed, 2 agreed, 8 neither agreed nor disagreed, none strongly disagreed and 5 chose not applicable. The second question was "Thoughts and ideas are taken seriously" and out of 15 people, 1 strongly agreed, 10 agreed, 4 neither agreed nor disagreed and no one chose the rest of the two options. The third question was "Encouraged to offer solutions" and out of 15 people, none strongly agreed, 15 agreed and no one chose the rest of the options. The fourth question was "I take pride in working for the company" and out of 15 people 2 strongly agreed, 13 agreed and no one chose the rest of the options. The fifth question was "Promotes a family atmosphere" and out of 15 people, 12 strongly agreed, 3 agreed and no one chose the rest of the options. The sixth question was "Company values are compatible with my values" and out of 15 people, 12 strongly agreed, 2 agreed, 1 neither agreed nor disagreed and no one chose the rest of the options. The seventh question was "Company contributes to the community" and out of 15 people, 1 strongly agreed, 14 agreed and no one chose the rest of the options. The eighth question was "Would recommend the company to my friends" and out of 15 people, 4 strongly agreed, 6 agreed, 5 neither agreed nor disagreed and no one chose the rest of the... The third question was "Management makes frequent positive comments" and out of 15, 4 chose strongly agree, 9 chose agree, 2 chose neither agree nor disagree and no one chose strongly disagree and not applicable. The sixth question was "Supervisor cares about personal development" and out of 15 people, 5 chose strongly agree, 5 chose agree, 2 chose neither agree nor disagree and no one chose the rest of the two options. The seventh question was "Expectations are the same for everyone" and out of 15 people, 2 strongly agreed, 7 agreed, 5 neither agreed nor disagreed, 1 strongly disagreed and no one chose the last option. The tenth question was "Management follows though busy with commitments" and out of 15 people, no one strongly agreed, 14 agreed, 1 neither agreed nor disagreed and no one chose the rest of the options. The first question was " I am part of the decision making process" and out of 15 people none strongly agreed, 2 agreed, 8 neither agreed nor disagreed, none strongly disagreed and 5 chose not applicable. The first question was "I always have the supplies to do my job well" and out of 15 people, none strongly agreed, 6 agreed, 3 neither agreed nor disagreed, 6 strongly disagreed and no one chose the last option. The survey

Management and Organisational Learning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Management and Organisational Learning - Essay Example Organisational leaders are designers, stewards and teachers and are responsible for building organisations where people continually expand their capabilities to understand complexity, clarify vision, and improve shared mental models (Senge 1990). Senge’s concept of learning organisation also described it as, â€Å"organisations where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free and where people continually learn how to learn together,† (cited in Robbins et al 2003). From the above definitions, it can be noted that there is a strong correlation between the ideas of the major proponents of this concept. Both of them talk about learning in an organisation with an aim of transforming that particular organisation in order to have positive growth. For instance, in this particular case, the different levels of Senge’s concept include the following, individual level which is characterised by mental models and personal mastery then group level which is followed by organisational level which is made up of systems thinking and shared vision. Senge argues that learning organisations are innovations based on gradual convergence of all five disciplines. Learning to learn is about creativity and innovation, which is about creating positive change rather than adapting to change. This structure bears testimony that learning in an organisation is seen as something that is carefully designed with the aim of achieving particular goals. According to this definition, learning is no longer restricted to individual experience but has become teamwork which requires new and innovative ways of learning and managing performance improvement. It can thus be seen that exchange of information is central to the process of learning organisation where it should be encouraged and nurtured for positive results in improving performance. In

Applied business research-week 9 and week 10 Essay

Applied business research-week 9 and week 10 - Essay Example Salary depends on age and years since they are within the .05 significance level. However, it does not depend on beauty. Hence, beauty is an irrelevant factor in salary determination and can as well be eliminated. Age is normally distributed since its skewness is .362 while its kurtosis is 3.49. Moreover, years is normally distributed since its skewness is .348 while its kurtosis is .536. similarly, beauty is normally distributed as it has a skewness of -.004 and kurtosis is .480 values that are close to zero. 7. The R2 is .184. This value indicates the proportion of variance in the salary_2 that can be explained by beauty, years and age in the model. Apparently, beauty, years and age, which are the independent variables, explain 18.4% of the variability of salary_2, which is the dependent variable. 9. Age and years are significant coefficients as their p value is less than .05. Every increase of an average of 1 year in the number of years that a woman is a model is associated with 0.9% increase in

Conception of Curriculum Essay Example for Free

Conception of Curriculum Essay Curriculum is a Latin word, which means the way, which takes a person to his/ her goal. Every nation has an ideology, which becomes the basis of educational planning. The Curriculum defines the way of transforming educational planning into practical implementation through which the enables a nation becomes to achieve its ideological goals. Hence curriculum is the way through which a nation can achieve its aims. Different educational institutions and organisations also achieve their aims through curriculum. Although teachers, premises, resources and facilities have their own value in educational process, but the curriculum has the central position in the education of students. Curriculum is not only a source of fulfilment of national aims but also it serves the purpose of training and educating needs of individuals. The Ancient Concept of Curriculum: Firstly, the concept of curriculum was restricted to class and school. According to ancient concept of curriculum it was a combination of few subjects. According to this concept the students were required to study and learn few books in order to get them educated. Although it is against the observation and experience because by learning the subjects by heart neither the notions of concentration and creativity can be established nor the characteristics of In The Curriculum Bobbitt writes as follows: The central theory [of curriculum] is simple. Human life, however varied, consists in the performance of specific activities. Education that prepares for life is one that prepares definitely and adequately for these specific activities. However numerous and diverse they may be for any social class they can be discovered. This requires only that one go out into the world of affairs and discover the particulars of which their affairs consist. These will show the abilities, attitudes, habits, appreciation and forms of knowledge that men need. These will be the objectives of the curriculum. They will be numerous, definite and particularized. The curriculum will then be that series of experiences which children and youth must have by way of obtaining those objectives. (1918: 42) It is helpful to consider these ways of approaching curriculum theory and practice in the light of Aristotles influential categorization of knowledge into three disciplines: the theoretical, the productive and the practical. The modern conception on curriculum includes not only the books but also the activities which are organised in order to educate the students. Students take part in different activities and undertake different experiments. Hence its brings changes in the behaviour of students which is the real essence of education. It includes all those activities, †¢ which completes the superior educational objectives, †¢ also align education with practical life, †¢ Coordinate between society and education institution. †¢ Prepare students according to present era and circumstances. †¢ guarantees the progress of individual society. †¢ align the mental, psychological, economical, social practical aspects. Therefore according to the modern definition of curriculum, Curriculum is defined as a complete struggle, which is designed to achieve predetermined aims inside outside the school or educational institution. According to the encyclopedia of education research curriculum is regarded as those experiments, which are used by school in order to aid the process of education. Hence curriculum is the way through which we guide our generation in order to achieve prescribed aims objectives. Modern education gives central position to the student rather than teacher. The needs, wishes and psychological desires of students are fulfilled. Social norms and values are given central position in modern curriculum. Since a good, balanced and flexible curriculum is the best representative of society. Philosophical foundations: Educational curriculum and national ideology go hand in hand with each other. National philosophy gives rise to individual identity. When this philosophy becomes the foundation of education, the new generation gets enriched with these national characteristics. Curriculum designing addresses the questions such as what is the goal of our life and how it can be aligned with our curriculum. What is the opinion of the people of the nation regarding the whole world. What are the values of the society and which of these values are permanent and which of them are temporary. Which of these values should be natured by the educational institution where education is just aimed at educating students or has other utilities. Should the curriculum be aligned with the religion or the religion should be kept separated from curriculum. Should the curriculum depict the regional values or consist of universal values. Which subjects should be made compulsory in the secondary education and which the students should be kept under considerations or the national and social necessities should be taken as central point. Psychological foundations: Psychology and education has deep relation ship psychology is the science of human behavior. It explains the human behavioral in different circumstances. Through countless experiments psychologists have divided human development into different grades. Every grade has its own characteristics and necessities. For the better growth of children all these requirements should be fulfilled because the human brain develops in different levels. The beginning experiences are reflex in nature. In order to develop the co-ordination with the circumstances the child increases his educational level. Hence his psychological development takes place in different levels. Therefore it is necessary to keep the psychological needs and desires of the child in consideration while designing a curriculum. References Bobbitt, F. (1918) The Curriculum, Boston: Houghton Mifflin

Impact of Social Relationships on Health

Impact of Social Relationships on Health There is considerable evidence that social relationships can influence health, but only limited evidence on the health effects of the personality characteristics that are thought to mold peoples social lives. We asked whether sociability predicts resistance to infectious disease and whether this relationship is attributable to the quality and quantity of social interactions and relationships. Three hundred thirty-four volunteers completed questionnaires assessing their sociability, social networks, and social supports, and six evening interviews assessing daily interactions. They were subsequently exposed to a virus that causes a common cold and monitored to see who developed verifiable illness. Increased sociability was associated in a linear fashion with a decreased probability of developing a cold. Although sociability was associated with more and higher-quality social interactions, it predicted disease susceptibility independently of these variables. The association between socia bility and disease was also independent of baseline immunity (virus-specific antibody), demographics, emotional styles, stress hormones, and health practices. Along with human population, the inequality in the distribution of global income has grown in recent decades (7). In 1992, 15% of people in the worlds richest countries enjoyed 79% of the worlds income (8). In every continent, in giant city systems, people increasingly come into direct contact with others who vary in culture, language, religion, values, ethnicity, and socially defined race and who share the same space for social, political, and economic activities (9). The resulting frictions are evident in all parts of the world. Ecologists and population biologists have long used the logistic model of population dynamics as a way to understand the cause and effect relationship between carrying capacity and population size (Wilson Bossert, 1971; Gotelli, 1998). As Malthus (Petersen, 1979) and Darwin (1859) understood, in the absence of limitations on resources, i.e., space and food, populations will grow exponentially. However, if resources are limited, the growth rate begins to decelerate well below the maximum population size that the environmental resources can support. Deceleration continues until a more or less equilibrium level is reached. This equilibrium occurs near the asymptote of environmental limits. When plotted, the resultant growth takes the form of a sigmoidal or S-shaped curve. Typically, in the laboratory and field. The second evolution refers to the industrial revolution, which took place mainly in the 18th century alongside the global agricultural revolution (Cohen, 1995). The third evolution is the advancement of public health and medicine which began in 1945. This led to a stark rise in the population as the development of vaccines and antibiotics increased life expectancy in the countries with access to them (Butler, 2004). The final evolution, per Cohen (1995), is the fertility evolution which began in the 18th century and has still not emerged in some developing countries (Cohen, 1995). Contraception and education for women have contributed to a fall in fertility rates among more developed countries (Butler, 2004). The end of the Second World War marked a fifth turning point in human population growth (Hibbard et al., 2006). No one had ever lived through a doubling of the population until after the Second World War and now, some of us have lived through a tripling of the population (Cohen, 2003). Today, the human population is distributed unevenly around the globe; with 60 percent residing in Asia, 16 percent in Africa, 10 percent in Europe, 9 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean and the remainder living in North America and Oceania (Cohen, 1995). Not only are we unevenly distributed, but so are our resources. In 2015, 795 million people do not have enough to eat (FAO, 2015). Simmons (2000) describes this phenomenon as a logistical distribution problem. We produce plenty of food on Earth, enough to feed everyone, yet millions starve to death every year (Simmons, 2000). Global life expectancy is expected to increase to 83 years by 2095 and by then, the human population will have at least doubled (UNDP, 2015). This will put further stress on our resources. If we struggle to feed everyone today, we will certainly struggle to feed a longer-living, doubled population in the future (UNEP-GEAS, 2012). How has carrying capacity been estimated? Many concepts have been used to try and decipher a limit to the human population. These include optimum population, carrying capacity and limits to growth (Van den Bergh Rietveld, 2004). What these concepts have in common is that they all acknowledge the basic requirements for a human being to survive; water, land, food and other resources from nature (Van den Bergh Rietveld, 2004). These resources have a limit and so it follows that the human population also has a limit (Van den Bergh Rietveld, 2004). Thomas Malthus theory about human population growth provided the basis for the concept of carrying capacity in relation to humans (Seidl Tisdell, 1999). The infamous theory was put forward in 1798. Malthus proposed that it was in built into the population curve for the population to run out of resources, causing a decline in the population by positive checks (e.g. disease, famine, war) or by preventative checks (e.g. marriage restrictions) (Butler, 2004). Malthus theory, though flawed, became so influential partly due to the attitude of Victorian England in the 18th century (Seidl Tisdell, 1999). During this time, disease and poverty was rampant among the lower classes as they moved into cities (Seidl Tisdell, 1999). The concept may have been relevant at Malthus time, but the human population has moved far beyond these limits now (Seidl Tisdell, 1999). Verhulst (1838) epitomized Malthus theory through the omnipresent logistic equation (Figure 2) (Lima Berrymand, 2011).

Rule of Law Across the World

Rule of Law Across the World Rule of law, in general, states that no one is above the law. Even if you are the highest ranking official in your country or you are at the bottom echelon of individuals the law will always be equal to all. (LexisNexis, 2014) New Zealand and Canada both incorporate the rule of law in their respective government which is good because it is important that the people, whether rich or poor, can gain equal rights to laws especially in health care since health is the most important aspect in our lives that should be taken care of. According to University of California San Francisco Global Health Sciences (2014), in the past decade, there has been an increased interest in public-private partnership relating to healthcare across the world. This is of good news to the public since this kind of partnership has a long-term effect between a nation’s government and a private sector which helps aid in the welfare of the public and for this be incorporated in the health sector is very helpful. Health is the most important thing to be taken care of and for the government to make a move like this would benefit not only the rich but also those who cannot afford healthcare. On one hand, according to Barrows, MacDonald, Supapol, Dalton-Jez, Harvey-Rioux (2012) who conducted a case study on public-private partnership in Canadian health care, Canada’s healthcare system is primarily a public programme but there are also aspects of care that are delivered privately. This system of theirs has become a problem and a burden at the same time for the government to handle since provincial budgets are at a high in terms of healthcare demands. This prompted the country to adapt the public-private partnership method so as to be able to meet the healthcare demands and to be able to continue their primary goal of the healthcare system which is of the public. On the other hand, New Zealand does not present any public-private partnership with regards to their healthcare system but according to the Medical Council of New Zealand (2011), it has both a public and private working healthcare system which offers high quality of care. The public system is free to all New Zealanders and individuals who are on a work permit visa that is valid for two or more years while the private system offers access to all private facilities for treatment of immediate and non-immediate health conditions. The public system is government funded and works as a community-based model while the private system offers specialist services and primary care at private hospitals. One thing that pans out in New Zealand’s healthcare system is the health insurance they provide. Even though you are not a citizen of the country and you are only here for a vacation or perhaps study purposes, the individual can still be or will be covered by the government’s personal injury scheme insurance known as ACC. The New Zealand judiciary system in itself is independent and has integrity, as stated by the Ministry of Justice, the judiciary’s independence is an important principle to the country’s constitution which leads to freedom from political interference and that members of the House of Representatives cannot criticise a judge. More or less Canada’s judiciary system shows similarities with that of New Zealand’s since it is also independent and shows integrity, as per Forsey (2012), the systems’ independence goes a hundred years back. A judge who makes a decision that the government does not agree with cannot touch him or her. Judiciary independence in Canada is important because the Supreme Court interprets the Constitution and defines the limits of the federal and provincial powers. A system being independent and shows integrity can mean a lot to a country because it entails fairness to all. There will be no abuse and bias in the law and in my educated opinion, this system works well in a healthcare standpoint. With regards to health and security, New Zealand health security to the people is presented in the form of the Social Security Act of 1964 which provides a wide range of medical benefits whether you are an individual who can afford healthcare or not. This act provides a right to free treatment and relief. (McLintock, 2009) In Canada, they have this program called Health Canada which was established to help improve each Canadians health. This program is also an administrator of the Canada Health Act. This program also collaborates with the Privacy Act that gives a person the right to access information about themselves with limited exceptions. This protects an individual’s privacy with regards to health. (Health Canada, 2011) Human rights observed both in New Zealand and Canada are more or less having the same thought. Both countries are giving all their respective citizens equal rights and compensation regardless of race, gender, age, sexual orientation, marital status, family status, and disability. (Justice Laws Website, 2014) In this case discrimination is unlawful and unacceptable. (Human Rights Commission, 2008-2014) Although New Zealand is more diverse than Canada it is still evident that the top priority of both countries is equality. It is important in healthcare that human rights are observed because regardless of where we are from or who we are, we are all human beings. Every nation needs financial assistance or funding, especially in health care, to take care of their people. New Zealand and Canada presents a health care system that takes care of their people by means of health programs that benefit them without getting a single penny from their pockets. Allocated budget for a country depends on the population and the government’s involvement. In 2012/2013 financial year, New Zealand has a $14.65 million allocated budget for health but they the core Crown health spending for the financial year is around $14.5 million. There is also a forecast that the health spending will reach $14.95 million during the 2013/2014 financial year. (The Treasury, 2013) According to Scoop (2013), independent news, the 2013 health budget in New Zealand received the largest increase making available $1.6 billion for health over four years which has an average of $352 million of funds per year. C. COMPETITION Meanwhile, Chai of Global News (2013) reported that Canada will acquire a bill of $211 billion by the end of 2013 on health care alone. The Canadian Institute for Health Information broke down the amount to around $5,988 per individual in health care costs. The amount is not staggering compared to the past decade since for the year 2013 it is only a 2.6 per cent increase in health care spending while the past decade recorded a seven per cent increase per year in health care expense. Although health expense has been increasing in Canada every year, it has toned down a bit for the year 2013 as to the previous years. To furthermore break down on where the amount was spent, 30 per cent was spent on hospitals, 16 per cent was spent on medications and 15 per cent was spent on physicians. Majority, around 70 per cent, of health care spending in Canada is covered by the provincial government. A report by May (2014) from the National Post stated that the public servants’ benefits, to mention sick leaves, will be cut off in order to save billions for the 2014 budget. VI. REFERENCE LIST/BIBLIOGRAPHY Barrows, MacDonald, et al. (2012), â€Å"Public-private partnerships in Canadian health care: A case study of the Brampton Civic Hospital†, OECD Journal on Budgeting, Vol. 12/1, p. 3. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/gov/budgeting/PPP%20Canadian%20healthcare.pdf Chai, C. (29/10/2013). Global News; By the numbers: How much did Canada spend on health care in 2013? Retrieved from http://globalnews.ca/news/932105/by-the-numbers-how-much-did-canada-spend-on-health-care-in-2013/ Forsey, E. (2012). Parliament of Canada: How Canadians Govern Themselves Chapter 5 (5.2). Retrieved from http://www.parl.gc.ca/about/parliament/senatoreugeneforsey/book/chapter_5-e.html Health Canada. (2011). Health Canada Privacy Act Annual Report 2010-2011. Retrieved from http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/pubs/_atip-aiprp/2011priv-prot/index-eng.php Human Rights Commission. (2008-2014). Human Rights Act. Retrieved from http://www.hrc.co.nz/human-rights-environment/human-rights-legislation/human-rights-act/ Justice Laws Website. (28/03/2014). Canadian Human Rights Act. Retrieved from http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/h-6/page-1.html#h-1 LexisNexis. (2014). Rule of Law. Retrieved from http://www.lexisnexis.ca/en-ca/about-us/rule-of-law.page May, C. (11/02/2014). National Post: Canada budget 2014 looks to slash public servant’s benefits in effort to save billions. Retrieved from http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/02/11/canada-budget-2014-looks-to-slash-public-servants-benefits-in-effort-to-save-billions/ McLintock, A. (updated 22/04/2009). The Encyclopedia of New Zealand: Health Benefits. Originally published in 1966. Retrieved from http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/social-security/page-6 Medical Council of New Zealand. (2011). Public and Private Health Systems. Retrieved from https://www.mcnz.org.nz/alpinfo/public-and-private-health-systems Ministry of Justice. The New Zealand Legal System. Retrieved from http://www.justice.govt.nz/publications/global-publications/t/the-new-zealand-legal-system Scoop Independent News. (16/05/2013). Health receives the largest Budget increase. Retrieved from http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1305/S00296/health-receives-the-largest-budget-increase.htm The Treasury. (07/10/2013). Health: Funding. Retrieved from http://www.treasury.govt.nz/government/expenditure/health University of California, San Francisco, Global Health Sciences. (2014). The Global Health Groups: Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs). Retrieved from http://globalhealthsciences.ucsf.edu/global-health-group/private-sector-healthcare-initiative-pshi/research/public-private-partnerships

Celebrities on the Walk of Fame in Little Havana :: Calle Ocho Walk of Fame Cuba

Exploring the Culture of Little Havana: The Celebrities on the Walk of Fame Since the start of the "Calle Ocho Walk of Fame" in 1988, more than 20 celebrities have been honored by receiving stars. Yet, not all 20 were Cuban celebrities. This has sparked controversy and violence in Little Havana. Members of the community and local government officials have argued about who should be given stars. To resolve this problem a selection committee was formed. These people still could not please everyone with their choices because there were so many opposing viewpoints within the community. Some people feel that only famous people that have some relation with South Florida should be honored. They want to include Hispanics and African American celebrities who have ties within the community and who have roots in or around the Miami area. Jesus Sanchez, a customer at one of the shops on Calle Ocho said, in 1996, "It doesn't matter if they're Cuban or Mexican or American. As long as they have talent and vocation" (Menendez 2). On the other hand, Spanish language radio announcer Alberto Gonzalez of WRHC-AM said, "We Cubans may not own all of Miami, but we do [own] Calle Ocho" ("Walk" 2B). He said this during the controversy in 1989 over the inclusion, in the walk of fame, of Spanish singer Raphael, the first non-Cuban to receive a star. Raphael was the fifth person to be honored with a star despite the protests of local community members. Since the Raphael incident, the controversy has subsided; however, there are still those who believe that the "Calle Ocho Walk of Fame" should only be for Cuban stars. Franco and Rodriguez, the two men who revived the project, have shown that Latin stars are not the only ones who need to apply. In 1995, they were trying to get Sylvester Stallone a star. The issue of whether the "Calle Ocho Walk of Fame" should be for Latinos only continued in 1997 when Enrique Iglesias was selected for a star, but Dr. Ferdie Pacheco was denied the honor. The furor revolved around the fact that Iglesias was just starting out as a singer while Pacheco already had international recognition due to his career as one of the world's foremost boxing authorities, a painter of some renown, and author of eight books. Most of the celebrities that have stars on Calle Ocho are partly, if not 100%, Hispanic. Not all of them are Cuban.

The Future of Renewable Energy and RE Policy Mechanisms Essay -- Energ

Albert Einstein, the famed physicist, once noted that â€Å"We can’t solve our problems with the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.† Today’s world is faced with the dual threats of climate problems brought on by the use of fossil fuels and the economic challenge caused by the increasing scarcity and demand for those fossil fuels. It is time for society to look beyond the limited and dirty fossil fuels as the energy of choice and promote the use of the abundant renewable energy sources we are endowed with. Because the subsidies to wind and other alternative energies ultimately generate more income than their initial costs and because we continue to subsidize fossil fuels, we should modify governmental tax policy to incentivize and establish the renewable energy industries so that they remain competitive with fossil fuels. Estimates that the world’s population will expand from today’s 6.7 billion to more than 9 billion in 2050 foretell of a coming demand explosion for energy (Friedman 29). Increased requirements for food, transportation, and consumer goods will result in larger energy consumption on many fronts. Fossil fuels, which currently provide an estimated 80 percent of the world’s energy supply, have already been consumed for more than a century and their finite supplies are becoming increasingly difficult to find and more expensive to produce (â€Å"Prediction of Energy Consumption World-wide†). The combination of increasing energy demand and depleting fossil fuel supplies calls for government action to incentivize the production and use of the unlimited supplies of renewable energies. Inducements may come in the form of direct subsidies to the producers of renewable energy, construction of the necessary transm... ...n of Energy Consumption World-wide.† Time for change. n.p., n.d. Web. 2 March 2012. Puzzanghera, Jim and Kathleen Hennessey. â€Å"White House Unveils Corporate Tax Changes to Fix ‘Unfair’ System.† latimes.com. Los Angeles Times, 22 Feb. 2012. Web. 2 March 2012. Shah, Anup. â€Å"World Military Spending.† globalissues.org. n.p., 2 May 2011. Web. 2 March 2012. Wald, Matthew L. â€Å"Fossil Fuels’ Hidden Cost in Billions, Study Says.† NYTimes.com. The New York Times, 19 Oct. 2009. Web. 8 March 2012. â€Å"What’s the Real Cost of Fossil Fuels?† hubpages.com. riversedge, n.d. Web. 8 March 2012. Wiser, Ryan, Mark Bolinger, and Galen Barbose. â€Å"Using the Federal Production Tax Credit to Build a Durable Market for Wind Power in the United States.† Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Clean Energy States Alliance, Nov. 2007. Web. 27 Feb. 2012.

Reader Response: Things Fall Apart

In Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo is a character whose main goal is to be as different from his father as possible. Unoka, Okonkwo’s father was a weak man, he was lazy and owed money to most people in the village. Okonkwo on the other hand, was a man of great success, he was brave and well respected. He also had a temper and was feared by many. â€Å"Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper, and so did his little children†, (Things Fall Apart, 13). But why was Okonkwo like this? He believed this behaviour made him look fearless and brave in everyone’s eyes. Okonkwo’s fear of being like his father in any way, was greater than his fear to the gods, his respect for his village and everything else that surrounded him. He also believed his chi dictated his destiny and misfortune, but the misfortune was not due to his chi, but his extreme fear of not being that brave man he wants everyone to see him as, his fear of failing and being more like his father. Okonkwo believed he had a problematic chi, and blamed his misfortune on it. Whenever things went well and he had good fortune his pride was on himself, but when things went wrong he blamed it on his chi. In the next passage he wonders about his son Nwoye: â€Å"Why, he cried in his heart, should he, Okonkwo, of all people, be cursed with such a son? He saw clearly in it the finger of his personal god or Chi. For how else could he explain his great misfortune and exile and now his despicable son’s behavior? †, (Things Fall Apart, 152). But it is him and his enormous pride who ultimately dictates his destiny. When Okonkwo is informed by Ogbuefi Ezeudu, that the oracle has decreed that Ikemefuna died, he specifically tells Okonkwo not to take part in his death. But on the way to Ikemefuna’s home village, a man attacks him with his machete, and Ikemefuna runs to Okonkwo, but he doesn’t want to look like a weak man in front of others and cuts him down. Since Okonkwo did not take the advice of his elders and participated in Ikemefuna’s death he is considered a sinner in Igbo culture. He is so focused on not being looked as weak that he will rather disobey his beliefs and his tribe’s laws.

Integrated Marketing Comunication

IMC PLAN by Daniela Stolk Table of Contents 1. 0 2. 0 Executive Summary Promotion Opportunity Analysis 2. 1 2. 2 2. 3 2. 4 3. 0 Communications Market Analysis Competitive Analysis Opportunity Analysis Target Market Analysis 7 10 12 14 15 17 20 21 22 24 25 26 29 30 31 32 33 36 37 39 40 41 42 43 44 Corporate Strategies 3. 1 3. 2 3. 3 3. 4 3. 5 Corporate Image Strategy Brand Development Strategy Brand Positioning Strategy Public Relations Strategy Evaluation 4. 0 Integrated Marketing Communication Management 4. 1 4. 2 4. 3 4. 4 IMC Objectives IMC Budget Agency Selection Internet Website 5. 0 IMC Objective One – Consumer 5. 5. 2 Marketing Budget – Consumer IMC Methodologies – Consumer 5. 2. 1 Advertising – Consumer 5. 2. 1. 1 5. 2. 1. 2 5. 2. 1. 3 5. 2. 2 Advertising Budget Creative Brief – Consumer Advertising Design Consumer Promotions 3 5. 2. 3 5. 2. 4 5. 2. 5 5. 3 5. 3. 1 6. 0 Personal Selling – Consumer Sponsorship Programs Database Programs Sample Media Schedule – Radio 45 46 47 49 51 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 69 70 71 72 73 75 76 77 78 Media Plan IMC Objective Two – Distribution 6. 1 6. 2 Marketing Budget – Distribution IMC Methodologies 6. 2. 1 Advertising – Distribution 6. 2. 1. 1 6. 2. 1. 2 6. 2. 1. 3 6. 2. 2 6. . 3 6. 3 Advertising Media Budget Creative Brief – Distibution Advertising Design Trade Promotions Personal Selling – Distribution Media Plan 7. 0 Strategic Planning 7. 1 7. 2 7. 3 7. 4 7. 5 7. 6 7. 7 7. 8 7. 9 Company Background Mission and Vision Statement Goals and Objectives Product Review SWOT Analysis SWOT Matrix Marketing Mix Strategies Management Team Industry Research 8. 0 Corporate ID 8. 1 8. 2 8. 3 Letterhead Envelope Business Card 4 9. 0 Advertising Campaign 9. 1 9. 2 9. 3 9. 4 9. 5 9. 6 9. 7 9. 8 9. 9 3 Ad Series TV Story Board Radio Script Press Release Direct Mail Piece Banner Ad Billboard Poster POP Exhibit 9 80 83 86 87 88 90 91 92 93 5 1. 0 Executive Summary 1. 0 Executive Summary The following is an integrated marketing communications plan designed for HOLA Jewelry. This plan includes a promotion opportunity analysis, corporate strategies and our IMC Objectives: Consumer and Distribution. This plan will also include an advertising plan, promotions, personal selling, sponsorships and database programs. Additionally, a media plan and methods of evaluating the success of this IMC plan are described. HOLA is a unique and high-end jewelry brand that wants to introduce beautiful fashion statement.Not only will we sell a beautiful fashion statement but a great concept along with the brand that will give us the opportunity to enhance our brand image. Our products will be offered in sterling silver and gold with multiple designs of earrings, bracelets, rings and necklaces. This brand is primarily offered to Hispanics in the USA. The main idea is to bring a sense of unity and pride among Hispanic Americans living i n the USA. They will not only love the fact of wearing beautiful jewelry, but the fact to be supporting Hispanic non-profit organizations by buying our products.Since HOLA is a new brand that will be launching in the beginning of 2009, we want to make sure to create brand awareness among potential customers and future distribution partners by advertising in various medias. Our main objectives for this IMC plan are to build a strong brand image, to develop brand awareness and to enhance the firm image. On the other hand, we also want to encourage distribution channels to carry our products in order to be able to increase market share, sales volume and to build customer traffic.HOLA’s target market for the consumer segment is males and females between the ages of 1835, who represent middle to high-class status and who can afford to buy jewelry. This segment is directed primarily to Hispanics. It is a huge and dominant market that gives us the opportunity to be targeting to this specific market for the first launch in order to later infiltrate into different 7 markets. To successfully reach our target market, we will utilize magazines, radio and direct marketing pieces. Our main goal is to create a marketing communications program that includes advertising, sponsorships, promotions and direct marketing.This will allow us to increase market share and to build customer traffic. 8 2. 0 Promotion Opportunity Analysis 2. 1 2. 2 2. 3 2. 4 Communications Market Analysis Competitive Analysis Opportunity Analysis Target Market Analysis 2. 0 Promotion Opportunity Analysis HOLA is a beautiful and elegant jewelry brand that will be launching its first collection in January 2009. The name says it all; it is a beautiful word and the most famous Spanish word worldwide. Also the word HOLA has a wonderful meaning: ‘’HERITAGE OF LATIN AMERICA’’. Latin Americans, being the first minority in the United States, represent a huge market.This population is growing at a 5 to 1 pace and there is no jewelry brand offered specifically to this market. The main concept of this brand is the fact that it is directed to the Latin American Population in USA. Our primary marketing strategy is to create brand awareness in the beginning of the first launch. We want position HOLA as the number one jewelry brand in the consumer’s mind. We want to make sure that our main target market understands not only HOLA’s unique business concept but also the unity it will bring with the Hispanic population in USA.By doing so, HOLA will be able to build loyal customers that will start the word of mouth throughout this powerful market and that will continue to spread into new markets. The main target market for HOLA are Latin American males and females who are 18 and 35 years of age, that represent middle to high-class status who are able to afford fine jewelry. In addition to that, people who are proud of their heritage and background history and that love and can afford to wear beautiful jewelry.In terms of the marketing mix variables, HOLA wants to introduce a unique and well-designed collection that will include multiple designs in sterling silver and gold with precious stones, such as diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds. A line of silver and gold combined will also be available. The beautiful design has tremendous flexibility for collections that will be launched in the future. We consider the design is beautiful and well rounded, it allows endless combinations for pendants, earrings, bracelets, rings, necklaces, etc.A line for children and a religious one will also be considered for future collections. The pricing strategy will set up to a higher than average price among its competitors. HOLA wants to position itself as an upscale brand as well as superior quality jewelry. 10 HOLA wants to promote itself with famous Latin American celebrities, charity events, holidays, sponsorships and tourism. We also want to reach our main target market through a variety of media such as magazine ads, catalogs, Internet and various channel promotions.HOLA Jewelry will focus its main distribution in those states where there is high concentration of Hispanic Americans: Florida, Arizona, Texas, Illinois and California. The first launch will be based in South Florida. The jewelry collection will be available in middle to high-level retail stores such as Nordstrom and Macy’s. In addition to that, the line will also be available online at the HOLA website. Today, the Internet is growing and people prefer to do online shopping than going to the actual store. 11 2. 1 Communications Analysis The jewelry market is a huge one.The USA has a 45% consumption rate in contrast to the rest of the world; which means that almost half of the world’s jewelry market is consumed by the USA. Since this is such a strong and huge market, jewelry brands that are able to spend more money in the communication strategy need to use the most successful methods. The most common used channels are magazines, direct marketing, trade shows and the Internet. The high-end jewelry brands advertise their products mainly through magazine ads, direct marketing and trade shows. When advertising for magazine ads, they will either introduce new collections or simply notify heir loyal customers to continue to visit their stores. These high-end jewelry brands such as Tous, Tiffany’s and Bulgary also utilize direct marketing in order to keep their customers aware of what they have available. The primary direct marketing tool that is used are catalogs, which are sent monthly to subscribers who can afford to buy their fine jewelry constantly. Trade shows are a very powerful use of communication channel because jewelry brands are able to introduce new collections as well as building relationships with distribution partners such as Nordstrom, Macy’s and Neiman Marcus.Today, the Internet is also very usefu l because almost every business has an online website where they sell their products and try to turn visitors into future buyers and subscribers. With online subscribers, the marketing team will be provided with an online database with information such as name, age, gender, zip code and email address. This information is successful because customers will be aware of product promotions, sales and new collections that will be sent through emails. The lower-end jewelry brands such as small boutiques or low priced jewelry spend less money on developing a strong brand.Some small boutiques can’t afford to spend money on magazine ads or direct marketing and so they utilize the Internet as their primary communication channel. They try to promote and sell their products through their websites. In order to have consumers to come and visit their store, the most successful method is by word of mouth. 12 On the other hand, low priced jewelry distribute their products through low- to †“middle end retailers such as Walmart, TJ Max and Target. This positions their products as middle-to-low end quality that most people who represent low to middle high-class status will be able to afford. 3 2. 2 Competitive Analysis Even though the jewelry market is a huge one with many brands and with a high level of competition; HOLA has no main competitor because of the way this brand is being developed and launched. Additionally, our unique philosophy and image won’t allow HOLA to have a major competitor. However, there is a brand that will be considered a minor competitor because of the similarity of the design concept and the target it reaches the most (Hispanic). In comparison to HOLA; Tous is a strong jewelry brand that started their collections with a symbol of a bear.This symbol has been and is still being used in almost every design that Tous provides. Unlike HOLA, Tous is already a well-established brand that has been in business for many years. Not only does Tou s is well known for their jewelry and famous bear, but also for the beautiful handbags they offer that have been a very powerful trend for years. Tous is what will be considered as our competitor because HOLA wants to stick with the concept of introducing a symbol that will be part of the design in each and every earring, bracelet, necklace and ring offered.Since it has been such a powerful strategy for Tous to build a strong and recognizable image HOLA will introduce their first collection with the logo and the word â€Å"HOLA† on it. This will represent what Tous used as the bear symbol. Aside from the similarity of the design concept, Tous’s main target market are Hispanics. Since this brand was first introduced in Spain, it has been able to reach a big part of the Hispanic Market in the USA. Their ads and website are also provided in English and Spanish.This is why Tous will be considered not only a competitor but also a business model to follow. 14 2. 3 Opportunit y Analysis An analysis of the high-end jewelry market as well as the Hispanic market shows several opportunities for HOLA Jewelry. These opportunities will reveal the plan HOLA wants to pursue for consumers and distribution. Consumers †¢ HOLA has the powerful opportunity to build a strong brand image by targeting to the Hispanic Market in the USA. This market is a huge and dominant one. This allows HOLA to establish itself as a powerful jewelry brand in the USA.The fact that HOLA is targeting to this specific market also gives the opportunity to expand to different markets in the future in order to grow and become a high-end jewelry brand. †¢ Latin Americans have a high rate of consumption in the jewelry market. In addition, the jewelry market is a $40 billion per year industry. This is why HOLA will have the opportunity to develop brand awareness as well as to establish itself in this powerful market because consumers will have a new and unique brand available with a mean ingful message tailored to them. Our unique marketing approach will allow us to enhance the firm image. Consumers will feel proud to wear HOLA Jewelry because of its meaningful concept and the unity it wants to bring among Hispanics in the USA and the fact that part of the sales will be donated to Hispanic charities around the country. Distribution †¢ HOLA will have the opportunity to increase market share through a selective distribution. Its products will be sold to specific middle to high-level retailers in the USA. By doing so, we will be able to better infiltrate into the jewelry market and to better reach our main target market. 15 HOLA will have the opportunity to increase sales volume by distributing its products in different geographic locations in the USA. They will be determined according to those states where there is high concentration of Hispanic Americans: Florida, Arizona, Texas, Illinois and California. †¢ Through new channels of direct distribution, HOLA will have the opportunity to build customer traffic. Sales through the Internet and catalogs will be the two main channels that will allow the traffic growth. 16 2. 4 Target Market Analysis Target Market HOLA’s target market will be a Hispanic American who is looking for modern and high-quality jewelry.The target is a person who will be highly influenced by other Hispanics and who will be able to follow this new trend by wearing HOLA jewelry and feel proud of their roots. The target will also be someone who has a passion for fashion jewelry and are the typical trend followers. Someone who is willing to spend money in order to satisfy their wants and feel with a unique and modern look. Our marketing campaign focuses on two target segments: 1. Hispanic Target: Hispanic males and females between the ages of 18-35 with a total annual family income of $75,000 and up who represent middle to high-class status and can afford to buy fine jewelry 2.American Target: American Males and f emales between the ages of 18-35 with a total annual family income of $75,000 who represent middle to high-class status and can afford to buy jewelry. †¢ Males are considered to be part of the two target segments not only because there will be designs offered to them; also because they are the ones who are considered to be buying jewelry for their spouse, fiancee or daughter on special occasions. Customer Analysis HOLA will focus on a special kind of customer: the kind of person who is proud to be a Hispanic living in the USA and who likes to wear fine jewelry.The psychographics will allow us to determine the different consumer segments that will feel satisfied by buying HOLA products. †¢ Hispanic Pride: This group will include Hispanics who are proud of their heritage and live in the USA trying to blend in and be part of this country. These customers will feel 17 proud to wear HOLA jewelry not only because of its modern and unique look but also because of its unique busin ess concept. †¢ Fine Jewelry Lovers: These are the typical customers who love to wear jewelry on a daily basis.Hispanics have a high purchasing power in the jewelry industry; this is why this segment includes fashion lovers who are ambitious and who are willing to pay more for high quality jewelry. Segmentation Analysis †¢ Consumer: The consumer market is based and segmented by age, lifestyle, income and personal interest. The two segments include Hispanics as a primary target and Americans as and a secondary target. The groups share the same interests, lifestyle and annual income. The Hispanic group is considered the primary target because it is the market that is trying to be reach first.On the other hand, the secondary target includes Americans who will also be considered part of the target market but as a secondary market that will be reached completely after the brand is well established and considered not only for Hispanics but just a jewelry brand offered to a wide public. †¢ Distribution: HOLA’s main distribution will be through different states where there is the most concentration of Hispanics. These states include Florida, Arizona, Texas, Illinois and California. These five states will allow HOLA to distribute the jewelry lines to different middle to high-end stores available in each state. 8 3. 0 Corporate Strategies 3. 1 3. 2 3. 3 3. 4 3. 5 Corporate Image Strategy Brand Development Strategy Brand Positioning Strategy Public Relations Strategy Evaluation 3. 0 Corporate Strategies HOLA’s image is based on offering a beautiful, elegant and entirely unique line of jewelry. HOLA also wants to introduce a concept along with the brand that connects directly to the Hispanic Market. This is why HOLA stands for Heritage of Latin America. In order to start building a strong brand, HOLA will start by developing a unique and elegant line of jewelry that will be appealing to the Hispanic Market in USA.Research and efforts will be m ade to attract the primary market in the beginning of the first launch. HOLA’s goal is to create a strong image among its competitors by creating brand awareness through uniqueness and differentiation. Through marketing efforts such as advertising, sales promotions, public relations and sponsorships; HOLA will be able to start building potential customers as well as developing relationships and contracts with leading retailers to maximize the exposure of their products. 20 3. 1 Corporate Image StrategiesHOLA’s corporate goal is to be become one of the most modern and unique lines of jewelry offered to the Hispanic Market in the USA. In addition to that, HOLA wants to bring a sense of unity and pride among Hispanics Americans through a representation of the brand with famous Hispanic celebrities around the country, charity organizations, special promotions, public relations, etc. It is a society pulled in two directions, trying to blend in and be part of this country wh ile remaining true and proud to their unique heritage.They have become a huge and strong market in the USA, since they represent almost 16% of the entire population and a big influence in this country’s everyday life. By being introduced to this new line of jewelry, Hispanics will start to follow this new trend that offers a meaningful concept to them. HOLA wants their future customers to know that they will be provided with beautiful and unique designs of earrings, bracelets, necklaces and rings offered in sterling silver and gold with a variety of precious stones, based around a basic design using the word â€Å"hola†.In order to start this new trend successfully, HOLA will start building new customers by implementing unique strategies of advertisements, sales promotions, public relations and sponsorships. The fact that HOLA will be donating part of its sales to charity organizations will attract consumers to buy our products. This will allow HOLA to help build and m aintain a strong image in the market place as well as brand awareness. Even though these strategies will help this brand to become one the most modern and unique lines of jewelry to wear with its meaningful business concept; there are certain obstacles that might have to be overcome.This is an untested concept, it remains to be seen if it will resonate with the Latin community. 21 3. 2 Brand Development Strategy The brand name â€Å"HOLA† was selected because the word â€Å"HOLA† is the most common word among Hispanics and also one of the few Spanish word that is understood by Americans. Almost everyone knows the meaning of it and it expresses â€Å"friendship†. HOLA wants to introduce a jewelry line in the USA that stands for Heritage Of Latin America.The brand is trying to communicate primarily with the Hispanic market and by using this well-known word; future customers will eventually feel familiarized and will evoke positive feelings from the brand name and its concept. The name â€Å"HOLA† will be a successful word that has a high level of stimulus codability because it has a meaning and cultural concept behind the word. The brand name will be easily recognized in advertisements and it will immediately grab the attention to its main target market. Each design will be built with the HOLA symbol in order to make this shape recognizable in every jewelry design.Since the word is famous and communicates â€Å"friendship†, the brand will be able to sell its products though the use of this word in every piece of jewelry. The logo is an undulated square plaque with rounded corners, 4 holes (one on each corner) and a smaller hole in the center, which represents the letter ’’O’’. Part of the word HOLA, which is carved through the design, gets together with the letters ‘’L’’ and ‘’A’’; which ends up on a beautiful symbol that will be perfect to use in the first collection in order to promote the brand successfully in the beginning of the first launch.The symbol has the word HOLA in the middle in order to be recognized easily. The logo remains consistent with the brand image by representing elegance and uniqueness. The logo’s color is gray with a platinum effect that represents a modern look as well as the typical sterling silver color in jewelry. HOLA wants to transmit an overall look of simplicity as well as cleanliness. The lines will be available for women, men and children. The design is very well rounded and allows endless possibilities in jewelry for future collections that are being developed.HOLA wants to communicate two main words: â€Å"unity† and â€Å"friendship†. This market will not only love the fact to wear beautiful jewelry designs but the fact that they represent a huge market in the USA that share a unique heritage: history, roots, language, culture, art, family values and traditions. 22 L ogo Design 23 3. 3 Brand Positioning Strategy HOLA is positioned based on its attributes and price-quality relationship. It wants to position itself in consumers mind as a modern and unique jewelry brand that not only represents a beautiful fashion statement, but a cultural meaning within the brand.HOLA wants to build an effective positioning strategy so that the firm can expand itself into new markets in the future. HOLA wants to establish long-term relationships with both, consumers and distribution partners. The quality and elegance of the jewelry collection will be positioned in the consumer’s mind as a beautiful piece of jewelry to wear and to feel proud of wearing. In contrast to its major competitors, we will offer an affordable price with a good value for attractive jewelry designs appealing to a wide public. Most jewelry brands limit their main target marketing by offering designs only to females.On the other hand, HOLA will offer multiple designs to both, males and females. By wearing HOLA, Hispanics will feel proud of their heritage. They will be able to represent their cultural background with a universal word that offers friendship. Many Hispanics wear fine jewelry because of tradition and over half own a piece of religious fine jewelry. They also follow the latest trends, such as right-hand rings and three-stone jewelry. There are many occasions like: birthdays, Christmas, Father’s day, Mother’s day, etc. Any occasion will be perfect to buy this jewelry – a unique cultural symbol and a unique and beautiful fashion statement.HOLA is more than a brand; it is a business concept that wants to incorporate sports, successful Latin American celebrities, charity organizations, tourism and art to its jewelry line. By donating part of its sales to charity organizations; HOLA will attract consumers to buy our products. 24 3. 4 Public Relations Strategy HOLA will hire an external PR consultant to handle our press and make our info rmation newsworthy. The consultant will be part of a PR agency; they will be in charge of monitoring internal and external publics and provide positive information about our company.We have to work hard on informing our consultant about our business concept and company background. Otherwise, the audience will think this is just like every other jewelry brand. We have to make sure to provide successful information about our unique strategy that is being developed as part of this brand. Our primary strategy is to maintain a consistent image of community involvement within the Hispanics living in the USA. We will generate positive publicity by informing the audience about our unique brand that wants to bring a sense of unity among Hispanics besides the beautiful jewelry we will be offering.The fact that HOLA will be donating part of our profits to charity organizations will put a positive image into the consumers mind. We will also establish a strong brand reputation through sponsorshi p events and campaigns that will inform the audience on how they can change someone’s life by buying our products and becoming part of the HOLA spirit. 25 3. 5 Evaluation Evaluations for our consumer objective will be conducted internally and by DS Innovation Media through constant marketing research that will take place after the launch of the brand in 2010.These evaluations will be done early in the year in order to plan for the rest of the year according to the studies made. The evaluation will involve an in-depth analysis of the brand awareness and brand image, positioning, advertising campaign, consumer promotions and direct marketing. The analysis will provide us with the necessary feedback concerning our advertising goals and objectives for the next year. Brand awareness and brand image will be evaluated by conducting surveys to individuals that fit our main target market. It will also be evaluated by looking at our website traffic and the number of subscribers in our database.The awareness will be collected by the end of each year and later studied in order to follow with a new approach if the current one is not increasing brand awareness. The position analysis will be measured by the end of the year. Our Marketing Director and the rest of the consulting team will evaluate this. The analysis will allow us to know if the right positioning was projected. The results will let us adjust our main goals and objectives for the next year. The advertising campaign will be evaluated by conducting an advertising impact study.The information provided from this study will allow us to know how efficient and influential our campaign has been. We want to know if we are reaching the main target market and if they are getting the concept of the brand and the meaning of the word â€Å"HOLA† through our advertisements. All this information will be available through attitude and opinion tests. Our consumer promotions’ effectiveness will be evaluated by measuring the amount of customers that bought our products by utilizing gift cards that were sent through direct mail. This will be determined by information that will be kept from purchases made online or at a retail store.This evaluation is also part of the direct mail program. This will allow us to see the impact of the direct mailing. DS Innovation media will be in charge of evaluating the effectiveness of these efforts. 26 To evaluate the distribution component we will utilize various methods of evaluation. We will analyze the impact of our advertising to our members of the distribution channel. This will consist of a large study conducted internally and externally. The evaluation will include an analysis of the personal selling aspect and trade promotions. Personal selling will be a very important aspect of our evaluation.It will be done during March and April. We want to find if the satisfaction level of our distribution channel members is what we projected. This will consis t of an examination that will determine the overall satisfaction of our business customers. Trade promotions will also be part of our evaluation since we are utilizing this method to push our products through the channel. We will examine the effectiveness of the promotions we used previously and how it impacted sales. According the results on the effectiveness we will later determine what will remain consistent or what needs to change from the previous trade promotions. 27 . 0 Integrated Marketing Communication Management 4. 1 4. 2 4. 3 4. 4 IMC Objectives IMC Budget Agency Selection Internet Website 4. 0 IMC Management HOLA’S main objectives for this plan are to develop brand awareness and to reach our main target market. In order to do so, we will implement strong marketing strategies in the consumer and distribution market. The overall budget for this IMC plan for the year 2010 will be a total of $1,639,000. The largest portion of the budget will be spent on media cost in order to fulfill for our number one objective (consumer). This portion is $1,087,000, which is 66% of the overall budget.A smaller portion will be allocated to the distribution efforts. It will be 34% of the overall budget, which is a total of $552,000. 29 4. 1 IMC Objectives HOLA’s primary objective is to develop brand awareness. Advertising efforts will allow us to inform potential customer and distribution partners about our products. The following marketing objectives will help us achieve our main goals. Objective One (Consumer) – To create brand awareness among Hispanics in the USA. – To position HOLA as a unique and high-end jewelry brand. – To inform potential customers about our unique business concept.Objective Two (Distribution) – To encourage channel members to carry our products. – To persuade channel members to provide information to potential customers about our business concept. 30 4. 2 IMC Budget HOLA’S total expense b udget is set to $1,639,000. The IMC budget will be allocated into two main objectives: IMC Objective 1 (Consumer), IMC Objective 2 (Distribution). The total budget will be distributed as follows: -IMC Objective 1 (Consumer): $1,087,000 -IMC Objective 2 (Distribution): $552,000 IMC Objective 1 addresses the need to create brand awareness towards potential customers.Most of the budget will be spent on media costs and brand development. Therefore, 66% of the IMC budget is allocated to his objective, of which 40% will be spent on advertising. IMC Objective 2 addresses the needs of the channel of distribution. We will use 34% of the total budget in order to market potential customers, of which 20% will be spent on advertising. 31 4. 3 Agency Selection HOLA selected DS Innovation Media as our agency that will handle most of the integrated marketing communications material. DS Innovation Media is a outique agency located in Boca Raton, Florida. Their area of expertise is to assist clients in marketing, website design, advertising design, direct mail and integrated campaigns. Additionally, they have bilingual professionals who are able to specialize in the Hispanic Market. HOLA decided to use DS Innovation Media as their external advertising agency because it is a small agency that has experience in marketing and advertising strategies that have been able to help other clients to build strong image for their businesses.Aside from the experience and their multicultural knowledge, HOLA chose this boutique because it is a small agency that will focus on their marketing communications plan as well as providing affordable prices for exceptional advertising and marketing plans. DS Innovation Media will provide us with a successful integrated marketing communications material that will help the brand to build a strong image as well as to develop brand awareness to two specific targets. 32 4. 4 Internet Website HOLA’s website, www. holatin. com is an important aspect f or our communications strategy where our main purpose is to draw more customers into our business.It is a content and an e-commerce website. First of all, we want to ensure that we provide our visitors with the necessary information about our company since it offers such a unique business concept. This portion of the website will be easy to navigate. The website will also contain a Flash video that will show all the jewelry we offer. This presentation will be available to all customers who wish to see our products in a more dynamic format. For other visitors who are not into this level of high-tech computerization, a â€Å"skip intro† tab will be available in order to take them directly into the home page.HOLA’s e-commerce site will allow us to sell our products online in order to make it convenient for some shoppers. It will contain an appealing catalog that will show a presentation of our products by looking at photos and general information. It will also contain a s hopping cart where the purpose is to assist consumers as they select products. The site will continue with a payment page where customers will make the final decision to buy their products. Our website will also provide customer service, HOLA will support the customer after the sale when necessary.Customers will have the opportunity to send e-mail or use the FAQ for further information about their purchase. Finally, the website will be part of our strategy to create a positive public relations image. We will place information about non-profit organizations as well as links to website where their purpose is to help Hispanic charity organizations in the USA. HOLA will also contain other links to other websites that will inform the Latin Americans about events or general information about Hispanics that might fit their interest.DS Innovation Media will help us accomplish these goals in order to build a successful website. The agency will also work on expanding and improving the online database program that will allow us to build closer relationships with our customers as well to increase sales. 33 Site Map HOLA Home Page Brand Concept Brand Image Products Bracelets Earrings Necklaces Pendants Rings News Contact Information 34 5. 0 IMC Objective One – Consumer 5. 1 5. 2 Marketing Budget – Consumer IMC Methodologies 5. 2. 1 Advertising – Consumer 5. 2. 1. 1 Advertising Budget 5. 2. 1. 2 Creative Brief – Consumer 5. . 1. 3 Advertising Design 5. 2. 2 Consumer Promotions 5. 2. 3 Personal Selling – Personal Selling 5. 2. 4 Sponsorship Programs 5. 2. 5 Database Programs Media Plan 5. 3. 1 Sample Media Schedule – Radio 5. 3 5. 0 IMC Objective One – Consumer The objective of our target market focuses on creating brand awareness within the Hispanic market in the USA. We also want to persuade customers that we will offer a unique and high-end jewelry along with a unique business concept. The development of these objectives wi ll help us to generate sales that will result in profits for our business.In order to accomplish our main objectives we will utilize a combination of advertising, consumer promotions, direct marketing, sponsorships and public relations. The overall jewelry market has not been advertised heavily specifically to Hispanics. This will allow us to advertise heavily to this target market. 36 5. 1 Marketing Budget – Consumer The IMC Budget by consumer will be spent in 5 major areas. For the advertising budget we will be spending a total of $437,000. As shown in the table and the graph below, it represents that advertising is the largest portion of the total budget.We believe it is an important investment because it will help us achieve our main goal: create brand awareness among potential customers. The second major part of this budget will be $200,000. This amount will be spent on several sponsorships that will take place throughout the year. This will also be considered and import ant investment in our company because it will enhance the brand image and help to create positive word of mouth. For personal selling, we will spend $180,000 in order to develop high quality customer service when selling our products.The database program will be developed once the website is active. The development of this process will be constantly changing throughout the year until we are able to acquire the necessary information from our customers. The cost for the database program will be approximately $120,000. Finally, for consumer promotions we will utilize mainly direct mail pieces. By utilizing this method we will provide customers with gift cards and catalogs. This will show the customer that we care about them as well as informing them about our new collections. The cost for this will be approximately $150,000.HOLA does not have to choose to spend the exact budget amount for consumer advertising. This is an estimated budget where the purpose is to demonstrate all possibil ities that will help achieve our main goals for reaching our customers. 37 IMC Budget by Consumer Budget Advertising Consumer Promotions Personal Selling Sponsorships Database Programs 2010 $437,000 $150,000 $180,000 $200,000 $120,000 Total $1,087,000 38 5. 2 IMC Methodologies – Consumer In order to reach our main target market effectively we will utilize various methods. Advertising is the primary component of our approach.In addition to that, we want to supplement with consumer promotions, direct marketing and sponsorship programs. Creating brand awareness and enhancing our brand image is the primary goal for advertising. Through consumer promotions we will encourage our customers to continue to buy our products as well as persuade them to visit our website and retail stores that carry our products. The direct marketing approach will be done through mail and email. This will motivate individuals to buy our products by looking at our catalogs and the jewelry offered.The spon sorship programs will help to generate brand awareness and enhance our brand image. We will sponsor Hispanic events that will consist of fund raising programs that will help charity organizations with the gain of the total profits of the event. 39 5. 2. 1 Advertising – Consumer Advertising is our primary communication vehicle for this IMC plan. Our primary goals are to build a strong brand image, create brand awareness and to inform future customers about our unique brand. We also want to establish HOLA brand name in the consumer’s evoked set. HOLA is an entirely new and unique jewelry brand.Therefore, we need to ensure that our advertisements are consistent, creative and very effective. By placing effective advertisements in several media we will be able to start reaching our main target market. Television advertisings will be 58% of our advertising budget. We will start to place our ads in the beginning of the year 2009. The months will be during January, March, Augu st and November. The advertising campaign will inform customers about our new jewelry brand that is being offered to Hispanics. The three main TV channels will be: Telemundo, Univision and Mega TV.Radio advertising will be 28% of our budget. We will place the radio ads in two main radio stations: Romance 106. 7 and Amor 107. 5. These two radio stations are Hispanic and they target to this specific market. Both stations have as their primary audience Latin Americans. By utilizing these two radio stations we will be able to place ads in the morning drive time from 7-9 and also in the afternoon from 4-6. Our magazine ads will be placed primarily in Level Magazine. This magazine targets the Hispanic market as well. We will start placing our ads in January 2009 and continue to do so for the entire year.We will also consider other magazines that target this specific market later throughout the year. Additionally, we will begin to place our ads in magazines that target Americans in order t o start reaching our secondary target. Internet advertising will consist of banner ads that will be placed primarily on Hispanic websites. The three main websites will be terra. com, entretenimiento. com and latino. msn. com. These three websites have large number of visitors and by looking at our banner ads traffic will be directed to our website. 40 5. 2. 1. 1 Advertising BudgetConsumer advertising will be 40% of the $1. 08 million budget for Objective One. Of the $437,000 allocated for consumer advertising, $255,000 will be for television advertising, $120,000 will be for radio advertising, $18,000 will be for newspaper advertising, $26,000 will be for magazine advertising, $15,000 will be for Internet advertising and the remaining $3,000 on billboard advertising. Budget Television Radio Newspaper Magazine Internet Billboard 2010 $255,000 $120,000 $18,000 $26,000 $15,000 $3,000 Total $437,000 41 5. 2. 1. 2 Creative Brief – ConsumerObjective: To build a strong brand image a nd to develop brand awareness. Target Audience: Males and females between the ages of 18 to 35 who represent the Hispanic population in the USA. These customers typically earn an annual family income of $75,000 and represent middle to high-class status. This target includes people who are jewelry lovers and can afford to buy fine jewelry. It is the typical Hispanic who likes to look and feel elegant and modern by wearing a beautiful fashion statement. On the other hand the target audience will include the same gender, age, lifestyle and annual income.Unlike the primary target, the secondary target will be directed to the American market. Message theme: The primary theme will be that HOLA is a unique and modern line of jewelry that is being introduced to Hispanics living in the USA. Support: The meaningful business concept along with the brand that wants to bring a sense of unity among Hispanics; which will include the participation of famous Latin American celebrities and charity or ganizations. Unique Selling Point: Modern and unique line of jewelry with beautiful designs directed to the Hispanic market.Product Benefit: Unique, beautiful jewelry that looks good. Personal Values: By wearing HOLA jewelry, Hispanics will feel proud of their roots and happy to buy beautiful jewelry from a brand that will give part of their profits to charity organizations. Leverage Point: The leverage point will be the headline, which is the meaning behind the word HOLA: â€Å"Heritage of Latin America†. This meaning will be further explained in the copy by informing that this brand sells not only jewelry but also a meaningful business concept and our unique strategy to be helping charity organizations. 42 5. 2. 1. Advertising Design HOLA will utilize an affective message strategy for their print advertisements. This strategy will allow HOLA to sell their products through emotional advertising, which leads the consumer to act. Feelings and emotions affect decisions and conn ect the consumer with the product. This is why HOLA will utilize this method because the brand is building itself with a unique concept among Hispanics that will invoke feelings. The strategy will be conveyed through an emotional appeal. The ad will feature the meaning behind HOLA (Heritage of Latin America), their roots and passion for life.The text will be focused on the main characteristics Hispanics have: beauty, love, warmth and joy. HOLA will also utilize informative execution. This will be developed by informing the viewer with further explanation in the copy about this unique brand and the whole concept it wants to transmit. In addition to that, the jewelry will be the main point of the ad, which will grab the eye of the consumer. The overall look of the ad will demonstrate elegance, uniqueness and a clean look. For our television commercials HOLA will utilize a slightly different approach. We will still utilize an affective message strategy through emotional adverting.The a ppeal will also be emotional. Unlike the ad, the TV commercial will utilize a slice of life execution that mimics real life events. This will demonstrate the four main aspects of the brand: love, joy, warmth and beauty. 43 5. 2. 2 Consumer Promotions The budget for consumer promotions will be $150,000 for the entire year. Since HOLA offers high-end jewelry, the consumer promotion will be through direct mail. Each month, birthday gift cards will be sent out to our subscribers who provided us with information about their birthday and other general information.The gift card will have a special offer of 10% off of their purchase online or at any retail store that offers HOLA jewelry. This method will be very effective because it will show the consumer that we care about them. This will also invite the consumer to visit our webpage or retail stores where our products would be carried and to introduce them with our new designs. Aside from the gift cards, invitation cards will be sent alon g with the catalogs in order to have our subscribers invite friends and family members to join the HOLA community.This will be sent during the months of October and November in order to promote the Holiday season by becoming a member of our website. Each customer will be notified that if they become a member they will receive free catalogs, gift cards and they will also have the opportunity to donate to charity organizations by buying our products. This will have an emotional appeal to consumers during the holiday season of giving. Other consumer promotions such as price reductions or coupons would not be a prominent part of this plan. We offer high-end jewelry brand and offering the mentioned promotions would not be a logical approach.Our image instead is a high quality brand that offers beautiful jewelry to a very powerful market. 44 5. 2. 3 Personal Selling – Consumer HOLA will spend $180,000 on personal selling for the consumer budget. We want to ensure that the sales peo ple from the retailers have the required knowledge, background and experience in order to develop high quality customer service when selling our products. The salespeople should be trained in order to provide customers with information about our company and the whole background reasoning for this new brand.We will be checking on a bi-monthly basis inventory and sales in order to make sure that everything is on track. Additionally, we will be placing additional information on posters and POP displays in retailers as soon as new collections come out. HOLA will also offer incentive programs to our retailers. We will provide the salespeople with HOLA jewelry. This will encourage each sales person to provide our customers with a high level service and at the same time the opportunity to show our jewelry through the sales person that is in charge of selling our products.Since there is no personal sales team for HOLA; the people who will be in charge of selling our products will be the sal espeople from each retailer. HOLA’s goal is to be able to open a store in the future in order to provide our future salespeople with unique uniforms that will represent our store with elegance and high-end brand. 45 5. 2. 4 Sponsorship Programs For sponsorship programs we want to enhance our company image in order to help our firm develop closer relationships with prospective customers. We want to match our target audience by sponsoring Hispanic charity events primarily.In the future we would also like to sponsor a variety of events related to Hispanic causes. In all these events we will be spending a total amount of $200,000. We will be presenting a unified message to our main audience in order to project a positive corporate image and create brand awareness. In all these events we will make sure it fits with our corporate image; this is why we also choose to sponsor fundraising events such as, concerts of Latin American singers, fashion shows by having the models wear HOLA jewelry and finally, bar/restaurant openings in Miami.The main goal is to gain profits that will be later donated to non-profit organizations. Our catchy phrase will be: â€Å"Catch the HOLA spirit and be part of it! † We will place the HOLA symbol around the event in big posters and we will also give away pins with our company logo. We want to make sure that we put our website address in every piece we give out in order to begin to build traffic in our website and begin word of mouth. 46 5. 2. 5 Database Programs Collect Data: Through data collection we will be provided with information for direct mail and Internet marketing. The total budget for this will be approximately $120,000.All information that will be collected will be available from an online database program in our website. The person in charge to manage all the information available will be the marketing director and several assistants that work for HOLA as a marketing team. Information such as age, gender, annua l income, lifestyle and email address that will be filled by our customers who buy anything online or at retail stores. Aside from general information, we will also ask customers about what influences their purchase decision such as price, quality, the concept of the brand, etc.We would want to know if our customers are buying our jewelry because they either loved our jewelry as a fashion statement, or because they were inspired by the business concept. All the information will be kept confidential at all times and only available to our marketing representatives who will manage and access everything on the database program. Data Warehouse: HOLA will use the data warehouse by targeting customers through direct marketing. Our system will work in a way that the salespeople have access to important customer information as they prepare to make sales calls.We will make sure that our internal salespeople are able to have access to the database when a customer calls to place an order or dea l with inquires and complaints from previous purchase. Direct Marketing We will implement a direct marketing campaign in order to reach our customers constantly. Our campaign will consist of two methods of direct communication: e-mail and mail. We know that consumers are being reached and bombarded with direct marketing material so we will make sure that our campaign is entirely unique and creative in order to attract the mind of the viewer when looking at our direct marketing pieces.Through mail we will be sending catalogs to update our customers about our latest collections or any promotions available. Through email we will also inform our customers about similar information but with less information. We will continue to follow our objectives and themes when it comes to creativity. 47 Permission Marketing HOLA will provide a subscriber tab on our website in order to obtain information by asking customers for their email to see if they will allow us to send them information about o ur product developments and/or promotions.They can either choose to become or not to become part of the e-mail list. We will notify them that by becoming an online subscriber they will have the opportunity to donate to charity organizations and help people around the world. We also want to collect as many emails as possible in retailers and trade shows in order to attract customers aside from the online subscribers. Frequent Shopper Program We will encourage our customers to continue to buy our products by placing continuous advertising and by inspiring them to wear beautiful jewelry for a meaningful reason.Through our advertisements we will always inform about our unique business concept as well as the several benefits from buying HOLA products. This will inspire customers to make repeat purchases because they will feel happy to make donations to charity organizations. 48 5. 3 Media Plan Our primary objective is to create brand awareness and influence consumers as they are approach ing a purchase decision. In order to develop successful brand awareness we will use frequency and continuity.The main goal is to establish HOLA as a high-end jewelry brand that is mainly offered to Hispanics Americans. Additionally, we want to transmit and inform future customers about our unique business concept. Jewelry is not purchased on a frequent basis. As a result, it is important for consumers to have HOLA brand in their evoked set just as they are contemplating a purchase. We will do so by placing repetitive ads in several medias such as television, radio, magazines, direct mail, Internet and mall. HOLA does not have to choose to utilize all media that will be listed in the following pages.They are part of this IMC plan where our purpose is to demonstrate all possibilities that will maximize frequency, reach and profitability for HOLA. Television For Television advertising we will start to place our ads in the beginning of the year 2009. The months will be during January (l aunching the brand), February (Valentine’s Day), March (Mother’s Day, several promotions will be offered. The advertising campaign will inform customers about our new jewelry brand that is being offered to Hispanics. The three main channels will be: Telemundo, Univision and Mega TV.These three channels are mainly directed to the Hispanic market. This is why they were chosen; they will inform our main target about our products by placing our ads. The perfect timing will be during the morning news during the weekdays, this is the typical time were our main target (Hispanic women) are watching morning television while getting ready to go to work or take their kids to school. At night will also be a good time for our ads placement because people are usually watching soap operas or news before going to sleep. Radio Radio advertisements will be placed in two main radio stations: Romance 106. and Amor 107. 5. These two radio stations are Hispanic and they target to this speci fic market. Both stations have 49 as their audience Latin Americans that are constantly listening to this radio station because they feel identified with the topics, music and several programs that are offered to their audience. By utilizing this radio station we will be able to place ads in the morning drive time from 7-9 and also in the afternoon from 4-6; trying to reach once again, Hispanic women that will be either driving to work or traveling their kids to school.On the other hand, we have many employees that listen to radio during their office hours as well as people who are in transition to or from work. Magazine HOLA will place print advertisements in Level Magazine. This magazine targets the Hispanic market as well. They try to reach Latin American men and women from 25-38 years of age who earn from a medium to high household income. His or her main lifestyle will be someone who lies within what is new and sophisticated. This magazine fits perfectly with the target we want to reach and this is why it was chosen.Level is a publication created by and for the Hispanic and Latin American community in the USA. By introducing this brand to the Level team we were able to negotiate a special rate with the level team in order to place a full-page ad 11 times throughout the next year for a lower price than what is usually offered. Direct Mail Through direct mail we will be able to send catalogs to customers who become subscribers online as well as future customers that will be part of the client database. This will enable us to introduce our customer with new collections and designs available.Aside from the catalogs that will be sent according to the launch of new collections there will also be consumer promotions for database clients who’s birthday is about to come. Internet For the Internet HOLA will place banner ads in different websites. The three main websites will be terra. com, entretenimiento. com and latino. msn. com. These three websites have large number of visitors and by looking at our banner ads traffic will be directed to our website and consumers will start to become aware of this new jewelry line. 50 5. 3. 1 Sample Media Schedule – Radio Format: Hispanic Music. 07. 5 Amor MEDIA WEEKS (January) SPOTS/ DAY (Mon-Fri) LENGTH/ SPOT DAYPART1 (6am-9am) COST/SPOT (Daytime 1) DAYPART 2 (4pm – 7pm) COST/SPOT (Daytime 2) COST/ WEEK Week 1 (1-7) Radio (107. 5) Week 2 (8-15) Week 3 (16-22) Week 4 (23/29) TOTAL: 4 4 4 4 30sec 30sec 30sec 30sec 2 spots 2 spots 2 spots 2 spots $550 $550 $550 $550 2 spots 2 spots 2 spots 2 spots $500 $500 $500 $500 $10,500 $10. 500 $10,500 $10,500 $42,000 51 6. 0 IMC Objective Two – Distribution 6. 1 6. 2 Marketing Budget – Distribution IMC Methodologies 6. 2. 1 Advertising – Distribution 6. 2. 1. 1 Advertising Media Budget 6. 2. . 2 Creative Brief – Distribution 6. 2. 1. 3 Advertising Design 6. 2. 2 Trade Promotion 6. 2. 3 Personal Selling – Distib ution Media Plan 6. 3 6. 0 IMC Objective Two – Distribution Our second objective is to encourage our channel members to carry our products and to provide information about our company to potential customers. We will do so by utilizing middle to highend retailers. This is a traditional distribution channel that will be in charge of pulling customers into the store. The main goal is to be the vendor of choice of the retailers and to increase sales volume and market share.We will use a selective distribution by selecting different geographic locations in the USA. The states will be determined according to those states where there is high concentration of Hispanics. The main retailers will be primarily Nordstrom’s and Macy’s. These retailers will give HOLA the opportunity to position itself as a high quality jewelry brand. 53 6. 1 Marketing Budget – Distribution The budget for developing distribution channel for 2010 will be a total of $552,000. As shown belo w in the table and graph; the largest portion will be spent on trade promotions.It has been budgeted for approximately $180,000. These funds will be spent primarily on retailers that carry our products. For advertising we will utilize trade journals, direct mail and the Internet that will cost $110,000. We will also spend $100,000 on database programs and $150,000 for personal selling. Finally, for the Internet we will spend approximately $12,000. This overall budget provided below will allow us to start initial distribution and recruit channel partners. HOLA does not have to choose to spend the exact budget for distribution.This is an estimated budget where the purpose is to demonstrate all possibilities that will help achieve our main goals for distribution channels. Budget Advertising Trade Promotions Personal Selling Database Programs Internet 2010 $110,000 $180,000 $150,000 $100,000 $12,000 Total $552,000 54 6. 2 IMC Methodologies In order to develop distribution channels, we w ill implement advertising. Our main goal is to establish relationships with our channel members that will carry our products. We will use several tools such as trade journals, direct mail and the Internet.We will also utilize trade promotions, which will allow us to gain advantage among our competitors. Personal Selling will be an important tool used for this plan. We want to build strong relationships with those who will become our partners. We will advertise in trade journals and on websites of channel members. This will be important for attracting retailers who will be selling our products. The tools listed above will improve our communication between our future partners and us. It will also gives us the opportunity to increase orders from our retailers in the future. 55 6. 2. Advertising – Distribution The advertising budget for our distribution channel will be divided into three main channels: trade journals, direct mail and the Internet. Our main goal is to establish re lationships and encourage our distribution partners to carry our products. Trade journals will be approximately 54% of our budget. We will purchase advertising space in MJSA journal. We will send out our advertisements through direct mail to our major distributors. Finally, to supplement the trade journals we will place banners ads on the Internet in trade journal sites. 56 6. 2. 1. Advertising Media Budget The advertising budget for the distribution program will be 20% of the $552,000 for Objective Two. Of the $110,000 allocated for distribution channel advertising; $100,000 will go to trade journals and $75,000 will be for direct mail. With the remaining, $10,000 will be used for the Internet. Budget Trade Journals Direct Mail Internet 2010 $100,000 $75,000 $10,000 Total $110,000 57 6. 2. 1. 2 Creative Brief – Distribution Objective: To generate inquiries into stocking HOLA jewelry line into middle to high-end retailers in order to increase sales volume and market share.Tar get Audience: These targets are middle to high-end retailers that sell high quality jewelry and certain fashion statements such as clothes, shoes and handbags. All these retailers are willing to know how adding HOLA jewelry line will benefit their business. Message Theme: The primary theme is that HOLA will satisfy individuals who are looking for fine jewelry with a modern and unique design they can wear on a daily basis. For the distribution market, the theme is carried one step further to include the distributor as an important link to that customer.The Support: HOLA not only sells high-end jewelry but a unique concept with the brand that wants to sell specifically to Hispanic Americans living in the USA. HOLA will be donating part of its profits to charity organizations. The Constraints: There are many jewelry brands that want to sell their products to the same distributors. Therefore, the distributors may not want to sell more jew