Online marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Online marketing - Essay Example This makes, the study of the concept of online marketing all the more interesting and inevitable, in order to ascertain the various methods, policies and strategies applied by successful online marketing firms, to provide a broader idea about the concept and a wider understanding of the subject. For the purpose of this study, Amazon.com Inc, is chosen as a case study, which shall be used to understand a range of concepts, and theoretical aspects concerning online marketing. Amazon.com Inc., an American based (headquartered in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.) multinational e-commerce organization and is one of the largest online retailers in the country. It was founded by the Jeff Bezoz, in the year 1994 and was launched online a year later in 1995. Initially it was established as an online retail book store, however, in the wake of the overwhelming response of its largely diversified customer base, it was subsequently diversified to include a range of other products such as CDs, music, games, computer software, electronic equipments, apparels, food, furniture, toys, and the likes. At the time when Amazon debuted on the online retailing scene, there were already several other companies doing brisk business, owing to the internet boom. However, Bezos, with the help of innovative online marketing strategies along with revolutionary internet technologies which made the online shopping experience - faster, better and more comfortable and more personal as compared to the traditional retail, managed to survive, outsmart and eventually lead the pack of online stores. The success of the company could be ascertained from the consecutively profitable performances, which it has been able to deliver. Currently, the company has managed to achieve almost $6.8 million, in sales which includes books, DVD players as well as miter saws1. Products and brands are the inevitable

Persuasion and Public Opinion Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Persuasion and Public Opinion - Assignment Example However, this time the basic argument revolved around the Obama Care. In order to further understand the real reasons for the shutdown it is important to first analyze the Care Act of President Obama which is primarily responsible to ensure affordable healthcare throughout the nation. As the name indicates the Obama Care is solely based upon providing accessible health opportunities to the American people. It was initiated in 2010 whereas people are required to get their registrations until 2014 (Repeal ObamaCare or Defund ObamaCare?, 2013). Thereafter they would be able to gain extra health benefits including all the preventive services. Additionally it will give the health insurance by simply regulating the existing laws and increasing the rights of the insurers. Obama Care became the main cause of shutdown in October 2013 because the Republicans were aiming to defund it. In fact they insist that the new budget must disrupt the funding for the affordable care act of Obama while in contrast to this the Democrats persist over their position and refuse to accept the bill (Cowan, 2013). Reaction of Republicans and Democrats Although the healthcare law isn’t directly associated with the budget of US government or the financial plans but it has been used as a persuasive technique by the Republicans. For instance, they argued that the President’s domestic policy is going to severely harm the country and its economic position. This was further related with the much deeper ideas of the Affordable Care Act and the Patient Protection which actually requires the American people to go for a health insurance. Consequently, the employers... This essay stresses that on October 1, 2013, America stimulated a fractional shutdown of the government. This primarily happened because the ruling political party was unable to accept the idea of reducing the federal spending. Consequently, the national government had to undergo a shutdown which affected thousands of government officials whereas most of the important government services were delayed. This discussion explores that the healthcare law isn’t directly associated with the budget of US government or the financial plans but it has been used as a persuasive technique by the Republicans. For instance, they argued that the President’s domestic policy is going to severely harm the country and its economic position. This was further related with the much deeper ideas of the Affordable Care Act and the Patient Protection which actually requires the American people to go for a health insurance. Consequently, the employers would be affected and the finances would go beyond the limits of federal government. In addition to this, the Republicans also tried to gain the weightage of public opinion by stating that the burden on employers in form of medical taxes would eventually increase the chances of oversea jobs. Republicans basically tried to persuade the employers so as to gain their consent and support in the entire case. They did so because the medical taxes and i nsurances are largely supposed to increase the expenses of employers.

M3A1 PART B Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

M3A1 PART B - Essay Example Improve the communication patterns of the company: Communication is one of the fundamental requirements for any company to succeed. Unlike in GM, where the communication channels involved long rigorous procedures that discouraged the employees (Kurtz & Boone, 2011). The communication channels between the employees and the senior management should be open and reliable to enable the employees have a feel that the company acknowledges their views and ideas. Therefore, their productivity would improve as they forward their challenges to the management (Huq, 2010). Enhance teamwork within the company: Teamwork enables the employees have a better understanding of each other and promotes cordial relations within the working environment (Kurtz & Boone, 2011). By so doing, the workers feel comfortable while at work and this enhances their overall productivity due to the existence of good understanding and sharing of ideas. Sharing ideas is important since the workers can come up with an idea that could prove to be the turn-around moment for the company like a new invention (Moorhead & Griffin, 2011). Creating a sense of responsibility among the employees: The management ought to let the employee’s opportunities to demonstrate their levels of responsibility by making them in charge. This may involve letting them have total control over an asset and monitoring its usage from a vantage point (Lashley, 2012). This makes them have the idea that they are trusted in the company hence they form a sense of responsibility and consequently carry out their works diligently. Moreover, they can sum up courage and make viable decisions in the absence of the company managers (Huq, 2010). Involving the employees in the decision making process of the company: When employees get involved in the decision making processes of a company, they are instilled with a sense of belonging and they get a mental set of associating

The concept of God is incoherent Essay Example for Free

The concept of God is incoherent Essay The concept of God is incoherent. Discuss God is conceived of as a (supernatural) being that is eternal, omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient, all good, all just and all merciful. These attributions appear to create logical difficulties, sometimes singly, sometimes when taken together, though it is in some cases necessary to add facts about the world (such as the existence of evil) to create the incoherence. In such cases, it is the whole picture of the nature of God plus aspects of reality that is held to be incoherence. Firstly God is Omnipotence. Omnipotence by definition means that God is all powerful. If God were all powerful, he would be able to do anything, which would include any act which he can overcome with his own power. For example; creating a stone so heavy, that he could not lift it. However the suggestion that God makes a stone so heavy that he himself cannot lift it is actually a contradiction and so logically this makes it impossible. One might react to this by saying that God is indeed so powerful that he can defy the laws of logic. However, a better response, in my view, is that being unable to do what is logically impossible is not a genuine limitation on Gods power, since any proposition that purports to say that some logically impossible act has been performed is in fact nonsense. In such a proposition, no act has really been described. Omnipotence does create problems in other areas. In addition another problematic attribute of God is his omniscience. Omniscience means all knowing. The claim is that if God is all knowing. However this creates a problem, if God knows everything then surely that must indicted that we as human do not have free will. For example suppose I am going to be going on holiday in March God would know that this was going to happen. (Gods foreknowledge) In some way God had already planned what would happen next. Therefore it hardly seems to be my act. However on the other hand if I was to commit a bad act that I am planning to carry out surely in this case we can apply the same method as the first illustration. It seems not fair to blame me for what God knew I was going to do anyway. He could have stopped me! Some people claim that surely we shouldnt be blamed also for our sins Basically in other words, Gods omniscience seems to prevent us having free will. However, I think the theist can give a plausible answer to this particular accusation of Incoherence. If I am free, my doing a particular action X makes it the case that God knows that I have done it, so that the causal relation runs the opposite way from that claimed in the objection. This does not imply that I can make it the case that God knew it before the time when I did X, and therefore that I can affect the past. For God is usually thought of as existing outside of time. (It is perhaps only in this sense that he can correctly be described as eternal-he never begins or ceases to exist.) Of course, it must be Gods decision to give us freedom to perform one act rather than another.

PlayStation 3 VS Xbox 360 Essay Example for Free

PlayStation 3 VS Xbox 360 Essay Although PlayStation 3 are both great systems, PlayStation 3 the better buy. Both consoles have awesome features such as 3D motion gaming, unlimited music, and online play. Only one of these consoles can be consider the best of the best. The PlayStation 3 is by far the superior console with its Blu-ray integration, amazing cell processor, and rechargeable wireless controller. The first difference is The PlayStation Network is free, whereas Xbox Live Gold charges a gamer yearly to use their services. After making one PlayStation purchase, a gamer does not have to worry about internet again. A person gets all the same features on PlayStation 3 for $250 dollars, plus forty extra gigabytes of memory. However, Xbox 360 costs $249 dollars plus fifty dollars for a one-year membership. Not including the fee of fifty dollars a person does not obtain the full features because they always have to worry about renewing their membership. Another difference is the PlayStation 3 controllers are rechargeable, while Xbox 360 controllers need batteries or other attachments. With the PlayStation 3 a gamer receive one controller with a chord to charge it. Also when the controller dies a gamer can hook it up to their PlayStation and it will still play as it charges. In contrast, a Xbox 360 does not come with a rechargeable controller, a gamer constantly has to buy batteries or pay extra for attachments. With the Playstation3 having the rechargeable controller gives a gamer more gameplay. Last but not least, PlayStation 3 graphics seem more defined, but Xbox 360 graphics are often unrealistic and cartoonish. The PlayStation has Blu-ray player for better graphics and watching movies. It’s very crisp and smooth because of the quick cell processor. On the other hand, Xbox 360 does not have Blu-ray capabilities and its processor is much slower. That makes the game’s and movie’s resolution much lower. The PlayStation 3 has faster and  more efficient technologies and that leads to better gaming experiences. Finally, with the free network that the PlayStation 3 has it will save a person more money than Xbox 360. Also having the rechargeable wireless controller with the PlayStation 3 a gamer is able to have more gameplay without worrying about paying for batteries or extra attachments. Last, even though Xbox 360 has an unlimited amount of games, its graphics are not as realistic as the PlayStation 3. In conclusion, the PlayStation 3 is by far the better gaming system to buy.

Importance of Metrics in Marketing Strategies Case Study

Importance of Metrics in Marketing Strategies Case Study Teresa A. Cochran Marketing is a fundamental responsibility for all activities related to advertising and sales strategies that are vital to the success of any organization. The ability of an organization to efficiently market its products and services is directly related to the success or failure of the company. As noted by Arikan (2011), metrics form the base of any effective marketing strategy. However, many firms fail to utilize metrics to calculate success or failure of their strategies. Most companies focus on the new leads generated overlooking other important formulas that analyze the actual success of any type of marketing strategy. As the business environment evolves, new marketing strategies and options are invented which requires marketers to stay a step ahead by understanding key metrics and what they mean for a companys marketing strategies. Ideally, these metrics are measurable values used to demonstrate the level of effectiveness of marketing campaigns on all marketing channels. Since marketers operate across many channels, their marketing strategy will involve a variety of activities, which makes it important to track progress and performance of their actions with the right performance indicators. This can help a business to reach its marketing targets and make improvements when facing challenges. Before choosing the right metrics, it is important to consider channels being used and who in the business will use the resultant information to make decisions (Arikan, 2011). For Athletics Supreme, following are five important metrics that the company should use to evaluate performance of their marketing strategies. For this assignment, 5 marketing metrics will be reviewed to display the anticipated success of the Pleasantly Plus, plus size retail boutique and consignment shop. Each factor is a subcategory of the marketing metrics main categories; sales metrics, customer readiness to buy metrics, customer metrics, distribution metrics and communication metrics. The assignment will review in detail equations used to forecast the following: sales growth, awareness, retention rate, number of outlets and response rate. Sales Metrics Strategic marketing plans are created to facilitate an elevated consumer awareness to promote and attract customers to purchase your product. Data related to sales volumes measure the rate at which sales of your product and is imperative for decision making for the overall fiscal sustainability and financial success This metric is also valuable for strategic planning and will determine future growth projects for the company. Athletics Supreme must also monitor sales data including total sales and types of products sold. Sales data must then be evaluated by the company to determine the effectiveness of the marketing strategy or to determine barriers to sales. The sales metric being utilized to determine the efficacy of the advertising methods used must be monitored with respect to creating sales through increased product awareness. In addition, this evaluation would also determine the tactics that have a negative impact on sales goals (Farris, 2010). These key indicators will be monit ored by the marketing department over multiple sales periods. Athletics Supreme can utilize sales data to monitor growth and of the new product line Sales figures for the sports apparel product line will be monitored quarterly beginning with the date of the initial release of the products. This metric will be monitored for one year with the goal of establishing sales trend lines relative to seasonal sales. Sales growth represents the variance in comparing sales from differing time periods. This data can be reflected mathematically as: (Current time period net sales- Previous time period net sales) _________________________________________ x100 (Previous period net sales) Or As applied to Athletic Supreme ($50,000 net sales qtr 2- $35,000 net sales qtr 1 _________________________________________________________________ x100 $50,000 Athletics Supreme shows a growth rate from Qtr 1 to Qtr 2 of 30% Customer readiness to buy metrics Customer awareness is a method utilized to determine the number of consumers who have been made aware of the products offered, in this case by Athletics Supreme. From a marketing viewpoint, a strong awareness of your product increases potential consumer purchase. Marketers use customer readiness such as awareness, preference, purchase intention, trial rate, and repurchase rate as performance indicators of product branding therefore these indicators have a great deal of influence over strategic planning of a company (Hanssens, Pauwels, Srinivasan, Vanhuele, Yildirim, 2014). Consumer purchases are influenced by multiple stages of product awareness before purchasing. Consideration to the consumers thought process related to decision to purchase before determining an appropriate marketing plan. Athletics Supreme enters the sports apparel market with an edge over the competition due to having a presence in the industry. The company has a reputation for quality therefore, consumers have an established recognition of the name brand. Athletic Supreme should collect behavioral purchasing data based on preferences gathered from sales databases. By evaluating consumer purchases, Athletics Supreme can gain valuable data on consumers product preferences (Kotler Keller, 2012). Periodic surveys of customers that purchase the apparel would further assist in evaluation the most effective marketing tactics. Akrin (2011), notes that the quality advertising message will make customers more inclined to purchase sportswear. Athletics Supreme objective would be to obtain favorable response rates beyond 90 percent, and adjust marketing strategies accordingly. Videos are another medium that would be used in the raising of awareness regarding the new line of sportswear products. The number of viewers of a video is an effective way of determining whether the products receive the attention of the target customers. The target customers are expected to be impacted by the viewership of the videos to engage in the purchase of the products being marketed (Arikan, 2008). Based on the viewership metrics, Athletics Supreme should determine the most efficient marketing channel that facilitates the creation of awareness regarding the product to consumers. The Greater attention of the marketing medium that is most effective should be done to ensure that there is maximum exploitation of the medium to create awareness and influence consumers to make purchase decisions in favor of the sportswear products (Farris, 2010). As applied to Athletics Supreme, an approach to quantifying product awareness is based on cost per 1,000 contacts and then calculate the spend per contact for each advertisement. Marketing Originated Customer % is a ratio that reveals the percentage of the new business that is a result of Marketing efforts. It is computed by getting the number of customers that started with a lead generated by Marketing and then dividing it with the total number of new customers that signed up in a period; the value is then multiplied by 100 (Zikmund Babin, 2013). This metric will show the portion of customers acquisition that originated from Athletics Supreme Marketing efforts in a certain period. This metric is best analyzed using a closed-loop marketing analytics system as manual computation is tiring and takes time (Kotler Keller, 2012). Customer metrics Customer metrics is collection of data that can be used to determine what matters most to the customers: past, present and future. For Athletics Supreme a key subcategory in customer metrics to analyze would be the cost of customer acquisition. Per Arikan (2011), customer acquisition cost, is the cost incurred convincing a potential customer to buy a product or service. This metric is important to a company as well as its investors. Investors use it to determine a companys profitability by analyzing the amount of money that can be extracted from potential customers and cost incurred extracting it. Marketing specialists on the other hand use the metric to optimize returns on their advertising investment. It highlights whether costs of extracting money from customers can be reduced which would help improve the companys profit margin. Mathematically, it includes all cost incurred in acquiring customers over a given period divided by the total number of customers acquired in that period. Ideally, this includes all sales and marketing costs including advertising cost, salaries, commissions, bonuses and relevant overheads in each period (month, quarter or a year) (Zikmund Babin, 2013). For example, for Athletics Supreme, the Customer Acquisition cost in the first year will be: Total Marketing costs for the whole year/number of customers acquired within the year Therefore, if the company spent $50,000 on sales and marketing in a certain month and added 50 customers CAC = $50,000/50 =$1,000 CAC will be important to Athletics Supreme, as it will indicate the effectiveness of the money invested in acquisition of new customers. A high metric will indicate the company is spending too much on sales and marketing while a low metric would indicate that the company is using low costs to gain customers (Arikan, 2011). Customer Retention Rate Customer Retention Rate is used to calculate the loyalty of customers. Acquisition of new customers usually costs more than it costs retaining current ones (Shank Lyberger, 2014). Arikan (2011) argues that evaluating the dedication of a customer towards a company enables marketers to improve their strategies. Encouraging customers to stick with ones business for long helps maximize revenues. It is calculated by subtracting the number of new customers from the total number of customers in a certain period divided by the number of customers at the start of the period and then multiplied by 100 to make it a percentage, i.e. CRR= Customers End Period (CE)-New Customers for the Period (CN)/Customers at Start of the Period (CS) x 100. For example, if Athletics Supreme starts a month with 50 customers and gains 20 new ones but lose 15 customers in that month, the CRR would be; (55-20)/50*100 = 70% This metric will help Athletics Supreme to assess the loyalty of customers for each of its brands. It will also reveal the companys ability to nurture existing customers. Customer lifetime value (CLV) This metric is used to assess the economic value brought by a customer to a business for the entire duration the person remains a customer. It evaluates everything starting with the customers first interaction with the company to the final purchase. It is a comparison of revenues generated by a customer and the costs of acquiring and maintaining the customer. Calculating this metric helps to reveal whether there is value in maintaining long-term marketing channels. If the CLV value is high, a company needs to invest more in retaining customers for the long-term (Arikan, 2011). For example, if Athletics Supreme fills 300 orders with revenue of $20,000, the companys Average Order Value (AOV) would be $66.67. To determine Purchase Frequency (PF), the number of orders is divided by the number of unique customers. Assuming Athletics Supreme had 200 unique customers, PF would then be 1.5. Customer Value (CV) would then be AOVxPF, which is 66.671.5 =$100 Once CV is determined, Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) is determined by multiplying the CV by the duration the customers have been in the company. Assuming the orders have a 4-year contract, CVL would be: CVL = Customer Value (CV) x Customer Duration with the Business =1004 =$400 This means, Athletics Supreme Customer Lifetime Value over 4-year duration is $400. Athletics Supreme will use this metric to analyze the potential value customers will bring into the company. According to Shank Lyberger (2014), a high value of the metric means customers are bringing high value which the company should aim at. A very high value would however mean the company is under spending and thus restraining growth. Distribution metrics Simon (2012) considers percentage of shelf space, or the space necessary to sell an item as an essential marketing data point. Athletics Supreme would ideally like to occupy as much of the display space as possible. By occupying a large amount of shelf space, Athletics Supreme has effectively monopolized the stores All Commodity Volume (ACV), or the rate of everything sold in the store. Despite its retail prominence, Athletics Supreme must remain effective by maintaining a successful supply chain logistics. As Simon, (2012) argues that even if Athletics Supreme obtains maximum display areas for the new product line, including overstock for internet sales, it will lose customers if the supply is not adequate. Overall, most retailers with make decisions on inventory based on the potential of selling the item quickly. Communication metrics is the gathering of data that can be utilized to determine the effectiveness of the varying forms of communication channels used. In this case, Athletics Supremes a key subcategory is effective reach. Effective reach is the subset of the target segment of the population that can be effected by an advertisement during a specified time frame. Additionally, the response rate data measures the rate of response that customers respond to information sent to the target market. Communication Metric) Per Arikan (2011), marketing influenced customer percentage is similar to Market Originated Customer %. However, it factors in all new customers where marketing efforts touched and/or nurtured the lead at any point in the sales process as opposed to only originating the lead. For example, if the sales person of Athletics Supreme found a lead who later attended a marketing event and closed, the new customer is assumed to having been influenced by Marketing. This percentage is usually higher than that of the Marketing Originated Customer % as it is more inclusive. It usually ranges from 50-99%. The retail industry is very competitive, therefore, Athletics Supreme must monitor the effectiveness of all forms of customer communication. For example, emails, coupons, and discounts offered on the next customer purchase. Increased sales figures after an email campaign would be a key indicator of the effectiveness of communication. The company can also measure its response rate via satisfaction surveys, Facebook and Twitter followers, and click through rates online. Per Kotler and Keller (2012), Athletics Supreme should focus communications based on frequency of purchase, which can manipulate response rates to double-digits. Conclusion Using metrics effectively will help Athletics Supreme understand the success of its marketing strategies. It will reveal areas where the companys marketing team excels at and where the team needs to improve. Therefore, metrics play an important role in marketing efforts and the company should use the above metrics as well as add others that are relevant to its business. References Arikan, A. (2011). Multichannel marketing: metrics and methods for on and offline success. John Wiley Sons. Farris, P. W. (2010). Marketing Metrics: The Definitive Guide to Measuring Marketing Performance. Upper Saddle River, NJ: FT Press. Hanssens, D. M., Pauwels, K. H., Srinivasan, S., Vanhuele, M., Yildirim, G. (2014). Consumer Attitude Metrics for Guiding Marketing Mix Decisions. Marketing Science, 33(4), 534-550. doi:10.1287/mksc.2013.0841 Jeffery, M. (2010). Data-Driven Marketing: The 15 Metrics Everyone in Marketing Should Know (1). Hoboken, US: John Wiley Sons, Incorporated. Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com Kotler, P., Keller, K. L. (2012). Marketing management Shank, M. D., Lyberger, M. R. (2014). Sports marketing: A strategic perspective. Routledge. Zikmund, W. G., Babin, B. J. (2013). Essentials of marketing research. Australia: South-Western Cengage Learning.

Marilyn Hacker Redefines Mother, Woman, and Daughter in Selected Poems

Marilyn Hacker Redefines Mother, Woman, and Daughter in Selected Poems 1965-1990 Marilyn Hacker. What does she mean? What does she mean? I check with Thrall, Hibbard, and Holman who define poetry to be "a term applied to the many forms in which man has given a rhythmic expression to his most imaginative and intense perceptions of his world, himself, and the interrelationship of the two" (364). I forge ahead through hundreds of pages of poetry. Images and impressions are beginning to form in my mind. Finally, Hacker, you provide a clue with "Feeling and Form" where you compare your poetry to Cezanne's apples: I do like words, which is why I make things out of words and listen to their hints, resounding like skipping stones radiating circles, draw- ing context from text, the way I've watched you draw a pepper shaker on a table, draw it again, once more, until it isn't like anything but your idea of a draw- ing, like an idea of movement, draw- ing its shape from sequence. (85-86) The course syllabus indicates that "this course investigates 'mother' as a cul...