Relationship Between the Brand Equity and the Sales of Bottled Water Industry free essay sample

This research basically pertains to find out the relationship between the brand equity and the sales of the product. The questionnaire was constructed and the pilot study using 15 respondents from ICBS was carried out to ensure that there were no confusions or ambiguities in the questionnaire. All ambiguities or confusions found were removed before administering the final questionnaire. The questionnaires were divided into two parts. On first of June the questionnaires were administered among half of the sample. The other half of the questionnaires among the remaining samples on 1st July 2007. As our research was basically descriptive in nature, we then quantified the values we were given in the questionnaire results and used them to graph the responses of the elements of the research. The results were then analyzed. Introduction The broad area of the research is related to the currently existing situation in the bottled water industry. As the bottle water industry is flourishing in Pakistan and new competitors are entering the market but still Pure Life has managed to maintain the considerable amount of market share due to its brand equity. We will write a custom essay sample on Relationship Between the Brand Equity and the Sales of Bottled Water Industry or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The concept of brand is integral to the success of any given product. Brand equity necessarily affects the performance of a product. The concept of brand equity can have a marked effect on the longevity of a products performance. Brand equity is defined as the bundle of intrinsic features/attributes delivered by a branded product or service. It is measured as the price differential someone is willing to pay for a particular branded product or service over an identical product or service that is unbranded. Alternatively, this definition can be re-crafted to state that brand equity is the difference in utility between two products or services that are perceived to deliver an identical set of tangible benefits at the same price. Consumers see a particular brand name as a contract. A brands name may reduce consumers sense of uncertainty, allowing them to purchase, uncertainty reduction, or trust, thus improving their sense of value. Background Nestle have taken a strong interest in Pakistan at a time when the country’s food, drink and retail industries in general are all actually struggling to attract large-scale multinational investments of this nature. Although these companies all have more profitable product categories, which are their primary concerns in more developed markets, in Pakistan a key element of their business strategy at the present time is a strong presence in the increasingly competitive bottled water industry. Should economic growth continue, the introduction of their added-value, more premium products, will simply prove a bonus at a later date? Such investment cannot help but drive bottled water sales in Pakistan, while inflows from multinationals also provide much needed jobs and contribute to essential infrastructural developments in the country. However, there is a huge flipside to these advantages the creation of a population, which can barely afford to spend beyond necessity, reliant on a product that is still considered a luxury item in some of the worlds most developed economies. Pakistan’s response to this dilemma affects not just its population, but its likelihood of establishing itself as a destination for much sought after food, drink and retail industry investment in the future. Literature Review Brand equity is the value built-up in a brand. It is measured based on how much a customer is aware of the brand. The value of a companys brand equity can be calculated by comparing the expected future revenue from the branded product with the expected future revenue from an equivalent non-branded product. This calculation is at best an approximation. This value can comprise both tangible, functional attributes (e. g. TWICE the cleaning power or HALF the fat) and intangible, emotional attributes (e. g. the brand for people with style and good taste). It can be positive or negative. Positive brand equity is created by effective promotion and consistently meeting or exceeding customer thoughts. Negative brand equity is usually the result of bad management. In the early 2000s, the Ford Motor Company made a strategic decision to brand all new or redesigned cars with names starting with F. This aligned with the previous tradition of naming all sport utility vehicles since the Ford Explorer with the letter E. The Toronto Star quoted an analyst who warned that changing the name of the well known Windstar to the Freestar would cause confusion and discard brand equity built up, while a marketing manager believed that a name change would highlight the new redesign. The aging Taurus, which became one of the most significant cars in American auto history, would be abandoned in favor of three entirely new names, all starting with F, the Five Hundred, Freestar and Fusion. By 2007, the Freestar was discontinued without a replacement, and Ford announced record losses. In a surprise announcement, the discarded Taurus nameplate would be re-used on an improved Five Hundred which had disappointing sales and whose nameplate was recognized by less than half of most people, but an overwhelming majority was familiar with the Taurus. Brand Equity and Market Share Very often only the market share of a brand is looked at as a means of determining how successful the brand is. Although market share is of importance in assessing the performance of a brand, its relationship with brand equity is of great significance, as this relationship can be an indication of the potential success of a brand, or alternatively can direct strategy on how to attain such success. The following diagram illustrates the relationship between brand equity and market share: Brand equity and market share are not always proportionate. As can be seen from the diagram, the ideal place for a brand to be situated is in the top-right quadrant. This shows that the brand is successful in that it has a strong brand equity and high market share. However, this may not always be the case. It is possible that a brand may have high brand equity, but may not have an accordingly high market share (top-left quadrant). In order to improve the market share of a brand in cases such as this, regard must then be had to in-store issues such as display, shelf space, distribution etc. Thus, understanding brand equity plays an important role in that it gives an indication of how a brands performance can be improved. Where there is low brand equity and a strong market share (such as the bottom right-hand quadrant), the situation is extremely tenuous. Although the picture may look good owing to the strong market share, the reality is that, with weak brand equity, the product is vulnerable to competitor or other in-market activity. Therefore, measuring only the strong market share does not give the complete picture brand equity must also be considered, and by improving this, the full potential of the brand can be secured. What is Brand Equity? In layman terms brand equity is the value that a consumer attaches to a certain brand. Although brand equity can be measured tangibly by way of certain indicators, a large component of the concept is intangible, i. e. what perceptions and associations people have of a certain brand, and the familiarity of those brands in the mind of the consumer. The diagram below illustrates how brand equity is made up: From the diagram, it is evident that the sources that drive brand equity (brand awareness, consideration and the factors associated with it) will lead to certain outcomes. And the more powerful the sources are, the more significant these outcomes will be. Thus, a strong brand loyalty and ability to command a price premium will lead to resilience against any negative short-term market factors. And this is why brand equity is essential in assessing the performance of a brand: it has the potential to secure the success of the brand against many variable in-market factors. Further, the importance of brand equity is that, by understanding how brand equity drives market share, it is then possible to make use of this knowledge in order to grow the market share of a brand. Understanding the link between brand equity and market share will thus assist marketers in which strategies are required to grow market share. The Benefits of Brand Equity: What are the benefits of strong brand equity? Well, strong brand equity leads to, inter alia, strong market share, customer loyalty, more favorable response to price increases, less vulnerability to competitor activity, brand extension opportunities, and communication messages which reach the consumer. In attaining these benefits, strong brand equity will ensure that a product is of an enduring nature. Ultimately, strong brand equity will improve profitability. To build a winning brand, therefore, is to understand the relationship between brand equity and market share, and to leverage both to their full potential. In so doing, a brand will be successful and sustainable in the long term. It must be kept in mind that increasing market share does not increase brand equity, whereas increasing brand equity invariably leads to increased market share. Another benefit of brand equity is that it’s an asset which can be sold or leased. The importance of brand equity to customer loyalty: Keller (1998) argues that brand equity is unique from customer loyalty, and can be defined as: †¦ the differential effect that brand knowledge has on consumer response to the marketing of that brand. He argues that a brand possesses positive customer-based brand equity when customers react more favorably to a (brand identified) product and the way that it is marketed as compared to when it is not. Brands can also possess negative customer-based brand equity, expressed when consumers react less favorably to the marketing activities associated with a brand, as compared to an unnamed or fictitious named version of the product. Keller (1998) further states that one of the characteristics of brands possessing strong brand equity is stronger brand loyalty. This position appears consistent wit that of Aaker (1991) who argued that brand loyalty could be considered both a dimension and an outcome of brand equity. Problem Statement The problem statement of the research is to find out that â€Å"Are pure life sales greater than competitors due to brand equity of Nestle? † Nestle pure life was launched in Pakistan in 1998. The brand now holds a solid position as number 1 in Pakistan by having more than 50 per cent of the countrys small bottled-water market of 33 million liters (35 million quarts) a year. Pure Life is everywhere at roadside stalls, gas stations and rest stops. Its hawked at street corners in traffic-clogged Lahore. Middle-class shoppers buy it by the case in supermarkets. On the remote mountain road leading from Islamabad to the hill town of Murree, Pure Life billboards urge drivers to drive only Nestle Pure Life. At small stores along the way, a flurry of banners proclaim: Pure Safety, Pure Trust. The ideal water. From Nestle with love. As the purchase of the bottled water involves low involvement of consumers therefore factors such as price, packaging and taste are not as important as compared to the brand image of the product. Therefore, the research is conducted to find out whether the equity of a brand affects the sales of the product or not Limitations, Delimitations and Assumptions The concept of brand equity is important to every brand therefore it can be applied to every product in the Pakistani market. For the purpose of simplicity, researchers chose water bottled industry of Pakistan. In this industry Nestle Pure Life was chosen due to the fact that as purchase of bottled water involves low involvement of consumer so the only thing that matters for the consumer is the brand name. Furthermore another reason for choosing Nestle Pure life was that the researchers assumed that the sales of Nestle Pure life were greater than competitors due to brand equity of Nestle. There was another limitation that the researchers would only focus on a particular age group of people i. . people between 20-25 yrs of age. Theoretical Framework In the research the independent variable is brand equity, the dependent variable is sales, whereas there are three intervening variables identified which affect the relationship of independent variable and the dependent variable which are, production capacity, distribution and availability. There is a positive relationship between the independent variable and the dependent variable because it’s assumed that the brand equity causes an increase in the sales of a product which is Nestle Pure Life. Coke and Pepsi entered the bottled water industry as their production capacity was 18000 crates but after production of sodas their production plant was idle so they decide to jump in the bottled water. industry. They had the advantage that the industry is developing and consumers are becoming conscious of the importance of pure drinkable water. And their setup was already developed. Their distribution is extensive and they can capture all the consumers who buy their sodas. There is a positive relationship between sales and the intervening variables that are production capacity, distribution and availability. Nestle has an advantage over the other bottled water competitors due to the fact that they are the market leaders and their production and distribution is much more then the other competitors and their production plant and capacity is only used for the bottled water only. Their availability is much more extensive because nestle food products are distributed all over the country and hence they utilize their already developed distribution setup. Hypothesis The hypothesis that the researchers intended to test was the following: â€Å"Pure life sales are greater than competitors due to brand equity of Nestle† Nature of study The type of research is basic or pure because the study aimed to find out the affect of brand equity on sales of Nestle Pure Life and literature review was done to find out the relationship between brand equity and sales and primary study was also conducted by distributing questionnaires to MBA students of various universities. The relationship between the brand equity and sales is also generalizable. No matter what the product is there is always the positive relationship between them. Purpose of Study The purpose of the study is descriptive. The study will help in better understanding of the relationship of brand equity of a product and its sales. It will also help the organizations to make decisions related to brand awareness, brand loyalty and brand preference that will affect the brand equity of a product. It will also help other researchers to work on the similar concept. Throughout the study the researcher interference was minimal as there was no control of researcher on the independent variable which was brand equity. The type of investigation was correlation as the study aimed at finding the relationship between the independent variable and dependent variable. It was a field study done in non contrived settings. Methodology Data Collection The initial data for research was obtained through secondary sources of information, which included internet articles, journals and books. It would not be enough to substantiate the hypothesis; therefore, the data collection technique of questionnaire survey shall be used. Population Our target population consists of business schools students in the age group of 20-25 years using Nestle Pure Life. Sample â€Å"Proportionate stratified random sampling technique† was used for the sample. UniversitiesNumber of Elements Proportionate sampling NCBA250250 * 32% = 80 LSE350350 * 37% = 130 GCU200200 * 25% = 50 Sample Size Out of the total of 800 students the size of the population, the sample was 80 students of National College of Business Administration, 130 Students of Lahore Scholl of Economics and 50 students of Government College University Lahore. The sample sizes were determined using table given by Uma Sekeran, using 90% confidence interval and standard error of 9. 5. Instruments Questionnaires were used as a tool to gather the primary data for the research. The questionnaire consisted of 7 questions and was administered among NCBA, LSE and GCU students. The questionnaire used in this study was a non-standardized instrument constructed solely for the purpose of this study. Copy of the questionnaire is attached in Appendix I in the report. Scale Dichotomous scale was used for five questions. YesNo Category scale was also used. Multiple items were given to elicit a single response from the respondent. From ranking scale forced choice scale was used which enabled the respondents to rank the brands of water bottles according to their preferences. Pilot Study A pilot study using 15 respondents from ICBS was done to ensure that there were no confusions or ambiguities in the questionnaire. All ambiguities or confusions found were removed before administering the final questionnaire. Reliability The reliability of the instruments was ensured through split- half reliability method. The instrument of the study which was questionnaires was divided into two halves. On first of June the questionnaires were administered among 40 NCBA students, 75 LSE students and 25 GCU students. The other half of the questionnaires among the same number of students on 1st July 2007. The reliability test will reflect the correlation between the two halves of the questionnaires. Validity The validity of our instrument was checked by the content and construct validity test. Results Question 1 Do you buy bottled water? Our population included only those elements who are users or buyers of the bottled water. So as the sample is the replica of the population then it can be said that the sample contained all the users or buyers of the bottled water. Question 2 Rank the following brands of water bottles according to your preference. As this question asked to rank the brands in order of preference it helped us to find out what brand people prefer. The results showed that 45% or 117 consumers prefer Nestle Pure life. Aside from that the other preference were 20% or 52 prefer Aqua Fina , 15% or 39 prefer kinley, 13% or 34 prefer Sufi and the least was aqua safe which is 7% or 18. It showed that the highest demand or preference is of Nestle Pure life. The name Nestle Pure Life was used because it is known as Nestle or Nestle Pure Life among people. Question 3 What are the reasons of your preference? This question asks about why the brand is preferred? And what is the reason for there preference? The results showed that 37% or 96 for international brand, 21% or 55 marked companied credibility, 18% or 47 went for quality seal, 11% or 29 marked packaging, 9% or 23 for price and 4% or 10 for certification. By these results we concluded that most people don’t know about quality seal and certification and some brand don’t have them so it wasn’t marked. One aspect was that those who marked nestle as their preferred brand marked international brand and company’s credibility as their reason for preference. Price and packaging was not such a major factor in their reason for the preference. It was only marked by consumers who use aqua safe and Sufi. Question 4 Do you recall any advertisement of your preferred brand? The results showed that 83% or 216 answered yes and 17% or 44 answered no. It showed that one reason of preference was the advertisement showed. Research shows that it has a major impact on people as it repetitive. It leaves the impression and the companies or brands qualities and messages in peoples mind. They do remember and recall it when buying a product. Question 5 How long have you been using your preferred brand? The results showed that most of the people have been using the brand for more than a year 45% or 117. 37% or 96 were using it for a year, 12% or 31 for 6 months and 6% or 16 for a month. The results also showed that most of the people have been using Nestle and Aqua Fina and Sufi and Aqua safe had a few consumers as they have not been using it for so long. Question 6 In your opinion are you brand loyal to your preferred brand? The results showed that 87% or 226 were brand loyal and 13% or 34 were not. The result showed that students are not brand loyal. But it has been observed that when people ask for drinking water they ask for nestle water. We also observed this at super stores that while passing by the water bottle shelves they pick Nestle. This behavior is same as schools and colleges. Question 7 What if your preferred brand is involved in an unethical business or fraud, will you still buy it? The results for this were that 64% or 166 answered as Yes and 36% or 94 answered as No. It showed that if a companied credibility is in doubt people back of from it. It does show a sense of rightness in people and also that for a brand to be successful it’s important that the company should be credible. As brand equity is the goodwill of the company and it’s important for a company to succeed and be reputable. Is also important because now, with media awareness people are becoming more conscious to these factors, so, the companies have to be conscious of these factors. Question 8 Would you prefer a brand which is popular in your social circle? The results of this question were that 55% or 143 answered as Yes and 45% or 117 answered as No. t helped to show that is the preference dependent on the social behaviors. But the result showed that it has a 10 % difference so it is slightly significance. For some people it who look for acceptance from their circle but it’s not that important as it low involvement purchase and it related to thirst which know no boundaries. But for some its status symbol to use bottled water as some peop le don’t care as long as its water. Discussion If the hypothesis is selected it would mean that the brand equity and brand image is important for the customers. They do take it into consideration while buying as its imprinted in their minds. Advertisement helps the customers to see the attributes of the company and the product . It keeps the brand equity in the minds of the customers. If the hypothesis is not substantiated by the questioner’s results, it would mean that some other factors are involved in the greater sales of the brand besides it brand name and the research would have to be conducted again with a new hypothesis. . Conclusions The conclusion of the study is that the Pure Life sales are greater than competitors due to brand equity of Nestle. The company should concentrate on things like brand preference and brand loyalty. They can do this by a lot of advertising and other promotional campaigns like public relations. Brand preference, brand loyalty and trust leads to establishment of brand equity which can be said as goodwill. Implications Brand equity is the customer’s subjective and intangible assessment of the brand, above and beyond its purely perceived value. In a market where many products are rather similar (i. e. commoditization), the brand can have a large effect on whether customers want to buy the product and what price theyre willing to pay. Brands therefore add more and more value to the basic product or service. Example: although a blind test panel taught researchers that most people prefer Pepsi above Coca-Cola, yet Coca-Cola is much stronger on the market. Our research findings shall help marketers understand the relation between brand equity ad sales. We have used Nestle Pure Life as a model for the study to illuminate the same relationship. As mentioned earlier, if there is a relationship between the variables, the marketers need to take it into account while designing their marketing strategies and policies.

Create a Countdown Timer for Websites With PHP Mktime

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New Business Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

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Textbook chapter summary Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Textbook chapter summary - Assignment Example If a party breaks a rule or goes against the contract then a legal action is taken against it and the effected party is provided with the remedies. These remedies are designed to compensate the damage or loss the party has bore. Both the parties should pursue these aspects of obligations and remedies formulated by the law, while making a contract. The main obligation of the contract is the tender of delivery according to which the lessee is bound to deliver the goods according to the contract. The time should be flexible for the delivery. A perfect tender rule is where the buyer is allowed to reject or accept the whole shipment or a part of it within a reasonable time. The buyer or lessee has a right to withhold the delivery or the payment if anyone of them is breaching the contract or the payment is not made in due time. Both can reclaim the supplies if needed according to some specific situations. Both have the right to recover the purchase price or the damages under specific condi tions. In case of lost or missing goods the lessee could sue for the recovery of lost profit. In chapter 19 the warranties and product liabilities and its implications are being discussed. A warranty made by the seller confirms the liability and the standard of his product. If it’s a food product then the warranty implies that the food is good for human consumption and the law implies it. The chapter talks about the language that should be used in order to claim the warranty or the product liability and the terms in which the claim is applicable. A noticeable point raised in the chapter is the fact that manufacturer’s responsibility of providing quality products to the customers does not end after distributing the product to retailers and wholesalers. Instead, manufacturers should monitor the selling technique of the retailers and wholesalers and ensure

Russian Standard Vodka Strategies For Global Markets

Russian Standard Vodka Strategies For Global Markets Introduction Roustam Tariko, founder of the Roust Holdings planned to establish a brand that will set up new standards of world class quality for new breed of global Russian brands. Tariko focused on setting up the standards by a product which is distinctive because of its Russian Heritage so that Russians can take pride in it, and to fulfill this requirement vodka was the obvious option as it is developed in Russia and strongly associated with the country. Tariko launched the vodka and by 2002, Russian Standard was outselling all other brands achieving the top position in the vodka market. This success of the Russian brand was attributed because of its consistent product quality, packaging, and merchandising and of course because of its strong depiction of Russian heritage. Encouraged by its success, Tarikos management launched the Russian Standard in the European countries aiming to make it the best vodka globally. Russian Standard vodka was making business in around 10 European countries, the company wishes to enlarge the business by further crossing the boundaries by entering into the US Market. Vodka is very famous in the US; it has a huge market, largest around the globe and there are many best selling companies which offer premium quality vodka. Launching Russian Standard vodka in US would mean high competition with the already existing brands that are quite popular among customers. The Russian Standards also expanded the list as Tariko decided to launch a new type of bank which will serve foreign trade companies, small business and individual customers. The challenge faced by the Russian Brands team was to make the two diverse businesses compatible with each other while maintaining the standards of the Russian Brand. The report presents a brief overview of the brand equity concept of the Russian Standards and the reasons behind its success story, discusses the horizontal brand diffusion in terms, and also debates over the possibility of launching Russian Standard in US and whether it needs to change its strategies to attract the customers. Brand equity is considered to be a crucial source for profitability. A firm with strong brand equity can have a significant edge in the market as compared to its competitor. It can be able to charge higher prices with its brand image backing it up. The firm can also enjoy a larger market share, a possibility of further product extensions and even draw more investment into the existing business. This is the reason why in the present world, branding or brand image has become a very important strategic issue for businesses. Businesses such as Pepsi, Coca Cola, Ralph Lauren, Nestle etc have very strong brand equities, because of which they are able to enjoy huge market shares as well as the ability to price their products higher than what they would have if they did not have their respective brand names. Brand equity is the value of a company which is only because of its name. As observed by Dr. Ramachandran (2010) brand equity is the outcome which is attributed to the products brand name as compared to the same product without a brand name. Due to the benefits strong brand equity can provide, every corporate entity works their utmost to excel others in the retail sector. However the question arises that what makes a brands equity stronger than it is? According to Kellers (2003) brand equity pyramid, there are mainly four steps and six building blocks which establish a consumer based brand equity for a firm, namely; Salience (identity), Performance and Imagery (meaning), Judgments and Feelings (Response) and finally Resonance (relationship) (Appendix 1). These are the steps at which the consumer asks respective questions related to the firm, and each step leads onto the next until the consumer places complete confidence in the firm, and thus the firm is able to acquire strong brand equity. This model by Keller (2003) can be used to explain how the Russian Standard brand was able to establish strong brand equity and how this brand equity helped the company to gain commendable success in Russia. Brand Salience The very first step in the pyramid is that of Salience, or identity. This is the step where the consumers ask the firm or product, who are you. This means that when a firm is introduced in the market, the firm establishes distinct identity. It establishes its association to a particular product class, i.e. consumers consider the firm/product according to this distinct identity. Brand salience can be defined as to how often and easily the brand is evoked under various situations and circumstances? (Keller, 2001) The beginning of the Russian Standard brand was with a mindset that its products were to be established in such a way which would be able to gain long lasting consumer association. The objective was to establish an exclusive product, which focused on Russian traditions. The brand identity established by Tariko was such that the Russian Standard brand was identified as the standard for Russians. The aim was to reach for the emotional aspect of consumers while they can relate themselves to the brand and claim pride in owning it. As the case study points out that the Russian Standard Vodka is identified as a traditional Russian souvenir, like matryoshka wooden dolls, Red Army captain watches, and lacquer boxes from Palekh (Grigorian, 2000). The intricate details taken into account in establishing the brand salience for the Russian Standard Vodka can be largely attributed to the brand equity that it enjoys today. Keeping the brand equity in order to build and protect the equity a brand positioned as a premium brand has to keep up with the expectancy by the consumers. For a premium brand the customer expectancy is not only from the quality of the product but it starts from the manufacturing to the pricing to packaging to delivering as well as to promotion (NetMBA). In all these levels a premium level of quality is expected. Russian standard has been careful in keeping quality at the utmost level while carrying out the four Ps. The product was produced with quality ingredients. The packaging was outlining quality in every aspect including meticulous details like design, labels, bottle caps and cases. The pricing was done to put the product in the premium to super premium category and the distribution was carefully laid out to acquire shelf spaces in fancy restaurants and night clubs and even in the highly perceived supermarkets. Brand Meaning Moving onto the next step of the Kellers pyramid, Performance and Imagery are what gives a brand its meaning in the minds of the consumers. The performance block includes all the principal characteristics of the brand, i.e. how well is the brand able to conform to the consumers psychological and functional requirements. This portion of the pyramid basically includes the basic features of the product, pricing, design, durability etc. Whereas, the brand imagery portion of the pyramid includes all the characteristics that are connected to the product, i.e. the products user profile, the values and history that the product reflect along with the distributional structure of the product(Keller, 2003). The Russian Standard brand was known for its quality, packaging and strong distribution channels. It was designed to be the first domestic brand to create a rich mosaic of imagery. It focused not only on quality but also on the price, packaging, merchandizing and communication. The Russian brand emphasized on depicting the Russian heritage to connect to the Russian customer and also achieve and ensure product quality that will attract the customers and make them loyal to the brand. The Russian major scientific institute which specialized on food research, in 1990s, along with Mendleev formulated a formula for vodka, this was patented to be exclusively Russian, it was considered a symbol of quality. The quality based on Mendeleevs recommendations of the vodka was of utmost importance to Tariko, which was then communicated to the people through extensive advertisement promotion, the designed bottle of vodka showed Mendeleves signature so that the customer will felt secure about the qua lity of the product. By establishing this strong connection of vodka with the Russian heritage, Traiko developed a certain sense of meaning and understanding among his customers that they were attracted emotionally and physiologically towards the Russian Brand vodka, and this sense of owning and connecting to the product not only attracted as many locals but also ensured their loyalty towards the product. Other than this, the Russian Brand also priced the product in a very appropriate way; the price was in support of its image as an exclusive brand. The vodka was priced more than other local brands, while still it was less expensive than the imported brands. This helped the Russian Standard Vodka to be recognized as an elite brand, in league with the imported brands; whilst at the same time it helped in gaining profits for the firm as well (Appendix 3) (Anselmsson, 2007). It mainly targeted the connoisseurs and strivers who preferred high quality products and prestigious brands. Moreover, the packaging of the Russian Standard Vodka was unique and fashionable. The exclusivity of the product and its other brand values was reflected by its packing. Attention was paid to every little detail of packaging of the vodka bottle; from bottle case to its cap and more importantly the shape of the bottle all were designed to emphasize on Tarikos objective of depiction of the Russian heritage and also ensure class and quality to the customers requirement and satisfaction. The packaging was designed by one of the top most design house, so that it would reflect the brands quality. The act of focusing on the packaging of a product was in itself something new for a business in Russia. Quality used to be the sole source of focus for a product, leaving the focus from pricing, packaging or the distribution channel, whereas, in modern marketing techniques, product, price, place, packaging and promotion make up the marketing mix for any product. Therefore, packaging was another on e of the major reasons for the Russian Standard vodka to acquire its brand meaning in the eyes of the consumers. Furthermore, the nostalgic touch to the packaging which reflected the value of the brand increased the brand meaning. The shape of the bottle resembled that of the traditional Russian orthodox churches, and there was a historical signature on the packaging as well.. This helped the consumers in establishing distinct brand imagery for the Russian Standard brand and relate to it. On the other hand, the strong distribution channel of the Russian Standard Brand also helped to setup its brand imagery. The Tarikos import business before the Russian Standard brand helped the new vodka to acquire advantaged shelf space as opposed to what it would have had in case Tariko had no prior reputation. Therefore, the beginning for the Russian Standard Vodkas placement in the market was privileged with supermarket promotions, access to prominent restaurants, clubs and bars. Brand Response The judgment and feelings of the consumers are the next building block. . This is basically the feelings and perceptions of the consumers about the brand (Keller, 2008). The brand judgment includes the brand quality, credibility, and differentiation. The quality includes the value or satisfaction the brand provides the consumers. The Russian Standard Vodka was trusted by the consumers for its quality. The advertised quality was supported by the actual quality of the product. The appropriate marketing mix helped the consumers to relate to the product. The idea of the campaign was to show a transformation from the previous Russian standards and the new ones. It was meant to create a modernized image in the minds of the consumers. However, this was not perceived as desired by many consumers. Most of the people thought of it as disrespectful to degrade Russian traditions no matter which era they belonged to and the message could not transfer to most people as well. So the campaign failed to communicate the intended premium image. It was designed for the international market but the response from the Russian market stopped it from being used abroad. It was not portraying the embracing the past and inspiring progress mantra the company was following. The feeling that was called upon by the advertisement within the consumers was such that they preferred using the Russian Standard Vodka as opposed to the imported brands. The brand acquired more appeal through its unique packaging and quality. The on-premise promotion on the other hand worked better for the company. It was promoted as a prestigious brand in restaurants and night clubs. The off-premise promotion was also carefully planned to portray its elegance by acquiring quality displays and shelves in the supermarkets. Brand Resonance The consumers in the modern times demand much more than just the functional benefits from a product. They demand intangible benefits such as image, status, personality, lifestyle, success and other factors that they can strongly relate to (Aziz and Yasin, 2010). The Russian Standard brand was one of the very first brands in Russia which used all these aspects into account when introducing its products in the market. Prior to this, quality and the product was the only consideration for the businesses. They believed in the supply making its own demand style of selling as opposed to the making a product in accordance to the demand of the people. However, the Russian Standard brand changed the traditional style of marketing and therefore was able to hugely benefit from rapid success in Russia. The Russian Standard brand used all the five Ps of the marketing mix to powerfully introduce itself in the market. From there onwards, it maintained its quality and built a solid name for itself by being consistent and innovative in promotion. The Russian Standard brand was able to establish a reputation which appealed to the consumers nationalistic sense. The idea was to create a strong consumer-brand relationship. Brand resonance can only be healthy if the consumers feel that they are in synchronization with the brands identity and values. Because of its patriotic look the brand was able to delve into the Russian market well. It was in complete harmony with the traditions of the Russian people. Therefore, from the analysis above, it can be said that the rapid success of the Russian Standard brand was not only because of the strong product quality they offered but also due to its right choice of marketing mix and most importantly its uphold with the Russian Identity. As the Roust Organization has already developed strong merchandizing and communication skills and relationships with the both kind of trades that is on-trade and off-trade, it was easy for the Russian Standards to be introduced to the consumers, but it was the Russian Standards strong conviction towards the brand equity that they become increasingly popular with the people and establish a certain kind of bond with them. It can be rightfully said that the success story of Russian Brand vodka emphasizes on all the aspects of the brand equity i.e. to establish brand salience and keep themselves intact with brand meaning to strengthen the bond with the customers keep counter check on the brand response and improve i ncase of any negativity and maintain the high standards, and last but not the least to provide brand resonance to the customers so they can feel pride in using the Russian Brand vodka. Thus it enjoyed rapid success and managed to maintain its position at the top, with these brand equity concepts followed it is today thought as to be one of the traditional Russian Souvenirs. Diversification Horizontal brand extension is one of the diversification strategies for the businesses. As can be seen in the Ansoffs matrix in appendix 2, when a firm increases its business into new products and markets, it is said to be diversifying its business. The benefits from diversification include, profitability, growth, reaping economies of scale if the diversification is within the same product range, avoiding dependence on a single product etc. Capitalizing on the equity of existing brands can produce many benefits for the company (Strach and Everret, 2006) even enhance the perception for the core brand (Aaker, 1991). There are two types of diversification strategies; concentric diversification or conglomerate diversification. Concentric diversification is the one where the product class remains the same. This strategy is to add related products or markets from that of the current line of business. On the other hand, conglomerate diversification is where the firm diversifies into areas that are unrelated to the current product range. Synergy Synergy is the ability of two or more instruments to work together to create something more than what they would have created separately. In a firms case, a synergy would be the extra benefit acquired by two different organizations working together, as opposed to what they would have acquired if they worked separately (Ellwood, 2002). In the Russian Standard brands case, the banking industry and the vodka industry are two unrelated industries. However, the Russian Standard brands aim to establish both these businesses under a single brand name could have been to benefit from synergies. This is possible if the bank and the vodka business together can give a stronger brand equity or profitability as opposed to their working as separate businesses under two different brand names (Aaker, 1991). Conglomerate Diversification: Benefits and Problems The possible motivations for conglomerate diversification include profitability, reducing firm specific risk, and limited growth in the current business along with other benefits of diversification in general. As observed by Martin and Sayrak (2001), the diversified organization may benefit from a larger tax liability than the initial business. Moreover, there may be other benefits from diversification such as risk from suppliers can be reduced, overhead costs can be distributed amongst a larger business (economies of scales), and the debt capacity may increase as well (Lewellen, 1971 as cited in Martin and Sayrak, 2001). Furthermore, the additional business can become a source of internal financing for the combined brand, which can considerably reduce the firms financing costs. This can be done by the management of the combined organization, by redistributing resources within the organization, where a larger amount of funds can be placed in the areas where there is potential of a hi gher gain than some other department (Stein, 1997 as cited in Martin and Sayrak, 2001). On the other hand, conglomerate diversification may create a number of problems for the existing firm. There are chances of administrative problems arising with an increase in the scale of operations (VanAuken, 2011). There can be managerial issues, i.e. an intensification of the principle-agent problem in an organization. Along with this, there can be an inadequate level of experience for the existing firm in the new industry. There may be requirements of the new industry that the current management is completely unaware of. New marketing mix, technical equipment, personnel and a lot more will be required for the new business which the current management may not be able to obtain. Support for and against Conglomerate Diversification In conglomerate diversification there are cases where the diversification has been extremely successful as well as cases where diversification was a source of loss in shareholders value in the initial business (Martin and Sayrak, 2001). Maksimovic and Philips (2002) in their research found out that conglomerate diversification reduces shareholder value, whereas in Martin and Sayraks (2001) work they have given a wide range of supporting as well as opposing arguments, without a significant conclusion as to whether conglomerate diversification is beneficial for the initial firm or it actually dilutes its initial shareholder value. However, it has to be noted that most of this literature is on merging or acquiring conglomerate businesses and not establishing a new business like the Russian Standard brand did. In case of the Russian Standard brand, (Grigorian, 2000) the bank was met with immediate success. Therefore, the success of the bank could be attributed to the existing brand name of the Russian Standard Vodka, but even if it was not because of that then there was definitely no dilution of the brand because of the conglomerate diversification. However, it may be difficult to measure in the Russian Standard brands case whether the success of the bank was because of the credibility of the brand or the right marketing mix for the bank itself. It can be the case that the bank may still have had the same success without the Russian Standard brands name associated to it, because the strategies to establish the bank were appropriate and the marketing mix was correct for the respective environment. This may be very much possible considering the fact that most of the people did not associate the Vodka and the Bank even with the same brand name; few customers made a clear link between the two businesses (Grigorian, 2000). Another aspect in this situation could also be the fact that the owner of the company, Roustam Tariko, had established much credibility for himself as well by being successful very early. His sense of strategic business thinking made him successful in creating a brand image of Russian Standard. The aim to meet international quality standards and improve the image of his country reflected well in his branding strategies. The Russian standard vodka and bank, though both were quite different in terms of relativity but as both were being run by Roust their relativity was somehow subsided by the credibility of the parent company (Ellwood, 2002). Both the brands were leveraging on the Russian Standards image. So the brand could very well diversify instead of considering to be diluted. Therefore, it can be said that even when the banking and vodka businesses are not compatible and few modern businesses actually go for conglomerate diversification, the Russian Standard brand was able to handle the two businesses well. As reputation (Ali, 2008) is one of the main factors that can affect the results of brand extension, the Russian Standard brand had a strong brand equity because of its vodka business which could very well afford to withstand any brand extension. Market Extension Another diversification strategy is to extend ones existing business into new markets. As can be seen in the Ansoff matrix (appendix 2), the market extension (Jewell, 2000) is when the existing product is introduced in some new market. This is another extension strategy that the Russian Standard brand was taking into consideration, i.e. extending its vodka into the US market. The benefits of market extension include profitability, an opportunity to reap economies of scale as the basic product will remain the same and growth of business and operations (VanAuken, 2011). Whereas, the market extension process may cause difficulties for the existing firm, because the new market may be completely different from what the firm has been working in initially. An in depth analysis of the potential market, information of the competitors and consumers, legal regulations, economic and social environment, all are required before the extension may be made. An entirely new marketing mix is required f or the same product for it to be introduced in a new market. If the product is launched in the new market with the same marketing mix, then the probability of its success may be reduced considerably. This is because, consumers in each market have distinct requirements and the social, economic and legal situation is also different from the existing market. Moreover, the potential market may already be saturated with competition, as is the case with the US market for Vodka (Sahani, 2008). The US market already has a number of well positioned, distinct local and foreign brands. Each of the brands available in the market is distinct in its own way, i.e. each has a specific segment of the market that it is very well catering to. Therefore, it can be said that introducing the Russian Standard Vodka in the US market is a difficult task, however with the quality product that it has, it may as well be successful to grasp a section of the market. In order to do this, a new marketing mix will be required for the Russian Standard Vodka to be successful in the US. The Russian Standard Vodka in the US market The Russian Standard Vodka was hugely successful in Russia not just because of its quality, but also its appeal to the nationalist sense in Russia along with its privileged distributional channels. These are the attributes of the Russian Standard Vodka that may not be present when the vodka is introduced in the US market. The US market which is todays largest consumer of vodka, is already very saturated in terms of premium vodka brands. The consumers will not be attracted to the brand merely because of its Russian origin, nor will the brand be able to acquire advantaged distribution channels (Sahani, 2008). Also considering the fact that the relationship between the two countries have always been on a verge of disagreements (Graham, 2008), this can act as creating a certain biasness for the origin of the brand. Based on the market analysis the super premium to premium segment already includes a lot of imported brands. For Russian Standard to create its space the super premium segment will have a benefit in terms of no competition from local brands, since the super premium segment only includes the imported variety. So if Russian Standard vodka changes its market strategy they can be noticeable in the US market. Change in the strategy will have to be emphasized in new and creative ideas of marketing and advertising, for this purpose it is very essential for the Russian Standard management to carefully study the US market, understand what the customers need and want, and what does the other vodka brands offer them, whether is there any loopholes or any gap between the customer requirement and brands offers and if Russian Standard vodka can overcome that gap. The American market is completely different from the Russian market, therefore Russian standard faces a great challenge in first capturing the attention of the American and consumers and then providing them with a better vodka than its competitors. The Russian Standard vodka can be launched in US market, but for a successful launching a lot of literature review and planning is required. From the discussion above it can be said easily that the Russian Standard will have to adapt to the US market to make their space. Many aspects of the Russian Standard vodka advertising and management campaign will plays vital role, among which pricing is the most crucial of all. The price should be appropriate enough to capture the attention of the Americans and maintain class as well. The quality of the Russian Brand vodka will ensure brand loyalty from the customers, but the real challenge is faced in actually making space in already so brand crowded market of the vodka in the US. The Russian Standard Vodka marketing mix for the US market will have to have a significant media campaign as well. This is because, all other competing brands in US have noteworthy amounts of money spent on advertisement, and are using user profiling (associating celebrities to add value to the brand) to their advantage. This is one place, where the Russian Standard Vodka will have to focus to establish a brand image that will appeal to the respective consumers. With the current scenario going pretty well for Russian Standard at home a global impact will add to the equity of the brand. As far as the image and global inconsistency is concerned in order to venture into a foreign market the characteristics must be understood. Since the US is a big market and the people are very accustomed to freedom and rationality Russian Standard will have to adapt to the culture in order to create the brand image (Deresky, 2006). This might impact global consistency of the brand but in order for it t o be associated exclusively to Russia the Russian Standard brand has to be put up as a brand for the elite. One the brand recognition will be spontaneous and second it will enjoy cost effective global positioning (Sahani, 2008). As the current situation of the brand is leading in the Russian Market the intervention in the US market will not be a wrong decision. Another aspect in consideration with the adaptation to the US market involves the brand name Russian standard itself (Deresky, 2006). This can have a positive as well as a negative impact while branding in US. The word Russian associates the Russian traditions with the brand. This can impact in the unique positioning in imported vodkas market. The name will give the product a Russian trait and the market does consist of people inspired more by brands with foreign attribute associated to them. However, the market also consists of people who can be biased in terms of foreign associations. Since Russia has been on major disagreement terms with US in history, some sort of biasness or stereotyping might result in the undermining of the brand (Graham, 2008). Launching Russian Standard Brand vodka in the United State would be challenging but not entirely an impossible job. With change in strategies and with new concepts of brand equity that will be according to the US markets, the Russian Standard Brand may be able to make their space in the strong world of vodka in the United States. Conclusion Therefore keeping these aspects in mind the venture into the US market can be risky at some points since it is the largest vodka market in the world. On the other hand it can also provide Russian Standard the global position it is looking for. It will add to the equity at home and in other markets it plans to venture into. The loyalty will increase and so will the company reap economies of scale by pricing it in the super premium market. References Aaker, A., David 1991, Managing brand equity: capitalizing on the value of brand name, New York, Maxwell Macmillan International. Ali, T. 2008, How Do Consumers Evaluate Brand- Extensions: A Five-Factor Approach, Routledge. Anselmsson, J., 2007, Understanding price premium for products: a conceptual model of customer based brand equity, Journal of Product Brand management, volume 16, issue 6, pp. 401-414, Emerald Group Publishing Ltd. Aziz, N. A., and Yasin, N. M., 2010, International Journal of Marketing Studies, volume 2, issue 2, Deresky, H., 2006, International Management: Managing Across Borders and Cultures, 5th Edition, Pearson Education Ltd. Ellwood, I., 2002, The essential brand book: over 100 techniques to increase brand value, Biddles Ltd. Graham, T., 2008, US-Russia Relations: Finding Reality Pragmatically, CSIS, Washington D.C. Grigorian, V., 2000. Russian Standard Vodka: Strategies for Global Branding and Expansion into the US Market INSEAD. Available at: [27 February 2011]. Jewell, B. R. 2000 An Integrated Approach to Business Studies, Pearson Education Limited. Keller, Lane K., 2008, Strategic Brand Management, third edition, Pearson Education Ltd. pp. 246-260. Maksimovic, V. and Phillips, G. 2002, Do Conglomerate Firms Allocate Resources Inefficiently Across Industries?

Proposed Design for a Garden for the Blind :: Architecture Design Essays

Proposed Design for a Garden for the Blind As a largely visually-reliant society, much of botanical garden design have focused primarily on visual presentation, whether in flower color or in garden composition. Slowly, however, sensory gardens appealing to our more underutilized senses of smell, sound, touch, and even taste are appearing around the country and the globe. While these unique parks may specifically have blind individuals in mind, sensory gardens also appeal to anyone in the general population who would like to expand their sensory horizons. The following is just one proposal for a sensory garden design: The entrance to the garden should be visually, nasally, and tactilely stimulating. A metal gate covered with entangled goldflame honeysuckle vines (Lonicera x heckrottii ) would serve as a colorful, aromatic greeting and give visitors a small taste of the experience to come. These perennial plants also attract hummingbirds and butterflies, whose activities would surely stimulate the ears. The general layout of the garden would include a continuous serpentine path lined with raised plant beds (to minimize stooping and bending) on both sides. The path can even wrap around a standing rectangular planter to maximize usable area. The path would also have several alcoves or nooks, which would give visitors a resting area where they could linger about, smelling flowers and feeling leaf textures. Park benches present throughout the park would accommodate walking visitors who want to simply breathe in the lovely smells of the tea olive tree, for instance. Smooth wood railings on both sides of the path should run all throughout the garden to serve as directional guides. A change in material texture (to a metal, for instance) could be used to indicate an alcove area. Metal plaques in Braille embedded in the edges of the concretealcoves would provide general information about the various plants. These plaques can also have buttons that can be pushed for an audio reading of the inscription. According to the book Sensory Design, uneven pathways heighten our awareness of surfaces by compelling us to use our kinesthetic sense to perceive the changes in the ground. For the disabled, a slow-sloping path (upward and downward) would engage the visitor in using this sensory system. Proposed Design for a Garden for the Blind :: Architecture Design Essays Proposed Design for a Garden for the Blind As a largely visually-reliant society, much of botanical garden design have focused primarily on visual presentation, whether in flower color or in garden composition. Slowly, however, sensory gardens appealing to our more underutilized senses of smell, sound, touch, and even taste are appearing around the country and the globe. While these unique parks may specifically have blind individuals in mind, sensory gardens also appeal to anyone in the general population who would like to expand their sensory horizons. The following is just one proposal for a sensory garden design: The entrance to the garden should be visually, nasally, and tactilely stimulating. A metal gate covered with entangled goldflame honeysuckle vines (Lonicera x heckrottii ) would serve as a colorful, aromatic greeting and give visitors a small taste of the experience to come. These perennial plants also attract hummingbirds and butterflies, whose activities would surely stimulate the ears. The general layout of the garden would include a continuous serpentine path lined with raised plant beds (to minimize stooping and bending) on both sides. The path can even wrap around a standing rectangular planter to maximize usable area. The path would also have several alcoves or nooks, which would give visitors a resting area where they could linger about, smelling flowers and feeling leaf textures. Park benches present throughout the park would accommodate walking visitors who want to simply breathe in the lovely smells of the tea olive tree, for instance. Smooth wood railings on both sides of the path should run all throughout the garden to serve as directional guides. A change in material texture (to a metal, for instance) could be used to indicate an alcove area. Metal plaques in Braille embedded in the edges of the concretealcoves would provide general information about the various plants. These plaques can also have buttons that can be pushed for an audio reading of the inscription. According to the book Sensory Design, uneven pathways heighten our awareness of surfaces by compelling us to use our kinesthetic sense to perceive the changes in the ground. For the disabled, a slow-sloping path (upward and downward) would engage the visitor in using this sensory system.

Music Appreciation Essay

Sound – any sensation that is perceived by the aural senses. – Physically, sound is vibrational, mechanical energy that moves through matter (usually air) as a wave. The Hearing Process – Vibration, resonation, transmission, reception, interpretation, music appears. Pitch – relative highness or lowness of a sound, speed of vibration. Tone – a sound that has a definite pitch. Interval – the distance in pitch between any two tones, ex: half step. Accent – emphasis on a certain tone. Tone Color/Timbre – quality of sound that distinguishes on instrument or voice from another. – timbre contrast, one instrument vs. another. Dynamics- Associated Terms – Degrees of loudness or soften in music: Pianissimo (pp) – very soft Piano (p) – soft Mezzopiano (mp) – moderately soft Mezzoforte (mf) – moderately loud Forte (f) – loud Fortissimo (ff) – very loud Crescendo – gradually get louder Decrescendo – gradually get softer Chordophones – make their sound when a stretched string vibrates. – there is usually something they makes the sound reverberate such as the body of a guitar or violin. – the strings are set into motion by either plucking, strumming or by rubbing with a bow. Membranophones – Any musical instrument that produces sound primarily by the way of a vibrating stretched membrane. Ex: timpani Roto toms non-pitched drums snare drum (S. Dr.) tenor drum (T. Dr.) field drum (F. Dr.) bass drum (B. Dr.) Tom-Toms Bongos Timbales (Timb.) Conga Drums Tambourine Idiophones – Ex: Marima Crotales Steel Drums Cymbals (cym.) Suspended Symbol Hi-Hat Finger Symbols Triangle (trgl.) Anvil (anv.) Cowbells Tam-Tam (t.t) and other Gongs Sleigh Bells (sl.b.) Bell Tree (bl.t.) Brake Drum (br. dr.) Thunder sheet (th. sh.) Rachet (rach) Wood Blocks (w.bl.) Temple Blocks (t.bl.) Claves (clav.) Castanets (cast.) Maracas (mrcs.) Guiro Whip (wh) Aerophones – any musical instrument that produce sound primarily by causing a body of air to vibrate. 1st class: where the vibrating is not contained in the instrument itself. Ex: Harmonica 2nd class: where vibrating air is contained by the instrument. Ex: Flute Identify Basic String Instruments – Violin Viola Cello Double Bass Renaissance Lute/Music Dulcimer The Koto-Koto Music The Sitar Identify Basic (Wood)Wind Instruments – Piccolo Flute Clarinet Bass clarinet Oboe English horn Bassoon Identify Basic Percussion Instruments – Timpani Xylophone Snare drum Bass drum Cymbais Identify Basic Keyboard Instruments – Piano Pipe organ Harpsichord Notation/Identify Basic Symbols Staff/Identify Lines and Spaces Time Signature Meter-7,6,5,4,3,2 Downbeat Tied vs dotted rhythms Syncopation Tempo Metronome Arpeggio Half-Step Whole-Step Texture Polyphony Monophonic Homophonic Heterophonic Counterpoint Key Major vs minor vs chromatic scales Key Signature Modulation/Key Change Chord/Progression Harmony Consonance Dissonance Dominant Chord Tonic Chord Sub Dominant Chord Musical Form/Ternary/Binary Phrase/Antecedent/Consequent Cadence Melody/Theme Must Be Prepared to Write Scales and A Chord Progression I –IV-V-I on the staff. Be prepared to insert the Minor chord. Four flats or sharps is the max. . Must be prepared to identify musical instruments and the families they belong to.