Sephora Direct: Investing in Social Media Essay

Summary The company Sephora since 2008 through the creation of a new group has moved into direct marketing and digital initiatives, namely in the social networking world, initially through Facebook. Entering a new world where there are no clear rules or similar experience to help you make the best decisions in this area has been a real challenge. After more than two years in this new digital environment, Sephora are conducting the 2011 management planning requires a greater investment by the president of the company who is willing to provide the necessary funds and always when the company generates a higher return . Factors Innovations introduced in the beauty business with no major products beauty companies, Sephora implement two new ways to offer their products to customers: Allow test their products without obligation. Business Model inexpensive. The client has many products you want to buy in stores, through offering other cosmetics (about 288 brands of products priced almost equal to that of large businesses). With all that Sephora has turn into the largest retail chain of cosmetics medium enterprises but with wide market presence, which was a determining factor for the industry recognized manufacturers offered their produce factor which initially were denied. Vice President Julie Bornstein, whose main objective is to find a reason to justify further investment in the area of social media, the goal is to quantify the return on investment and justify the requirement for increased budgetary allocation for his department. The problem Determine how to measure the ROI that allows the fulfillment of the objectives planned. Analysis of innovations Direct Marketing Their loyalty program customer called Beauty Insiders, started in 2007, created with the intent to learn more about their customers, was strengthened with the inclusion of the idea not only provide discounts but provide benefits to their most frequent customers and the idea to unite the customers buying in store or online posting only your email address and date of birth, by e company was sending new one or even twice a week and the most frequent buyers sent them samples new products, and customers earned one point for every dollar spent on a purchase that could be redeemed for a product according to customer accumulate. Beauty Insiders Another innovation was the identification of customers who had an average annual purchases, which were known as clients VIB (Very Important Beauty Insider), who on the website had a distinctive icon, they were invited to special events at stores, and they are delivering gifts â€Å"Luxury,† and quick access to new products. The website Sephora.com Through the Web site www.sephora.com 2009 the company ventured into a new business model, sales online, which quickly became a very important business for Sephora because of its low costs and high margins generating revenue compared to a typical store. The company saw the need to promote their website and the best alternative was to invest heavily in attracting visitors through the purchase of thousands of keywords (Google AdWords) for brands, products and beauty-related terms, which represent the source most important new traffic to your website. Sephora stimulated offering online purchase including shipping on purchases over $ 50 plus free sample three products per order. This brings them to have 3 million visitors per month and 310,000 visits each day. Social Networks Program reviews and classification of Goods In 2008 the company made the decision to include in their website an application that allows customers to give their reviews even though this initiative was considered high risk, one study showed that most people were connected to the products instead of criticizing. This was promoted via email to Beauty Insiders, and in the first 24 hours had more than 32000 specifications and reviews and although initially the company sought to respond to customers, they decided that they are the same users who answer questions to others. Facebook After the positive experience of receiving reviews and ratings of products through its Web site and its Bazar Voice platform, Sephora decided to venture into other areas of social networking as it is Facebook, the 2009 created the fan page Sephora for customers to contact the company and also serve as a means of direct advertising campaigns, managing to be a channel that greatly influenced the sales. In just two years tripled its audience to 900,000 registered fans and thus Sephora partnered with Facebook to be part of a new feature of the service that allowed people to indicate â€Å"they like†, which allowed detecting the inclinations of their customers, conduct surveys about their products. Given the disadvantage of Facebook not to store questions and that clients all the information of a product, I took the initiative to insert into your website, a forum for questions and storing responses and allowing through an engine sophisticated search, consult them in a safe, private what they called Beauty Talk environment. Additionally allowed classifying people that offered their product knowledge to answer questions of others, establishing a standings in 35 different levels. Analysis of advantages and disadvantages Estimate the return on investment based on past experience – Determine the ROI based on the measurement of customer satisfaction through social networks, blogs, mobile applications and more. Advantages: Increased certainty of the return value of investment will contribute to a better analysis for decision-making. He has experience in the use of social networks and benefits achieved.

Reading Reflection Essay

The reader-response appeal to literature relies on the reader’s ability to process the information being shared rather than the author or the text itself. With the reader-response, a person reads text and then relates to automatic explanations about life that are triggered moment by moment as they continue to read. The literature uses triggers that the reader’s nervous system spontaneously responds to. This type of approach to reading allows people to imagine and be creative within them. It allows the reader to hear, feel and smell what they are reading as if it were happening right now in front of them. The reader-response approach with â€Å"the Road Not Taken† by Robert Frost offered a common understanding for situations in which I had to choose between two decisions. There was a visceral vision of a dilemma to make a choice that would eliminate the other option from ever becoming a possibility when Frost submitted that there was remorse for not being able to travel down the paths for both decisions. Every decision we make causes a difference in some sort of way. Since Frosts’ dilemma was not clear and concise I was able to implement my own choices to make a decision on. The key linguistic that triggered the process was use of the term ‘path’. I was able to relate the poem to a difficult decision of whether or not I was going to move across the country for a job offer. When Frost wrote â€Å"because it was grassy and wanted wear† I was able to relate to the yearning to want to move to Florida (grassy), but not leave the support of his family behind in Michigan (wanted wear). My fiancà ©e and I had to sort through the mutual acknowledgement of each others concerns, have common understandings, and act with the other persons concerns in mind. Both ideas were individually acceptable and understanding by themselves, however; the path â€Å"to where it bent in the undergrowth†, was our childlike needs to be close to family and always have them to be there for us when needed. To travel across the country without a guarantee of success was non existent. The road â€Å"less traveled by† was the decision my fiancà ©e and I ended up executing; we moved to Florida with a faith that the decision was for the better. Most of our peer group still lives in Michigan; and while moving to Florida may carry unknown factors we feel as if we know how our lives will plan out by staying in Michigan. By taking the road less traveled we are unaware of the consequences that await me – both positive and negative – and that makes life more thrilling and I greet each week with anticipation. Mr. Frost’s ability to craft a poem with generic terms allows for the possibility to implement my own experience and apply absolute creativity. I suppose that people who take more risk and accept the unknowns about life can relate more to this poem than others but we can all still relate. I think that at some point I our lives we all come across a path that could go either way and we have to choose which path we will take. Perhaps in some cases the road that is more traveled may be safer or predictable, however, the road less traveled will have more twists and turns that can make the risk a more debatable question of whether it is acceptable or not. Though the poem is not one that I would typically gravitate towards, I’ve realized that by going out of the normal reading habits it allows my imagination to be inspired to find ways to relate. The reader-response approach to the poem would allow most viewers to find some way to relate to it because the way that it is crafted allows a reader to examine each sentence as something personal of the author and the vagueness allows for unlimited boundaries of the reader to interpret for themselves what could and will happen. The notion that everyone can interpret this poem differently is intriguing and inspires my creativity with reading and finding a way to relate myself. In the past, present or future – this poem is applicable to any area of thought that the reader allows. The theme of the poem may after all be to seize the day, and the creativity that comes out from our imagination ensures that the reader-response approaches to be guaranteed when reading â€Å"The Road Not Taken†. References (Clugston R W 2010 Journey into Literature)Clugston, R. W. (2010). Journey into Literature. San Diego, California: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.

Should the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge be open to oil drilling Research Paper

Should the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge be open to oil drilling - Research Paper Example Environmentalists and other interest groups however argue that allowing oil drilling in the region would endanger the wildlife in the region, disrupting their reproductive cycles, their communication, and their endangering their lives. Advocates for oil exploration in the region however insist that the impact of oil drilling in the region on the wildlife would be minimal at best. Opponents to the drilling are not convinced of such contention. Hence, much controversy in this issue is apparent. This paper shall explore this issue and establish a clear and comprehensive discussion on the topic. It shall draw its discussion based on information gathered from scholarly materials and compare it with newspaper and materials from the print media. The discussions in both types of sources shall be analyzed and assessed based on reliability and their applicability to this subject matter. These sources shall serve as both informal and formal scholarly sources for this issue, establishing clear s upport for the topic based on clearly defined and clearly identified arguments from well-supported write-ups. Side A: Oil drilling should not be allowed in the ANWR Scholarly articles are also polarized on the issue with studies discussing the environmental and others the economic aspect of the issue. In a study by Brown (2005), the author discussed the value of the wilderness which is protected by the ANWR. The author further argued the importance of maintaining the area as a wilderness – an area which must be unexplored and untrammeled by humans (Brown, 2005). These environmentalists are firm in expressing that allowing oil exploration in the ANWR would ruin its pristine condition because human activities would blemish the landscape. The US Congress has even acknowledged the fact that â€Å"beauty is in part the glory of seeing moose, caribou, and wolves living in natural habitat, untouched by civilization† (as cited by Brown, 2005). Various studies on environmental positions on the issue set forth that preservation is a priority over any other considerations, and that lands which have been set apart from human exploration must be preserved as such. Most Americans seem to agree with this stance because surveys throughout the years indicate that majority of them do not support drilling in the ANWR. A paper by Kaye (2005) also sets forth similar positions by environmentalists on the issue. This paper also discussed the importance of preserving the ANWR as a wildlife refuge. This study points out that the ANWR provides sanctuaries and benefits which cannot be seen in any other region in the world. They describe it as a place to exercise restraint. It therefore implies that human activities must be fiercely restrained and restricted in this area because it represents the power which people seem to have over the area – a power which must be held back and controlled to a certain extent (Kaye, 2005). In effect, these studies point out the impor tance of controlling human activities, allowing it to be carried out elsewhere, but to be avoided in this region which has for millions of years been allowed to flourish and to exist as an area untouched by human hands. Other scholarly articles discuss how government officials are clearly recognizing the need for the US to explore its domestic sources of oil, and therefore the need for the

Is Anheuser-Busch a monopoly Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Is Anheuser-Busch a monopoly - Essay Example It, however, is not the only corporation that is doing so, as the beer industry has become an oligopoly where â€Å"a few large firms producing a homogeneous or differentiated product dominate a market† and â€Å"firms in the industry that firms are mutually interdependent—each must consider its rivals’ reactions in response to its decisions about prices, output, and advertising† (Monopolistic Competition and Oligopoly). This has created a beer market where the smaller brewers do not really have a chance for success, since the larger companies will make it nearly impossible for them to survive. These large corporations have altered the free market to the point where it is not really free anymore and the consumer’s choices are very limited. Anheuser-Busch does not dominate the beer industry, but it is one of the members of this oligopoly that has taken control of this industry globally. It cannot be said that Anheuser-Busch dominates the market because of its low prices because other breweries do the exact same thing. Anheuser-Busch was, until recently, the world’s largest brewery, by volume, but it has since fallen back a little bit because of its reluctant to acquire other breweries. Despite this, Anheuser-Busch has managed to take a 49% market shape in the United States based almost purely on its major brands: Budweiser, Michelob, and Busch. Each of these beers is basically the same recipe, with minor variations and different names, which is what most beer companies do with their beers. Despite all of this, there have been problems growing for the company in terms of revenue and net profits, as both of these have declined in recent times. The net income for the company is down 31% from last year and the company also went from having %50 of the market share down to only having 49%. One reason for this drop in profits is that beer consumption as a whole has decreased in the United States recently. People are now beginning to

Titanium Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Titanium - Research Paper Example It can exist in 3 separate forms in nature and numerous alloys have been formed with other metals which only serve to increase its uses. One area where titanium has been found to be of utmost importance is in the medical industry. Medical implants with titanium or titanium alloys incorporated in them have been developed and made use of in the past few decades. This paper will examine the use of titanium in medical implants and its properties that contribute to this success, in particular its property of being non corrosive. 2. General properties of titanium Titanium is a transition metal which is found in the earth’s crust (Balazic et al, 2007). It is the fourth most abundant metal on earth and is found all over the world in volcanic and alluvial deposits. While ores such as rutile and ilmeinite are plentiful, titanium reacts with nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen and is not easy to extract from its ore (Brunette et al, 2001). Extraction involves very expensive methods and a mere 5% of pure titanium is extracted from an ore usually (Brunette et al, 2001). The density of titanium is about half of that of steel though it is as strong as steel (Balazic et al, 2007). ... Metals commonly used to make stable the alpha form include aluminum, tin and oxygen. The beta form can be stabilized using metals like chromium, iron or vanadium. Using mixtures of both of these stabilizers leads to the production of alpha+beta titanium alloys (Brunette et al, 2001). 3. Uses of titanium Titanium has uses in many different fields including aerospace, power generation, automotive, chemical and petrochemical, sporting goods, dental and medical applications (Rack and Qaz, 2006; Sibum, 2003; Wang, 1996 from Balazic et al, 2007). The commercial aspects of titanium were only exploited in the 1940s (Balazic et al, 2007). Starting in the 1960s, titanium was used as a material in medical implants (Balazic et al, 2007). Now, over a 1000 tonnes or 2.2 million pounds of titanium are used in implants all over the world every year (The Titanium Information Group, 2003). Titanium alloys have also been used in the medical industry and there are three main types of alloys which have b een developed: alpha titanium alloys, beta titanium alloys and alpha+beta titanium alloys (Balazic et al, 2007). Of these, it is primarily beta alloys that are used in medical applications (Brunette et al, 2001) Some of the most common alloys that have been used include Titanium-Aluminum-Vanadium and Nickel-Titanium (Nitinol) (Balazic et al, 2007). Some of the main uses in implants are for bone or joint replacements, dental implants, maxillofacial and craniofacial uses, cardiovascular devices and external prostheses (The Titanium Information Group, 2003). It has also been used in medical fasteners and fixation devices (Brunette et al, 2001). 4. Desirable

Nursing theory reviewed Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Nursing theory reviewed - Essay Example Nursing involves four perspectives in which the professionals address the whole nursing problems by subdividing the concepts into: The person/patient- they analyze the physiological structure and functioning of the body, psychological perspective to deal with mental processes and emotions. In addition, they analyze developmental processes within the lifespan and actively look into social-cultural and spiritual side of their patient. The health perspective in nursing tends to define health as a condition in which all body parts are in harmony with the client, here the client being the patient. This harmony is usually based on the body needs and how much it receives from the system in that for optimality the energy provided by the system should always be more than what the body can actually use. Nursing also seeks to evaluate environment aspect through analysis of external and internal factors that surround a patient and the rate at which they interact in any given time. Also nursing i nvolves consistency, should use direct but simple approach, governed by nursing education and practice so as to address the areas of primary, secondary and tertiary interventions Training and professionalism go hand in hand in that continuing one’s education and/or study while working is an essential criterion for a long term success through competence development in furthering their careers. With a series of requirements in the nursing sector, knowledge development is of paramount importance as to the scope of their activities. For instance knowledge development from antiquity to nightingale, from nightingale to science and from knowing patterns to contexts of knowledge development, calls for intensive study and further training. Ethical knowledge development calls for nursing ethics, code of conduct and morality and an over view of ethical perspectives. Nursing as a field with wide application and scope entails conceptualization and structuring of

Economy of New York Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Economy of New York - Essay Example The personal income per capita (how much the average worker earns per year) in 2005 was an average of $40,072. In 2007, the minimum wage rate in the New York state is $7.15, $2 more than the federal wage rate ($5.15). Within the US, New York state’s economy grew 3.3%, while the value for the US is 3.5%. Thus, this places the New York state in fifth position just after Maryland. New York is a very rich state with a growing economy: it would rank as the 16th largest economy in the world if it were to be considered as an independent nation. New Yorks most popular products are: 1) in agriculture, dairy products, livestock and vegetables; 2) in industry, printing and publishing, scientific instruments, electric equipment and machinery, chemical products; and 3) tourism. The largest export markets for the state’s products are Canada, the UK, Japan, Israel and Switzerland, which imported products for a value of 30.2, 3.3, 2.6, 2.4 and 1.8 billion dollars, respectively. In fact, Canada is a very important partner since it receives approximately 23% of the exports of the state1. Also, Canadian tourism is very beneficial economically for New York. Canadians are believed to spend $500 million every year during their visits to the state. New York’s most popular exports are: foodstuffs, commodities, diamonds and other minerals, manufactured goods and automobile parts. New Yorks largest imports are: oil, gold, aluminum, natural gas, electricity and lumber. Inflation, an index that compares prices with spending power, rose 3.1% at the end of February 2007with respect to the previous year. The Consumer Price Index, which is a measure of the price of a selection of items purchased by a typical consumer, increased 3.3% with respect to the same period (News–Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2007). Overall, this means that life in the state of New York is 3% more expensive in 2007 than in 2006. Similarly to the increases observed in house prices in

Corporate Strategy and Competition Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Corporate Strategy and Competition Law - Essay Example This analysis shall also include an assessment of whether there are any competition law or antitrust issues which will need to be addressed in the application of this strategy in corporations. Information technology is one of the fastest technologies currently available to man. It is pervasive and it is also a diverse technology and is currently accessible to almost all individuals. The internet, cellular phones, and other digital media have all made the world a much smaller place. What used to be oceans or hours of plane ride away is now just a mouse click away through one’s computer. Transactions can now be carried out without parties having to meet personally with each other. Corporations who take advantage of information technology are likely to save on cost and are likely to reach a wider consumer base. Information technology now resolves the issues of advertising and marketing which used to limit corporations in terms of coverage and impact. With the advent of social networking, information technology is now in a higher level of coverage – its possibilities are limitless and for corporations, it also means that their reach and potential for profit and c ompetitive advantage can be limitless.

Comparing and Contrasting PCs and mainframes Essay Example for Free

Comparing and Contrasting PCs and mainframes Essay Before the existence of personal computer or PC, there is minicomputer or microcomputer, the term â€Å"computer† simply referred to mainframes. Mainframes and personal computers have changed drastically over the years but their core functions and systems have stayed the same. The mainframe is used to connect multiple users for large organizations, while personal computers are generally used for a single user. The more drastic changes for mainframes and personal computers have been the increase of speed, memory, and the reduction of size. Mainframes use to be the size of buildings, now they are the size of a normal Intel blade server system. Last time when you need to access the mainframe you need to use a terminal for data entry or retrieve certain data. Then, the idea came to off load some of the processing from the mainframe and place it on a personal computer. Compare A mainframe is not much difference from a personal computer. There are many similarities between mainframes and personal computers which stands to reason since one evolved from the other. Both mainframes and personal computers have one or more central processor units, a huge number of memory, one or more busses, and one or more I/O systems. Another similarity between the two is that they are both IBM-based systems and similar hardware is used to build them. They can also perform some complex calculations, applications and handle multiple programs. Another area is that both require operating system to work and also to handle and optimize all the I/O systems or modules. Differences Although they are much similarity between the mainframes and computer as mention above, the similarity stop there as they are many differences too. Mainframes cost much more in terms of thousands of dollar than a normal personal computer or server. The mainframe nowadays takes up less space and less power consumption compare to a server farm task to do the same job. As mention (Shurkin, 1996), Transaction processing jobs run constantly in real-time and must be available more than 99. 99% of the time. The reboots and lock-ups common with PCs are simply not acceptable. Thousands of individual users can log in simultaneously from a variety of sources such as computer terminals, ATM, or Internet web sites, and complete a single transaction. Time-sharing jobs can be started when needed from a computer terminal by authorized users who then use the mainframe as their own big PC. Finally, batch jobs are started automatically by the system at regular times according to a strict predetermined schedule. Batch jobs are used to do the periodic processing required on the data being received from transaction and time-sharing jobs. Closing the accounting books at month-end or copying disk files to tape for backup are examples of batch type processing. The OS or Operating System in a mainframe such as from IBM z/OS which is the successor to the IBM OS/390 can run Multiple Virtual Systems (MVS). The new IBM z/OS support WebSphere ® Application Server on z/OS, and also the new zFS (System z File System) Direct I/O capability in z/OS. This help to enhance performance improvements to the system, and also provide an easier Parallel Sysplex functionality (IBM, September 2011). In an article by (Barnett G, 2010) stated that the mainframe is best suited for enterprise cloud computing as it is easily able to handle hundreds of complex applications or programs, and most important able to run hundreds of environment in a single physical footprint and easily deliver the 247 availability that our customers demand. Conclusion (Doerbecker Patterson, 2002), stated that the role of the mainframe has gradually changed from that of a data processor to that of a server, with the processing being done on the users PC. It has also been modified to interface to the Internet through the addition of TCP/IP protocols, Unix, and Java programming, to enable businesses to connect to their customers over that network. Once the only form of business computer available, the mainframe has survived the PC revolution and maintained an important function in commercial computing.

Nazi Germany Essay Example for Free

Nazi Germany Essay In Nazi Germany during the Third Reich, which began in the early 1930’s, the role of Women in the society was greatly affected by different policies that were created by the totalitarian government system. Some of these policies included the Law of Encouragement of Marriage, the Lebensborn program, and the Law for Prevention of Hereditary Diseased Offspring (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum). The law of Encouragement of Marriage said that newly wed couples would be given a loan of 1000 marks and for each child that they had they would be allowed to deduct 250 marks from their loan (Trueman). This meant that if a family had 4 or more children they would pay their entire loan off. The Lebensborn Program of 1936 meant that racially pure Aryan women, usually unmarried, would live in Lebensborn houses while they carried the children of SS men in secret (The â€Å"Lebensborn† Program). Once the child was born, they were given to the SS organization to educate the child and facilitate their adoption. All men and women who applied to live in the Lebensborn houses first needed to pass a racially pure test. This test included tracing the family’s genetics back at least 3 generations and blonde hair and blue eyes were preferred (The â€Å"Lebensborn† Program). The Law for the Prevention of Hereditary Diseased Offspring meant that women who were considered to be racially impure or undesirable were sterilized so that they would not be able to produce more offspring. These laws were designed to increase the population of â€Å"pure† Germans and increase the amount of soldiers and mothers that lived in Germany (Turk). The policies that were imposed upon women in Nazi Germany can be considered both successful and unsuccessful. When these policies were first imposed, everyone complied with the policies and women began bearing more children (Women in the Nazi State). As a result, women were forced to commit themselves to the domestic life thus forfeiting their chance to be employed outside of the home. While more women committed themselves to domestic life, more men were able to take their jobs. Through these laws the population increased dramatically and women and girls now had the opportunity to help support the Nazi organizations (German Women and 3 Ks). The policies were unsuccessful because Germany lost the war and thus they did not need all of these pure Germans to populate these territories because they lost control of them when the war was lost. The women were also needed  to work when the war was in its most intense period, but due to the policies that were imposed on women, they were used to living a solely domestic life and did not want to return to the workforce (German Women and 3 Ks). The policies were unsuccessful as well, because there was a large amount of discrimination towards women, limiting their rights as German citizens. The Nazi party, through imposing these policies, increased the German population from 66 million people in 1933 to 68 million people in 1938 (Ganse), which is the main reason these policies could be considered a success. Work cited: Allison, Fiona. The Role of Women in Nazi Germany 1939-1945 West European History. N.p., hhhhhh8 Oct. 2009. Web. 23 Aug. 2012. Ganse, Alexander. History of Germany. World History at KMLA. Korean Minjork Leadership Academy, 11 Sept. 2008. Web. 23 Aug. 2012. German Women and 3 Ks. German Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Aug. 2012. Simkin, John. Women in Nazi Germany . Spartacus Educational. Spartacus Educational hhhhhhPublishers, n.d. Web. 23 Aug. 2012. The â€Å"Lebensborn† Program. Jewish Virtual Library. N.p., 27 Apr. 2000. Web. 23 Aug. 2012. Trueman, Chris. The Role of Women in Nazi Germany. History Learning Site. N.p., n.d. hhhhhhWeb. 23 Aug. 2012. Turk, Eleanor L. Nazi Germany, 1933-1939. World History at KMLA. N.p., 7 Feb. 2011. Web. hhhhhh23 Aug. 2012. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. â€Å"Women in the Third Reich† Holocaust Encyclopedia. Web. 23 Aug. 2012. Women in the Nazi State. BBC GCSE Bitesize. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Aug. 2012.

Macro Environment Analysis: PEST

Macro Environment Analysis: PEST With the increasing of international business, there has been growing interest in how a successful organization to create a appropriate international strategy. This article provides an expanded approach to an organizations strategy and linkages that exist in international business operations. Geely Holding Group as an illustrative case to be evaluated by suing PEST analysis, Porters Five Force Model, SWOT analysis, and Integration-responsiveness Framework. By analyzing all internal and external elements and variables factors, this paper proposes a list of recommendations and solutions to promote Geelys international process. Key words: Internal Business Environment, External Business Environment, industry globalization and localization drivers, Critical Success Factors, competitors Integration-responsiveness framework. 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Background of Automotive Industry The automotive industry is growing with globalization since the first automobile was built in 1885. To the present day, more than 70 million motor vehicles were produced extending throughout the world. China , Russia , Brazil and India became the major markets rapidly. In 2008, the Figure 1 shows there were about 73.2 million new motor vehicles were sold worldwide (OICA, 2009). The production has continuously increased, whereas sales started decrease in late 2007. The whole industry was weakened by a substantial increase in the prices of raw materials and fuels cost. Furthermore, the recession began in 2008 had a profound influence on the auto industry. By 2008, a series of damaging blows drove the automobile manufacturers include American Big Three to the verge of miserable condition. Dugigg (2008) has referred to such a language as The automotive industry crisis occurred between 2008 and 2010 is a part of reflection of global financial downturn. The crisis primarily affected the American and European automobile manufacturing industry. Decline in productivity has resulted in less output, meanwhile, due to the economic crisis, oil price shock and environment expectations, more and more automobile buyers turned their attention on a higher quality and more fuel saving auto vehicles. This phenomenon of changing product demand gives many automobile manufacturers a heavily shock. Therefore, many famous automobile manufacturers have no choice to sell some of its famous brands in order to relieve financial pressure. Undoubtedly, it provides opportunities to other private enterprises entry the market. China became both the largest automobile producer and market in the world after experiencing massive growth in 2009. For example Ford, the one of The Big Three of American au tomobile manufacturer and the fourth-largest in the world based on cars sold number annually (OICA,2008), battled against the weak currency market and sold decline. Failing investments and an increasing unemployment rate has exacerbated the impact of the crisis. 1.2 Geely Holding Group Profile According to the company brief of Geely (2010), Geely Holding Group is one of Chinas top ten private automakers and also among the countrys top 500 organizations. Geely is founded in 1986 and is today a fully integrated independent auto firm with a complete auto eco-system from design and research and development to production, distribution and servicing (Li Shufu,2008,p 9). Although Geely has achieved great success in domestic automobile industry, it pays more attention to explore global market. About 40000 vehicles are exported for sales in 2008, ranking second place in automobile export in China. In March 28, 2010, Geely Group signed a contract to make an acquisition of Ford Motors Volvo automobiles brand for the cost of $1.8 billion (Nordstrom, 2010). Through acquisition, Geely can rapidly accelerate its international business in automobile industry and become a leader in this area. 2.0 Geely Business Environment Analyses 2.1 Conceptual Background on Business Environment John Kew and John Stredwick(2005) similarly argued that business environment is a situation largely outside the control and influence of an organization, and the factors in business environment car potentially have both benefit and passive impacts on an organizations present or future activities. It is useful to divide into two the micro-environment and the macro-environment. Middleton (2003) elaborated that the macro-environment involves factors such as the economy, government policy and social change, outside of the direct control of the business. These factors such as the economy, government policy and social change can have a significant effect on a firms success but the relationship is fairly one way. The PEST (or PESTLE) analysis appears to be by Francis J. Aguilar in 1967 can analyze the macro-environment efficiently. The individuals and firms belong to micro-environment and have direct activities of a business. The members of it include suppliers, distributors, competitors, c ustomers and employees. These factors will affect the performance of any organization. Thus, the micro-environment plays a critical role in the success and behavior of a business. Use the Five Forces analysis to gain insights into the competitiveness of the micro-environment (Cliff, 1990). 2.2 Macro-environment Analysis by use PEST Analysis PEST is an acronym for Political, Economic, Social and Technological. Organization can use this tool to reduce risks associated with operation. The Oxford University Press was strongly shaped and influenced by PEST analysis. As the relevant article published in 2007 shows A PEST analysis is helpful understanding the position, potential and direction for a business. PEST Analysis on Automotive Industry Political Political factors relate to government policy that firms have to operate, such as trade regulation, political stability and trading policies. Political decisions can impact on many vital aspects for organizations. Automotive industry has propelled by government incentives. For example, China government used stimulus measures to support vehicle sales, such as cuts in sales tax for engines smaller than 1.6 liters. Indeed, Geely as a famous independent privately owned firm in China, it has a strong support from the government. Moreover, America saved the American Big Three of the automobile manufacturers in 2009. Furthermore, governments make no difficultly with automobile merger of cross border or oversea purchase domestic brands. A great deal of mergers and acquisitions activity from auto manufacturers to parts suppliers (Gaughan, 2008). For instance, Geelys international acquisition is evident to that. Economic Economic factors include interest rates, taxation changes, economic growth, inflation and exchange rates. Above of these impact the profit of firm and customers purchasing power. Exchange rate fluctuation influences on vehicle international trade, a weak currency may make export easier. An economic slowdown in many parts of the world during the financial crisis. In this term, interest rate and inflation are unstable. In fact, recession let automotive industry has a huge problem. However, China has remained the only one of the worlds major economies that continued to show growth through the global recession of 2008-2009. Chinas strong economic boom of recent years continues to lift incomes and bring more of the population within financial reach of car ownership, vehicle sales arrived at 13.6million units in 2009 CAAM reported (Just-auto). Social Social factors include lifestyle trends, culture, buying access and trends. These factors affect consumers demand and the size of potential markets.Focus on social trends can improve on the firms reaction to customers need. Consider of fuel cost and environment pollution, increasing consumers need small cars. In other words, customers prefer to high quality, low price, complete service, and added value for an auto vehicle. Technological Technological factors involve new technologies create, rate of technological diffusion and change, replacement technology and so on. Individuals and governments are set up to promote new technology in renewable energy and create electric vehicles. Conclusion Above of these factors could be important macro-environment elements in an automobile manufacturer. It is vital to gain an insight into the macro-environment of the industry to guide strategic decision-making. In political aspects, although most governments propel development of auto industry, some of them take a system of tariffs or other measure of protecting domestic producers, especially compare with Chinas new stimulus measures. It doubtless impacted automobile international trade. If the firm choose a place with abnormal inflation rate, high taxation and may lead to production cost and operation fee, taxation and unstable exchange rate, the firm will have high risks associated with operation. Consider social and technological factors, companies in should focus on research and development to environmentally-friendly products like electric vehicles. 2.3 The Porters Five Forces Analysis on Micro-environment Porters Five Forces analysis is a simply tool to analyze the determinants of an organizations profit; it can be summarized through his Five Forces Model in figure 3. (Chris, Stewart and martin, 2008). This model attempts to explain relationship between competitors, new entrants, suppliers, customers and substitutes. Understand of critical issues is vital to establish what the best competitive position and gap is (Michael E. Porter, 1980). 2.3 The Porters Five Forces Analysis on Micro-environment Porters Five Forces analysis is a simply tool to analyze the determinants of an organizations profit; it can be summarized through his Five Forces Model in figure 3. (Chris, Stewart and martin, 2008). This model attempts to explain relationship between competitors, new entrants, suppliers, customers and substitutes. Understand of critical issues is vital to establish what the best competitive position and gap is (Michael E. Porter, 1980). Rivalry Among Existing competitors Rivalry competitors always have similar products or services in the same industry. Strong rivalry is likely to generate profits damage. The degree of rivalry is high when competitors have become more equal in market share and capability, tempted use price war or other competitive measures to boost sales, low barriers to entry, demand for the product is growing slowly, the costs of leaving the market is high and a little brand loyalty because of so similar that customers are easily switch products. According to automotive industry, rivalry can be intense and cut-throat due to more and more competitors undertook the vehicle manufacture. 2. Threats of New entry For other Chinese firm enter the automotive industry it is expensive to set up a nationwide network in marketing and equipment. Geely established in 5 strategy markets, such as CIS, Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia and Central and South America. The existing automobile manufacturers have gained high reputation in market and established excellent brand image. However, the existing firms have no control of the supplies; new entries have opportunities to development. In recent years, Chinese domestic auto companies that have experience in host country like Chery, Chana, Saic and Baw, have active performance in international market. Therefore industrys profitability was affected. Like Porters view, In a market with low barriers to entry, the threat of newly competing rivals is high only when the level of profitability in this industry is high as well. To illustrate, in March 2nd, 2006, Chery had exported its own products to American. Chery has gained a certain market share in Europe, Africa, South America and North America in 2009. 3. Threats of substitutes A substitute is something has similar function as existing product in the industry. According to Porter, the threat of substitutes also influences the bargaining power of companies. (Chris, Stewart and martin, 2008,p.37)If substitutes have lower price, good performance or both, then some customers will be tempted to move new products. Substitutes are not in direct competition but have nonetheless a massive impact on existing companies, for example decrease goods price and raising investment to improve products or services. However, there was no obvious evidence of substitutes in automotive industry. Although some countries have complete public transfer, but all of these 4. Bargaining Power of buyers Powerful buyers will be able to force down prices thus can bargain away profits of firms that sales goods or services. Porter argues that the profitability of an organization depends on the bargaining power it exercises in negotiating prices with suppliers and customers. Buyer power will be higher if they are scale important in this transaction. For example they purchase in large quantities or purchases represent a sizeable percentage of the industrys total sales. However, this kind of powerful buyer are difficult appear in global auto industry, it could be happen in a small area. Especially, there are a few buyer of the firm, big buyer is vital to them. Moreover, when the industry emerge large numbers of small sellers or customers can easily switch to other provides, consumers have powerful negotiation to extract a high quality service at a good price. In fact, international auto market has a great many vehicle brands not only in low-end car market but also in high-end auto market. Buyers have a very wide selection. 5. Bargaining power of suppliers The strong bargaining power of supplier is leading to a squeeze on profits through higher input costs. If there are relatively few suppliers within the industry or organizations are difficult or costly switch from one supplier to another, the suppliers of raw materials, power, skilled labors and components will have power of high prices negotiation. According to China Association of Automobile Manufactures research (Plunkett, 2007) shows cost, design, security and extra capability are decisive factors in a cars value. It requires suppliers to enhance the quality of their products and service. Global competition in auto industry: Along with the continuous impact of financial crisis, the international market is shrinking. Meanwhile, the profit of international auto market decrease along with the shrinking revenue. Consequently, the competition in international auto market is becoming fiercer and fiercer. The automobile market is at the maturity stage of the life cycle, locally and globally, due to an increased number of competitors from domestic and foreign markets. The automobile market is characterized by a low potential for market growth, but high sales and limited profit margins. Competitive forces are high in each segment of the overall market, Geely currently face fierce competition against Lifan, whos marketing strategy is price oriented, its model series LIFAN520 has gain a considerable proportion of the market due to its low price strategy. After the buy out of Volvo, it is expected that Geely will shift its current strategy to differentiation. Hunt (1972) proposed a strategic group analysis to identi fy and group strategic characteristics, following similar strategies or rivaling on common bases. Criticism offers that the study of strategic groups is merely from cognitive perspective, notwithstanding the framework have obtained prominence over the years (Hodgkinson 1997:623). Profit Margin High Low Sales Volume Low High High sales with average margin Toyota, Chrysler, Honda Low Sales Volume with high margin BMW, Mercedes, Jaguar High Sales Volume with low margin Lifan, Geely Low Sales and low margin Chery, Chana, Saic Baw Figure: Strategic Group Analysis To sum up, along with the recovery of international economy environment, and Chinese governments policy on private enterprises access to internationalization, it provides convenience and opportunity for Geelys international strategy. Nevertheless, due to deficient consumer confident on private enterprise and the restriction of consumption environment, Geely faces mighty competition pressure. Thus, what is needed is the improvement of Geelys ability to respond to external factors after acquisition. When we make an international strategic plan for a multinational enterprise, we have to take the corresponding relationship between local factors and global factors into account. The IR framework provides a visual diagram for us to demonstrate the diverse and conflicting pressures that firms confront. The two major concepts that will influence MNE are integration and responsiveness. By integration, Prahalad and Doz (1987) refer to the coordination of activities across countries aimed at building efficient operations networks and taking maximum advantage of similarities across locations. By responsiveness, they refer to the attempt of responding to specific needs of host countries, and note that businesses can choose to emphasize one dimension over another, or to stress both dimensions. Thus, firms have basically three strategic options at their disposal: the global integration strategy, the locally responsive strategy, and as sort of an in-between option, the multi-focal strategy. The choice between the three strategic options is governed by the perceived intensity of two forces in the firms operating environment: the pressure for global integration and the pressure for local responsiveness (Prahalad Doz, 1987, pp. 18-21). The global integration and local responsiveness pressure of Geely is listed in Figure 8 Integration Pressure(Globalization drivers) Responsiveness Pressure(Localization drivers) Economies of Scale. Geely needs to set a brand of subsidiaries to achieve economies of mass production. Consumer trends and universal needs. The word Consumers are God should be a basic principle of Geelys cultural. Uniform service to global customers. Services are essential to win global consumers enthusiasm. Global sourcing of raw materials, components, energy, and labor. Source from large-scale, centralized suppliers provides benefits from economies of scale and consistent performance. Global competitors. Global cooperation and coordination is necessary to resolve competitive threats in foreign and domestic markets. Availability of media that reaches customers in multiple markets. Geely should take advantage of the Internet and cross-national television to advertise their products in different countries simultaneously. Unique resources and capabilities available to the firm. Each country has its own abundant resources. Diversity of local customer needs. Different people in different region have different appetite and requirements on vehicles. Local competition. When competing against numerous local rivals, centrally-controlled MNEs will have difficulty gaining market share with global products that are not adapted to local needs. Geely should diversify its products. Cultural differences. MNES have to adapt to local history, language, custom, ways of dealing with people and culture. Local government requirements and regulations. Local governments usually impose trade barriers or complex business regulations to protect local trade. Apparently, Geely has great ambitions to become a top automobile manufacturer giants in a few years. However, due to the reason that Chinese automobile industry has started later than many developed countries, Geely has a huge gap between other large manufacturers. Although Geely has already acquired Volvo, it has numerous obstacles such as international humanresource integration and management, autonomous technology RD, and cross-cultural conflicts. According to the analysis of Figure8 and IR framwork, we can conclude that Geely has to seek to achieve both global effectiveness and local responsiveness. Geely must achieve simultaneously requirements for strong central control and coordination of subsidary companies and decentralization and empowement to local responsiveness. 3.3 Key Factors for Success in Automotive Industry The Critical success factors (CSF) is a notion which is applied to understand the elements necessary for an organization to archive its objectives, it is initially applied in the data analysis and business analysis (Rockart, 1979), later it extended its use in IT projects to enhance the user involvements (Boynlon, 1984). In the automotives industry, there are a set of critical success factors for firms to achieve in order to obtain unique competitive advantage. First, engineering and innovation in car designing, a firm can gain remarkable advantage via superior quality of engineering in automotive production, skilled labour force, fashionable design and luxury taste. Second, Brand image is of essence in todays auto mobile competition. E.g. BMW claims its brand as ultimate Driving Machine (BMW, 2004), excellent brand image can lead to fanatic loyalty towards the brand thus create advantage. Third, safety is guaranteed by the quality of vehicles, premium quality mobile, sophisticated testing methods and strong safety record will all contribute to competitiveness of a firm. Fourth, cost reduction, sophisticated techniques e.g. JIT system or host country advantage can have direct impact on the cost reduction of a firm. Fourth, if a firm can tightly control its distribution network, it can manage its bran d more efficiently and make more effective communication with its distributors. Fifth, a firm has an excellent grasp on supply chain management enables the firm to maintain a good relationship with suppliers in the long run, to ensure that the customer needs are satisfied. The strategic positioning model is widely applied to demonstrate how a firm shifts its strategy in a variety of ways (Boston, 2000). Chesbrough and Rosenbloom (2002) argued that the application of strategic position model enable the user to gain a clear picture of the competitive advantages of the chosen firm. In Geelys case, due to the host country advantage now Geely possess the cost advantage in the low end market from global scale. However the acquisition of Volvo may help Geely to gain the engineering expertise and a positive brand images, consequently create more competitive advantages for the firm. 4.0 International Strategy of Geely 4.1 Internal and External Factors Analysis by Using SWOT Analysis SWOT analysis is a simple and useful tool for strategic alternatives from a business environment analysis. SWOT formed from the initial letters of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. It through analyze the internal and external environment to help organizations understand current situation and make decision easily. The SWOT analysis was provided by Albert S. Humphrey in the 1960s, but now it development into an absolutely necessary part of the strategic planning process (An Soff, 1965). Indeed, it is considered the first step of forming a strategic picture. SWOT analysis divide into two aspects, one is external factors as opportunities and threats, the other aspect is internal factors include strengths and weaknesses. Strengths and weaknesses are essentially internal to an organization and relate to matters concerning resources, programs, and organization in key areas. Opportunities and threats tend to be external- from competing organizations, global trends, and other environmental factors. (Charney,p 170,2005) The SWOT analysis reduces the relevant information from internal and external environment to a manageable quantity of primary issues. Logically, it is helpful optimize the firms resources and capabilities, therefore a firm can better leverage its strengths, correct its weaknesses, capitalize on golden opportunities, and deter potentially devastating threats. (Menon,1999,p 30) Thus, a comprehensive SWOT analysis of Geely contributes to a better understanding of Geelys international business environment at internal and external. The figure below is the SWOT analysis on Geelys acquisition of Volvo. SWOT analysis on Geely Internal factors External factors Strengths Opportunities Owns many patents. The maturity of domestic market. Ranking 2nd place in automobile export in China. Supports from government policy. A mass of honest customers in the low-end car market. Geely got further research and developed new energy vehicles. Effective cost control of manufacturing and sale while has high performance price ratio. Increasing needs at abroad. Vehicles have gained high reputation in overseas market and established excellent brand image. Advanced production facilities and technology in low-end car. Local competitors have poor products. Geely can launch 4-5 brand new car models and engine models every year. RD is greatly improved to provide efficient guarantee for the overseas business development. Geely successfully acquired the worlds second largest automatic transmission company called DSI. Capital rising by entrust loans from reliance group. Product innovations ongoing. An increasing trend on global market shares. A billions credit limit from China Everbright Bank and the support from Goldman Sachs Investment Bank. Weaknesses Threats The scale gap with other large automobile manufacturer in the world. Brand appeal is low, oversea consumers have little confidence on new private brands. Marketing network is incomplete, oversea staff need training. Consume circumstance of automobile market is depressed since financial crisis. No takeover experience at automobile company abroad could be called up. It has risks in culture and operation. More and more domestic private brands emerge in automobile industry likely entry of new competitors. Management cover insufficient, Lack of management depth A high safety standard of international import and export motor vehicles Inadequate financing capabilities. Capital situation is unstable. Culture difference impact management style and sales product, oversea customers maybe refuse to adapt new products. It will invest huge number of money to operate in the further years. The market system is incomplete. Manufacturing technique is deficient, poor quality vehicles and less value. New regulations exposed to political problems in the countries that operate in, besides, taxation maybe introduced on product or service. 6.0 Current Situation and Recommendations Independent Research and Development There is no doubt that core technology is the essential of every company in every industry. Moreover, when Geely grasp the unique core technology in automobile industry, it will have the pricing power and cost control, which is the key factor of its globalization strategy. Therefore, Geely has to put more energy on research on its own patents. It is advisable for Geely to set up its own lab. Geely can attract scientists and technicians by offering well-paid position and reputation. 2. Pay attention to domestic market Chinese market is a huge cake which contains abundant human and raw material resources. More and more foreign have rushed into China in order to seize the new prosperous market. As a domestic enterprise, Geely has many unique advantages such as human network, government supports, and public patriotism. Domestic market is the solid back supports for Geelys international development. 3. Cross-cultural management After acquisition, Geely has to take over a series of overseas factories, which means Geely has recruited hundreds and thousands of foreign employees. How to manage them effectively will be the first challenge for Geely. Cultural shock, language barriers, miscommunications, and staff turnover will be the main obstacles in Geelys management. It is suggested that Geely should pay attention to leadership theories. Empowerment, motivation and teamwork are the key factors involved in Geelys management. 4. Government supports In order to expand international market, Geely has to face with different laws and regulations. Building a harmonious and cooperative relationship with governments is essential. Geelys investment and development can enhance local employment rate and increase local tax revenue. Simultaneously, government can provide unique supports for Geely. Cooperation with governments is a win-win strategy. 5. Building a talents training system Experts and technology are the core productivity for a MNE. Geely can set up its own talent base through establishing independent labs and donation to famous universities. Through collaboration with universities and labs, Geely can gain a reputation for thousands and hundreds of students, who have potential to contribute for Geely in the future. Unauthorized Intrusion Or Hacking Information? Unauthorized Intrusion Or Hacking Information? This survey paper will give us the brief overview of what cyber attacks are, what are their types and their causes and what steps should be taken in order to control or counter them with respect to information security management. With the current advancement in cyber technology and mass adaptation of this technology by most of the organizations and businesses cyber security becomes the key concern. Most of the operations like financial, industrial and commercial are interlinked and dependent on each other and ever more dependent on information technology. At the same time, the rapidly growing interconnectivity of IT systems, and the convergence of their technology towards industry-standard hardware and software components and sub-systems, renders these IT systems increasingly vulnerable to malicious attack. (Randel, etal,1998) Introduction: As technology progress and capabilities of information warfare have developed significantly in recent years, the probability of cyber attacks have increased as well. Computer-network attacks mainly known as cyber attacks can destroy adversary data, computer systems, and networks, and can have a major effect on an adversarys ability to wage war (Bayles, 2001). In the cyber arena, the situation is, in some ways, worse than simply paying too little heed to a potential new threat until it manifests itself. Threats in the cyber arena have manifested themselves. We are reminded constantly of our vulnerabilities to the threat, yet we still are not doing enough. Every hour of every day, some individual or group is writing or disseminating a new disruptive virus or worm or is breaking into a computer network or to harm a network by some other means (Vatis, 2004). It is usually said that it is very productive and simple to bring computer in our systems and to increase its usage but at the same time it is significantly difficult and far more expensive to develop technologies to make it secure mainly because of the internet, a network which is used to share information rather than hiding it. Most cyber attackers are attracted to high value targets such as networks, servers, or routers, whose disruption could yield financial or political consequences (Vatis 2001). Types of cyber Attacks: According to (Arnold and Pangi, 2003) Main objective of the cyber attacker is to steal, destroy, remove or change information or to block the functionality of the system which they want to target. We can divide these attacks typically into three main categories, Unauthorized Intrusion or Hacking Destructive Viruses or Worms Denial of Service attacks (DoS) Unauthorized Intrusion or Hacking: Unauthorized attacks are attacks in which attacker get access in to the system by the means of different hacking or cracking techniques. This type of activity will be performed by some outsider who wants to have access of the system in order to use it for some negative purpose. Second type of threat is from an insider who illegally wants to access the system which he or she is not authorized to in order to do harm the network or system. We can divide hacking further in to three more categories, system can be shut down by hacker after regular interval but this kind of hacking activity easily recognized by the administrator and can be easily fixed. Sometimes there are defacements which change the information on the computer system, this type of activity is also easily traceable as sometimes hackers place a note like you have been hacked à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦etc. Defacements are potentially more disruptive as they subtly change figures or alter information. Another common type of defacement is website defacement. Hackers regularly deface information on organizations or government websites in order to ridicule the entity that sponsors the site or to put hackers own message. Most of them are just nuisance not a serious threat. Semantic hacking is one fo rm of defacement which is potentially more harmful as it changes the content of a web page deviously so that the change could not be obvious which results in the dissemination of the false information. An example of possible semantic attack with significant impact would be change in the website of disease control and prevention system which could have a disastrous effect on research and analyses or treatment of the disease. Thirdly the possible threat is of Trojan horse programmes. These are the silent operations and aim to pass undetected by virus scanners. They get the information from the system and send it to the hacker. (*, 2007) Destructive Viruses or Worms: These types of attack usually spread through emails or some other source of data transfer between computer to computer and can cause the loss of functionality of parts of the network. Worm and viruses are malicious computer program example of famous virus is love mail which use to shut down the system and another example of this kind of virus is I love you email as soon as attachment is opened it start sending copies of the same email to all address in users address book. Denial of Service attacks (DoS) Denial of service attack is a sort of attack in which hacker bombard the system with number of messages with such a frequency that system cannot able to process anything else. It overload the computer system which results in effecting the functionality of the system. Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks is another useful mean of putting computers off network for some time. In Distributed Denial of service attacks hacker bombard the web and email server from great number of messages, by receiving such a high numbers of fake messages system functionality becomes slow or sometime system get crashed. Hackers can easily increase the effect of their distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks by using malicious codes to get control of other systems and using these Zombie machines to send more messages on to the servers(Arnold and Pangi, 2003). Domain Name server (DNS) Attack: According to (Arnold and Pangi, 2003) Communication between two computers on the internet is done by using internet protocol address of computers. To map the name of the website computer consult domain name servers and if DNS give wrong numerical address than user will connect to a wrong server without any information that he is on wrong server. This sort of attacks will be useful in spreading incorrect information and to divert a customer of e-commerce site from the original site or sometime block access. DNS is hierarchal there for the cascading effect on remote servers would result in traffic to selected site to be redirected or loss. (Cortes, 2004) Compound attacks: As the word compound itself describes these attacks are the combinations of 2 or 3 different attacks simultaneously. Purpose of these attacks is to increase the destructiveness of some sort of physical attack with the help of coordinated cyber attacks e.g. terrorist might place some boom in densely populated area at the same time with the help of cyber attacker they disable the communication setup of emergency services like ambulance, fire, police to impede there response. (Arnold and Pangi, 2003) Routing Vulnerabilities: Router controls all the traffic on the internet that is there they make it sure that the information in the form of packets, get from the source to destination. In general router is not a primary threat for disruption, but if the routing operation is not well diversified than it can lead to a massive routing attack. So it now a primary concern for the router manufactures to follow standards and regulation for maintaining the security on routers. (Cortes, 2004) Sources of Attacks: Cyber attacks can be launched from different sources depending upon their motives and the target they want to attack, generally we can group them in three categories terrorist groups, targeted nation-states and thrill seekers. Terrorist Groups Terrorist activities are the great threat for the whole world. Terrorist are not only targeting the physical infrastructure of the countries but now they are targeting the IT infrastructure as well. i.e. hacking the government websites and causing serious damage to vulnerable information (Cortes, 2004). Targeted Nation-States Most of the countries which dont have the friendly relation with one of the some countries use cyber attacks to sabotage the IT infrastructure of their potential enemy in order to safe guard their own national interests. e.g. India and Pakistan both are trying to attack government an defense resources in order to harm each other. Similarly China, America and Russia try to initiate attacks on each other national infrastructure primarily security network (Cortes, 2004). Thrill Seekers These sorts of attacker are not attacking the network for specific purpose rather they do it for fun and check their ability to break the secured networks. Because of the advancement in technology probability of these attacks are high (Cortes, 2004). Countering Cyber Attacks: Due to technology advancement and use of IT in almost every field of life and day by day increasing cyber attacks it is mandatory to counter all this cyber attacks and to secure the IT infrastructure as much as possible. Although countering these cyber attacks is not an easy job rather much complex and consist of several layer of defense. It take time to develop a mature program. The ratio of threat is changing day by day probability of risk is increasing and organizations should change their approach towards information security and take it as a primary concern. Establish threat intelligence gathering Capability Threat monitoring Risk analysis Security strategy validation Minimize delivery of malware Security awareness enhancements Continuous controls update Website protection Threat monitoring Application security testing Prevent execution of malware Application whitelisting Least access privileges Network restrictions/segmenting Identity and access management Protect the data Protect the data/data loss prevention Detect and respond Host and network anomaly detection Incident response program Forensics Source: insight of IT risk 2010 Established threat gathering capabilities: In order to understand the continuously changing threat landscape organization should develop an intelligence gathering capabilities to supervise and plan strategic and tactical responses to threats. This team should consist of qualified professionals who can keep an eye on the current threats and interpret how the organization can be effected by these potential threats and what necessary steps should be taken to modify the organizational security controls and overall security strategy. The prime objective of this time is to monitor the threat level than analyze it that how it can effect their organization and than to develop a strategy (Ernst Youngs, 2010). Minimize delivery of malware: By strictly implementing the traditional security measures in the organization the threat of malware can be greatly reduced below mentioned are the ways how we can reduce the threat level. Social engineering: It is one of the most common methods of reducing the threat or malware environment. There are number of ways by which this threat can be introduce like phishing or dropping USB in organization premises and hoping some one will use this USB in company computer, resulting employees unintentionally perform a harmful action. Regardless of implementing the entire advance technical controls human factor will remain the weakest link in spreading malware. So the solution of this problem is to aware the employees as much possible against these threats so that the employees protect them self to unintentionally become a source for spreading these malware. Research shows that companies are not doing well in promoting awareness to their employees. The organization should conduct the information security programmes on regular intervals. So that there effectiveness will be increase (Ernst Youngs, 2010). Security awareness: Mean to educate the employee about the common threats which are used by the cyber attackers. This awareness can be increase by including security awareness programs in the companies overall defense in depth strategy. These programs should include education about new threats different examples how employees contribute to the success of the attack and lesson learned what means are used by cyber attacker using social media etc. to target organizational networks and than take the feedback from the employees (Ernst Youngs, 2010). Malicious software: Another way which can reduce the threat of cyber attack is a use of registered softwares on all user computers. Corrupted or pirated softwares are also the main source of introducing malware in the network. Phishing and DNS redirection: Threat can be introduced in the company network by redirecting the DNS to a malware site while preventing the user from visiting the hack or fraudent site to begin with would be preferred but it would not happen most of the time. So it is preferred to block the sites but it is infective to block the sites on domain name bases because they can easily be change. So it is more effective to block the sites by IP address. Install the tools which can tell the users when they visit the site whether the site is safe or unsafe the network. At the end decision is again in the employees hand, so awareness to employees is really very important (Ernst Youngs, 2010). Protect the data: Data is the most important aspect in information system because at the end it all about the data. By implementing the Data Loss Prevention DLP solution can help stop malware collecting the sensitive data and from sanding data back to attacker home network. On the basis of predefined policies host based DLP can be implemented in order to control the information which user has access. In order to keep the check on the flow of data on the network, network DLP can be use which keep the record which data is going in and out of the network and block the specific data to going out of the network ( Ernst Youngs, 2010). Conclusion: After considering all the factors in mind which we have discussed above we came to conclusion that As technological advancement reaching at its peak, at the same time Cyber crime is also increasing day by day but different organization and agencies are working to overcome all such crimes. As cyber crime become a global issue so globally Governments are putting all their resources against these crimes by imposing legislation against these activities and most of the country have consensus to help each other against cyber attacks. Software companies are developing most sensitive tools and controls in order to protect organizational or government assets from these threats. The most important thing is to implement all those advance controls along with conventional security measures to safe guard all sort of assets from cyber attack.

A Comparison of the Heroes Of The Stranger (The Outsider) and The Myth

The Absurd Heroes Of The Stranger (The Outsider) and The Myth of Sisyphus In The Myth of Sisyphus, Sisyphus is an absurd hero because he realizes his situation, does not appeal, and yet continues the struggle. The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate that The Stranger is, in narrative style, also showing us an absurd hero, or the beginning of an absurd hero in Meursault. In The Myth of Sisyphus Camus establishes the epistemology on which he bases all his works. Ant it's a very simple epistemology. He says: "This heart within me I feel and I judge that I exist. This world I can touch and likewise judge that it exists. There ends all my knowledge and the rest is construction. Between the certainty I have of my existence and the content I try to give to that assurance the gap will never be filled." So for Camus one finds that life has value but no meaning. Meaning implies some sort of goal, some teleological approach, and, for Camus, there is no goal. Life is not a pilgrimage, death is not an open door, but it is a closed and blank wall which functions finally, of course, to force us to concentrate on life. In Camus there is a precise use of the word "absurd". "Absurd" comes from the Latin surdis and in surdis we have a dual definition: it means irrational, insensible (from that side of it we still use the word in mathematics; a 'surd' is an irrational number). But Camus concentrates on the other meaning which comes from the root. That is, "deaf, silent". There are many examples in literature of this particular kind of silence. I think of Romeo and Juliet when Juliet has been ordered by her parents to marry the County Paris, and in one of Shakespeare's best scenes in that play, he has Juliet's father talking... ...e. But rather we are shown as small and mortal specks on a minor planet, in an ordinary solar system, located no place in particular, in infinite space, and subject to all sorts of dark irrational forces, over which we have little control. We must live and must die with the fear and anxiety, the meaninglessness, frustration and futility that people today know. One must live in the present moment and attempt to find out the actual, bare, given facts of human existence; to find them out, to face them and to live with them. Camus does this; no more and no less. He becomes, as it were, a saint without a God. One could do worse than recall the epigraph which Camus uses at the beginning of The Myth of Sisyphus. He quotes from the Greek poet, Pindar, writing in the 5th century B.C.; "O my soul, do not aspire to immortal live, but exhaust the limits of the possible".

War and Bush Essay -- essays research papers

War and Bush   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  War has taken place all over the world. It is brutal at times even necessary, and the United States of America has seen its own share of wars. Since September 11, 2001, the President of the United States has launched a war on terrorism, and currently we are still at war. The War on Terrorism has been one of the most important battles our country has ever had and overall it has been the best for the U.S. as well as Iraq. The United States does have its motives for the war, and those purposes are what make this country as safe as it is today. Before September 11, 2001 many individuals assumed they were living in a safe country. The news showed bombings and war in different countries, but people in the U.S. were too ignorant to know such things can occur in the land of the free. When the brutal 9/11 attack occurred President George W. Bush made the proper decision of fighting back by launching a war on terrorism. This was a logical decision because most of the country felt vulnerable after the attack. Furthermore if our country did not fight back, other countries would take it into consideration that we are weak and they can take advantage of us. About 90% of polls conducted by various news stations before and the beginning of war stated the people overall supported it. (http://www.pollingreport.com/iraq.htm) People argue now that we have been at war for a while some people are changing their minds, but not as many as the media makes it seem out to be. All the media has done for the war is damage it. The media's main desire is to make ton of money and in doing so they will try to make the Iraq war seem as pointless as Vietnam. Polls that are conducted may be rigged. One fact that can easily display that is that conservative news sources will have more people supporting the war than media that is non-conservative; this is too close to be a coincidence (www.chronwatch.com). Furthermore, many times on the news a group of kids from school will be interviewed and say how terrible of a job Bush is doing with the war. It does not make sense to interview these kids who probably do not even know why there is a war, much less looked up information from a reliable source and know what they are talking about. People who pose as experts never are experts, the only people who can give a clear aspect of the war are someone who has ... ...r country is not fighting to stop it. The plans for the war have not changed at all. Even though the name has changed to the march toward freedom it is the exact same thing as the war on terrorism. The U.S. is full of Euphemisms and the war on terrorism was changed to the march toward freedom mainly because most Americans cannot face reality. These same people who cannot face reality are the same people who are hurting the war. Whether these individuals like it or not we are at war and complaining will not do anything to benefit it. Many people argue that polls state that most of the U.S. opposes the war this obviously cannot be true because after all Bush was elected our president by a majority of the American people. In conclusion, the Iraq war is not a pointless battle that the U.S. continues to fight each day. The country has motives to fight and those will continue to be carried out despite what the media as well as anti-war individuals persist to believe. Only the people who have been in the war can give a good aspect of the war. The battle for security has only made the country feel much safer. Without the war the U.S. would not be as secure from terrorism as it is today.

What is Socially Believed to be Beautiful

You can never be too thin or too rich, said the Duchess of Windsor. She might have added â€Å"or too pretty. † What psychologists call the â€Å"attractiveness stereotype† is so strong that beauty is literally equated with goodness. Good-looking people are not only preferred for dates, friendships and jobs, they're believed to have more intelligence and integrity. It goes without saying that the beauty bias is even more powerful and universal for women. Beautiful women are thought to be more feminine, and femininity is associated with being emotional, passive and nurturing (Heilman). There's not much bad news about being beautiful. Helena Maria Viramonte†s â€Å"Miss Clairol† focuses on this point. She uses the characters of mother and daughter, Arlene and Champ, to emphasis the vanity of our culture and the reliance on the products required for a transformation into what is socially believed to be beautiful. Recently in history, women, who were far from being pawns and victims, used makeup to declare their freedom, identity, and sexual allure as they flocked to enter public life. The first social history of American beauty culture: a richly textured account of how women created the cosmetics industry and how cosmetics created the modern woman. You don't need the latest census to tell you that America is, more than ever, a rainbow of faces with worldwide roots. More and more women of African, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American heritage are celebrating their own personal beauty, and the cosmetics industry is responding. Viramonte uses the character of Champ to show the changing mood in America towards the need to fall in line for men and the cultures expectations. Arlene is from an older generation that requires a man for survival. This was a time of women's rights and freedom of expression. The women are entering the workplace side by side of men and the rules would change towards the believe of beauty is required to succeed in life (Heilman). It is very unfortunate, but very beautiful women are patronized in professional situations, sexually harassed in private and hassled on the street in greater numbers than their less stunning sisters. A breathtaking beauty can be isolated by both the jealousy of other women and men's fear of rejection. Extremely beautiful women can also fall into their own snares. Some never challenge themselves beyond their looks, and end up in considerable fear of losing them. (In middle age, exceptional beauties have been found to be less happy than average-looking women. ) But, considering all the advantages, â€Å"Please don't hate me because I'm beautiful† can sound like a ridiculous whine. Most of us would take the gamble. Because what is beautiful is sex-typed, attractive men are thought more competent, and attractive women less competent (Heilman). â€Å"Attractive women have a significant edge landing management positions because they are more able to step out of sex roles in the job market,†says psychologist Barry Gillen. The implication is that it pays to appear as unattractive and masculine as possible to succeed in traditional organizations. If all other factors being equal, the â€Å"good-looking† earn 10% more than the â€Å"homely,† and that the situation was worse for men than women (Wall Street Journal). Overall the attractive earn higher salaries, but a breakdown revealed that the advantage applied to men, older subjects and people in â€Å"male† jobs, but was not true for women, younger subjects and â€Å"female† jobs (Heilman). â€Å"The only aspect of corporate success that other executives don't associate in some way with either gender or appearance,† says Madeline Heilman of New York University. A woman whose ascent is swift is considered to have risen due to her merit. Maria Viramonte†s â€Å"Miss Clairol† hits on the point of how sex an achievement into adulthood. The characters are shown to be mere objects to men, and sex is only a tool required to transport them to their belief of the American dream: little yellow house with a white picket fence, couple of kids, a dog, and a wonderful hard working husband as shown on television. Young women are warned, â€Å"Men only want one thing! † Older women have been heard to say, â€Å"So where are those sex maniacs? † As comedians know, timing is everything. Psychologists who examine biology to explain the differences between men's and women's attitudes toward sex connect men's greater concern with a partner's appearance to the evolutionary imperative to carry on the species: Men are seeking sex with a woman young enough to bear children. Women, on the other hand, look to a man's status (often indistinguishable in our society from his bank account) to ensure protection while bearing and caring for the next generation. It's a numbers game, say evolutionary psychologists: many sperm, few eggs. Men were programmed to sow as many seed as possible (screw anything that moves). Women were engineered to save their health and energy during the long human gestation period (could easily prefer a nap or a bite to eat). Though it may preserve elements of our evolutionary past, sexual attraction is more influenced by current cultural standards. The problem comes up when the standard is Barbie. Women judge themselves more harshly than men do. The majority of women believe men want them to be thinner, bustier and blonder than they are. Men prefer a larger ideal female figure than women do. Eighty-four percent of women think men prefer blonde hair; the real figure is 35%. Men tend to favor women with the same hair color they have. Men tend to think they're fine just as they are. Women substantially overestimate society's fixation on large breasts (Peacock). Women, who want â€Å"better† bodies aren't just trying to please men, but are motivated by personal ideals. Today, 47% of normal-weight American women who think they are too fat are making themselves unhappy by buying into the improbable supermodel standard. Just as Champ is fixed on collected all the photos of ideal women from magazines. Champ and all women are lost in a void of what they believe are the aesthetics of beauty. What men want is not nearly as extraordinary as women might imagine. Psychologists and their term â€Å"attractiveness stereotype† are so strong that beauty is literally equated with goodness. Good-looking people are always going to have the advantage in our culture. That†s just the way it is, and most likely always will be. The shift is towards truth and not ignorance; smart people are winning more battles. The truth of it all is that in the end the battle of vanity, an undue pride in ourselves and our appearance will always end with us when we are all alone.

Red Bull Marketing Essay

From 1987, Red Bull was launched in Austria with the tag line â€Å"Red Bull verleiht Fluuugel† (Red Bull Gives You Wiiings). It wasn’t until 1992 that Red Bull began to roll out in other European countries. â€Å"Part of the growth strategy was to enter new markets slowly and methodically in order to maximise buzz and build anticipation† Keller, K. L (2008 *A) By 1997, Red Bull was available in 25 markets globally, including Western and Eastern Europe, New Zealand and South Africa. Over the decade since its inception Red Bulls sales by 200%, from 1. million units to over 200 million units, and by 2004 the company had worldwide annual sales of nearly 2 billion cans in 120 countries. The Marketing Strategy used by Red Bull was not to pound the market with their presence but to be seen as an exclusivity, and to be perceived as the drink for all occasions when needed. In this way, marketers left empty cans in nightclubs, placed samples and dispensers in universities and allowed the value of Red Bull to spread via word of mouth. Red Bull marketed the following properties: * Improves Physical Endurance Stimulates Metabolism and Eliminates Waste Substances * Improves Overall Feeling of Well-being * Improves Reaction Speed and Concentration * Increases Mental Alertness These characteristics of the Red Bull product opened itself up to a whole range of potential consumers and marketing situations. Because of its properties, Red Bull used the slogan â€Å"Revitalizes Mind and Body†, and positioned the drink using a premium pricing strategy, marking the price up by at least 10% on the most expensive competitors product. Norbert Krailhamer explains: We are much more expensive that [cola]. This is OK because ours is an efficiency product, so we can charge this price premium, which is the secret of its success†¦ Due to the respect for a price premium brand†¦ we can charge what is fair for the benefit† Keller, K. L (2008 *A) A large portion of Red Bull’s success has to do with the use of the distinctive Red Bulls and Rising Sun logo and slender 250mL can as seen on their sponsorship sign writing and general advertising. It is debatable whether or not Red Bull would be as popular and successful without this insignia. Evidence of this can be traced to the introduction of Red Bull in Germany , where the demand was so great that they sold out of canned stock and had to switch to glass bottles to keep up with the demand. As soon as the bottles were introduced the demand dropped. The success of Red Bulls marketing strategy can be highlighted with the bungled entry of Red Bull into the United Kingdom in 1995. The marketers believed that the United Kingdom was too different from the Austrian market, so altered the marketing plan. The changes occurred in three distinct ways: â€Å"Extract: 1) the company marketed Red Bull as a sports drink, not a stimulation drink; 2) it did not pursue a word-of-mouth strategy, choosing instead to sell via the largest beverage channels; and 3) it created new advertising and focused on billboards rather than electronic media. As a result, Red Bull was considered a failure in the United Kingdomafter losing more than $10 million during the first 18 months in that market. † Keller, K. L (2008 *A) 1. Introduction: Red Bull GmbH, the Austrian based energy drink manufacturer is a remarkable brand that has grown to surpass some of the worlds most established brands. After founder Dietrich Mateschitz returned from Asia with the rights to patent Red Bull and alter it to suit the Western market, he had a defined idea in his mind as to what he wanted to achieve with the energy drink. After trialing more than 200 designs and finally cementing the right combination of caffeine, taurine, carbonation and flavoring the â€Å"original† Red Bull flavor was established. What follows is the amazing story of how Red Bull was marketed in Austria and then from 1992 onwards into the rest of Europe, the Americas, Asia-Pacific and the United Kingdom. Some of the key stones in the Red Bull brand marketing triumph has been the simplicity of their marketing approach through application, the positioning of the product and the clever ways in which they have side stepped traditional channels when bringing the product to the market and building the buzz and anticipation of Red Bull rather than just solely relying on the decision making derived from traditional advertising methods. The diversity of the Red Bull brand has allowed itself to move with the market and remain the worlds most popular energy drink. Looking at the brands tangible flexibility can even be posed at the move in the market to sugar free beverages and the quick and succinct way that Red Bull acted in order to uphold its position and remain creditable at the same time. As of the 2009 financial year, Red Bull GmbH had net sales report of 3. 3billion dollars and now has 3900 employees worldwide. Source: BNET – Resources 2. Brand Positioning and Values From the day of inception, Dietrich Mateschitz had a clear plan for how he wanted to establish Red Bull. The current positioning has left Red Bull in a very strong position among the market place and the values that it represents are continually being lived up to through its corporate presence in our daily lives. The position of Red Bull is: â€Å"Revitalizes Mind and Body† this tangible benefit, direct from Red Bull endorses the product to satisfy consumer needs before they have even made a purchase. Red Bull has also positioned themselves as the â€Å"Premium Energy Drink† above all other energy drinks in the market. The key word in this phrase being ‘premium’ as Red Bull has an exclusive appeal and a higher market price than its competitors; factors that have been thought through very thoroughly by the Red Bull marketing team. The â€Å"Premium Pricing Strategy† that Red Bull has incorporated, dictates that Red Bull will be priced at a rate 10% higher than the most expensive competitors price to ensure the class standard of the Red Bull name and set the standard for all of the rest of the competitors. In addition to the Premium Pricing Strategy, Red Bull introduced the Seeding Program, whereby initially Red Bull would only be stocked in the best and most classy establishments, whether this be exclusive clubs, nightclubs, bars, sporting events and related events to build the necessary hype or buzz about Red Bull, and to enable the word of mouth from the social elite to filter down into the working class. Once the market place was saturated with Red Bull buzz, the general market received the product too. In addition to the Word of Mouth strategy, Red Bull would supplement this with event sponsorship, athlete endorsements, sampling, point of purchase marketing and select electronic advertising. This allowed Red Bull to cover the necessary avenues which potential consumers were likely to come into contact with the brand and go on to purchase the drink. The values of the Red Bull brand are derived from the benefits of the drink itself: * Improves Physical Endurance * Stimulates Metabolism and Eliminates Waste Substances. Improves Overall Feeling of Well-being Improves Reaction Speed and Concentration * Increases Mental Alertness The Red Bull brand encourages the consumer to go to their potential and offers an aid in doing so. But offering these benefits in their product, Red Bull values the extension of horizons and energetic approaches to life. This can be summed up through their corporate sponsorship of Extreme Sporting events, individual athletes, the creation of events or the sponsorship of teams. The reasoning behind this is that these events are fast paced, high energy, thrilling and require exactly what Red Bull has to offer. By encouraging these types of events and endorsing the elimination of comfort zones, Red Bull is positioning itself as a goal, a motivation and a stimulant that can be harnessed to achieve any goal. Red Bulls success can be likened to the single-minded approach they have used n order to connect with their target market; 14 – 19yr olds and then the next highest penetration 20 – 29yr olds. Red Bull is an active product in today’s trendy lifestyle habits and is being reflected through their values and displays encouragement of abnormal sporting activities. . The Red Bull Air Races† in Perth Australia; and sponsorship of Mark Webber and Formula One. From a nationality point of view, Red Bull chooses the idols of sport and eye catching events to promote itself as well as support the people in question. This is seen all around the world and has been a strong driver in the popularity of Red Bull in certain areas of the world. Because Red Bull is a stimulant drink, it makes sense to market to the whole variety of consumers in the market place. In its 23 years of operations, the initial people who would have used Red Bull for â€Å"party energy† at nightclubs and parties will now be moving through to the quieter portion of their lives, however this does not mean they will no longer need Red Bull. Working long or irregular hours, studying and going the added distance is still important; therefore Red Bull has applied its benefit across several generations and the cycle continues. 3. Brand Characteristics Red Bull is now a very distinctive product in the market place and can be recognized based on some key points. Two Red Bulls and Rising Sun Logo * Slender Silver 250mL can (with silver and blue pattern) The name Red Bull * Endorsed Events or Persons i. e. Mark Webber As opposed to other energy drinks on the market it is the most represented and advertised product on supermarket shelving in Australia, (per unit) and is represented by an 80:20 spread of cans to bottles in the standard 250mL variety(1). Dominant characteristics of Red Bull include its involvement in Extreme Sports, high-energy events and the encouragement of athletes and the involvement within comfort breaking activities. It is important to note that the Red Bull marketing strategy encourages the promotion of the brand through non-traditional channels and is not seen in the same context as traditional carbonated drinks, or energy drinks. This fact makes adds to the characteristics of the brand. People recognize Red Bull based on its involvement and support in events and occasions. Rather than times, controversies or lengthy advertising campaigns which try to deliver a message over a long period of time. The marketing message for Red Bull has remained consistent throughout the 23-year reign it has had in the marketplace; adding to the resilience of Red Bulls brand characteristics. The Red Bull Australia website promotes Red Bull as: â€Å"Red Bull  ® Energy Drink has always been and always will be more than just a hot secret for the night owl and the non-stop party-animal. It is appreciated by a wide range of people, such as the overworked taxi driver, the stressed manager, the exam-anxious student and the pressured journalist†¦. It is used by surfers in the summer and snowboarders in the winter. For day or night, for job or fun. People who need more energy learn to value Red Bull ® Energy Drink. And the number of people who do is increasing all the time. † Red Bull Australia 2010 The Red Bull Australia website explains, through a marketing set spiel the characteristics of the brand and the direct benefiters. The exert highlights very clearly the intentions of the brand and the way in which it is appreciated. 4. Product Benefits and Consumer Satisfaction Red Bull markets itself on the two phrases â€Å"Gives You Wings† and â€Å"Revitalizes Mind and Body†. This can be demonstrated through its ingredients: Caffeine, Taurine, Sucrose Glucuronolactone, Glucose and B-Group Vitamins. These six ingredients all combine to give Red Bull the kick that consumers need. * Improves Physical Endurance * Stimulates Metabolism and Eliminates Waste Substances * Improves Overall Feeling of Well-being * Improves Reaction Speed and Concentration * Increases Mental Alertness As stated earlier the benefits listed by Red Bull allow themselves to be focused on a wide variety of people, whether they be office workers, truck drivers, athletes, students or partying. The given benefits of Red Bull provide the reasoning to buy and continue re-buying. Consumer satisfaction based on the product benefits is evident through the sales figures that Red Bull has been generating, with positive growth of 10% or more per annum. Performance the American Market shows the Market share of Red Bull compared to its competitors: Based on its 42. 6% share of the energy drink market sales in 2006, it is evident that Red Bull is a satisfying and enticing product. A large portion of Red Bulls ability to satisfy both physically and mentally comes from the consumption of the drink and seeing the performance of those around the consumer who are either consuming Red Bull or endorsed by Red Bull. This positive reinforcement from the elements encourages the consumer to drink more and to be brand loyal to Red Bull. 5. Brand Communities Red Bull’s mass sponsorship and consumer loyalty would work considerably well with a network of dedicated Red Bull Communities, rather than just the Red Bull sponsored, run and presented events. The basic criteria for the Red Bull Brand Community have already been met with the purchase of a Red Bull Product, as they have features and needs that are common to the other consumers who had purchased Red Bull previously. Ways that Red Bull could maximize on this could be through loyalty reward schemes, groups, emailing lists, gatherings, committees or clubs. While the idea of a Red Bull Brand community is appealing the practical application of one of these communities would be an expensive and difficult task to manage. The on paper, and metaphorical idea of a Brand community is a safer, more cost effective and ultimately simple Utopia when thought through. The Brand Community idea is one that should have been conceived during the introduction to the market or while the market was considerably smaller and more manageable. Red Bull uses the basic premise of Brand Communities already with their Red Bull Events and Sponsorships, in which it is then upon the individual to become a consumer and subscribe to these communities. The stress between the brand, the individual and the culture in which both exist is not under any amount of tension in the current marketplace and does not need to be altered at any point in the near future. The Brand Community, which Red Bull could potentially highlight, contains around 1 Billion people globally and would require large amounts of money to communicate to all of these people, let alone bring attention to it and get consumers to act upon it. 6. Brand Equities Red Bull has at its disposal a large set of Brand Equity that it uses to distinguish itself from other energy drinks and its competitors. These include its logo, its amber coloring, its taste, advertising, packaging, pricing and its reputation as a reliable and beneficial product for onsumers. In comparison to its competitors, Red Bull prides itself on being an al rounder energy drink that can be consumed anytime, in the right conditions, at the right place and the right time. Which has worked well for Red Bull as they have positioned the brand specifically to suit any occasion and to answer â€Å"Yes† to any of the Three Right questions. The development of these brand equities has been a continuous run through the development of Red Bull as a brand and its establishment in all the countries it now occupies space in. The Red Bull logo is a key device in the success of Red Bull and is possibly the strongest asset that they have in terms of Brand Equity. Many comparisons of competitor energy drinks such as Rockstar, Monster and Sobe No Fear yielded results that consumers could not differentiate between the Red Bull and its competitors while using unmarked cups and blindfold tests according to Helium Comparison Tests. In a real market perspective this fact is worrying that competitors are fabricating similar tasting products and that they are indistinguishable from one another. However this instance is found across all products in any category when basing comparisons without brand equities such as packaging, logos and distinctive colorings. Red Bulls marketing strategy has ensured that the strength on the product based on its merits receives the credit it deserves. The initial slow entry into markets, creating buzz and desired anticipation of the products has proven valuable for Red Bulls long term existence and has given merit to them too, in that they did ot let down the people who had tried the product based on hype and anticipation, creating return buyers and brand loyalties. Red Bull’s price premium is considered a winner with the market place as people believe that paying for benefit is better than paying for volume, as can be seen with competitors such as Rockstar who sell only the 500mL cans of energy drink and who deliver solely on their marketability rather than on product benefit such as Red Bull has done. The pricing premium has ensured that Red Bull be taken on its quality rather than on a commodity measurement ike quantity. This perceived value given to it and received by consumers tightens the consumer’s loyalty to the brand. Red Bull has seen a long run of marketing in sporting events and endorsing athletes to create awareness to potential consumers of its benefits in sporting activities, on and off the field. This spending on endorsements and events is evidence to the wider community that Red Bull is not just about profiteering, but supports the sporting world and provides entertainment and encouragement to those people who would like to strive to this level. However know where does Red Bull market itself to state that it will put you in this position. The clever marketing strategies which Red Bull have used remain honest and aim solely to promote Red Bull in a positive light whilst involving the consumers it is reaching out to. The Brand Equity that Red Bull keeps is a well-earned set of criteria that has been nursed from the beginning of the brand back in 1987 in Austria. The expansion of Red Bull into more than 120 countries is a sign of strength and highlights the diverse regions of differing brand equities among varying cultures. The underlying success of Red Bull remains in the marketing strategy that put it ahead of the competition in the first place. Without this, the basics of brand equities would not exist and Red Bull would follow the same course of one of its competitors. Because of this I believe that Red Bulls greatest brand equity is the brand itself and its history among the market over the past 23 years. Combining all of the elements discussed previously and essential make up of campaigns, strategies, advertising, targeted markets, successes and failures. This long history will benefit Red Bull in the long term, as it will become even more cemented into the grain of society and stay as the go to energy drink, rather than the fad competition products which have entered into the market in order to unseat the firmly held Red Bull. As for the continuing growth of Red Bulls Brand equity listings that is to be foreseen in the future, but there is little doubt that it will continue to build positively as the Red Bull product range changes to suit the coming changes to the current market. When it does I have no doubt that Red Bull GmbH will be ready for it. . Conclusion The Red Bull Branding Story follows a long timeline of success and obstacles that Red Bull GmbH has turned into triumphs. Red Bull have managed to turn a small Austrian drinks company into a global giant as one of the fastest growing brands and now staying true to one of the most popular of the 21st Century. Over the course of the 23 years that Red Bull has been manufactured, we can see a growing trend and the synthetic need created by Red Bull for energy stimulation drinks; and now the popularity of them to a point where we could no longer exist without them. Red Bull has become part of pop culture and every day slang and jargon, which intensifies its impact on the market and its sustainability in the consumers mind. As far as brands go, Red Bull has remained faithful to its consumers and to its own marketing goals, with little to no changes to the marketing strategy, the product packaging and flavoring, besides of course the Sugar Free Red Bull. This steadfast approach to marketing has clearly worked and a comparison of Red Bull and other Energy drinks shows that these brands lack the same commitment that Red Bull has.