Marketing Romania: imaging & promotional recommendations

You have been hired as an Academic Expert to advise the newly formed Destination Marketing Organisation of Romania (?RomProm?) on its destination marketing approach.

In representing a former communist country, RomProm faces the challenge of balancing visitor interest in ?communist heritage? with the government?s desire to encourage the development of a more contemporary and positive image for Romania.

Your role as an academic is to help them with that, specifically to compile a useful report that covers a number of key areas, divided up into two main sections:

Section 1: Image and branding recommendations (50% of marks)

Apply your theoretical knowledge of destination image and branding management to the specific problems facing Romania in proposing image ideas to make the country more marketable. Discussion should make reference to the literature on this subject (e.g. articles provided in your readers, references from your module handbooks). Include in your recommendations particular tourism products/areas in Romania that you think the marketing should emphasise and the market segments that such products are likely to attract.

Section 2: Marketing approaches (50% of marks)

Outline the marketing tools and communication channels that RomProm should use to reach the desired target market(s) and increase visitation. Include any Business to Business (B2B) marketing suggestions as well as Business to Consumer ideas (B2C). Bring in examples of best practice from the destination marketing literature that you have read to help explain any particularly good approaches to destination marketing that could be adopted by RomProm.


Additional tips:

 All facts and figures should be referenced in the text and, fully, in the bibliography, using the Harvard Referencing System style (guidance on this is provided in your module handbook and examples of this system in practice can be seen in any Tourism Management articles in your reader)
 Do not provide general descriptive brochure-type information about Romania ? RomProm will know what is in their own country!
 Watch your spelling and grammar: recurring minor errors of this nature are unprofessional and will undermine the credibility of your report (both for this exercise and in the ?real? world)
 Look at how the marks are allocated: give both sections equal attention
 Beware of relying solely on internet information. This is rarely sufficiently robust to base a report of any worth upon. Journal papers, research reports (Mintel, Keynote etc.) and books should be used
 Make use of subheadings to separate out different key points that you wish to make
 Write in the third person, avoid ?I?, ?we?, ?me?. Also, this must be a freestanding, professional report. Do not make vague references to lecture notes: the reader will not have access to these. Make sure that any case studies referred to are listed in your bibliography so that the reader can locate them if required
 Don?t turn the report into a mini-guide to the basics of destination marketing: there are many good books on this subject! Stick instead to the brief. Try to provide a useful guide to RomProm?s staff, applying relevant theory to their specific situation/needs.

Despite the emphasis on marketing and the marketing approach, marketing is still rhetoric rather than reality in far too many businesses? (Drucker, 1973: 64).
Critically evaluate the extent to which marketing is rhetoric or reality in organization.

Topic: Marketing and the Competitive Environment

Question:
? Explain the aims and objectives of marketing in business and outline the different marketin approaches
? Evaluate the role of portfolio analysis and globalisation in the marketing process and its effects on marketing promotions
? Discuss the role of the public relations in marketing promotion and incorporate description of the techniques and strategies used
? Discuss the relevance of product placement in marketing within business applications, and incorporate examples to demonstrate influences and impacts, particularly related to e-commerce placement
? Describe control strategies associated with product placement
? Discuss the role of research and development in competitive strategy development
? Describe critical path analysis objectives and provide examples
? Discuss the relevance of market conditions to competitive strategy development

Learning outcome criteria for Pass

1.1. Explain the different marketing approaches
1.2. Describe the aims and objectives of marketing within business applications
1.3. Evaluate the role of portfolio analysis in the marketing process
2.1. Evaluate the influence of globalisation on marketing promotion for business applications
2.2. Explain the role of public relations in promotion within business applications
2.3. Describe the techniques and strategies related to promotion within business applications
3.1. Explain the relevance of product placement in marketing within business applications
3.2. Discuss the influence and impact of e-commerce product placement
3.3. Describe control strategies associated with product placement
4.1. Explain the role of research and development in competitive strategy development
4.2. Describe a range of competitive processes used in competitive marketing
4.3. Discuss the relevance of market conditions to competitive strategy development

The final component of the Strategic Marketing Plan is the Marketing Mix. The Marketing Mix is the set of decisions about price, communications and promotion, product policy, channels of distribution, and customer relationship management. Only by addressing these elements can you actually implement your marketing strategy. This week you will focus only on communications and promotion, following an integrated marketing communications (IMC) approach. Such an approach delivers a clear and consistent message to your consumers. In a five to six page report,

. Provide a detailed description of your IMC approach and the corresponding promotion strategy necessary to send your message to your target market. (For example, the elements of the promotion strategy include: advertising, personal selling, public relations, direct marketing, and sales promotion) and how you would use them to communicate with your target segment.
Explain your rationale for choosing these specific elements.
Describe the message you wish to communicate based on your core strategy and explain your rationale for the message.
Develop a strategy to measure the effectiveness of the IMC.
Has the internet played any role in how you developed your marketing approach? Why or why not?

In-text citations and corresponding references should be included in your paper. There needs to be a citation in EVERY paragraph of this assignment

Assignment 4: Bringing It Altogether

Distinguish the marketing approach that a health care marketer would take to handle products and services to a marketer of consumer goods.

Conduct research on the health care climate in your state and articulate how each of the pricing objectives impacts the health care system in your state. Provide statistical data when applicable and / or expected. Based on your findings, discuss the implications of your research.

Assume you are the decision maker of a health care firm and you need to communicate changes to the distribution strategies for services and / or products offered by your company. Devise a plan that outlines the communication strategy you would use to reach your main stakeholder groups. Be sure to identify the stakeholders.

Assess the advantage of each advertising classification.

Craft a policy for health care marketing firms you would recommend be used to avoid ethical violations in the areas of pricing, service, and advertising.

Use at least five (5) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify as academic resources.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; references must follow APA or school-specific format.
Grading for this assignment will be based on answer quality, logic / organization of the paper, and language and writing skills, using the following rubric.
Points: 150
Assignment 4: Bringing It Altogether

1. Distinguish the marketing approach that a health care marketer would take to handle products and services to a marketer of consumer goods.

Did not submit or incompletely distinguished the marketing approach that a health care marketer would take to handle products and services to a marketer of consumer goods.

Partially distinguished the marketing approach that a health care marketer would take to handle products and services to a marketer of consumer goods.

Satisfactorily distinguished the marketing approach that a health care marketer would take to handle products and services to a marketer of consumer goods.

Thoroughly distinguished the marketing approach that a health care marketer would take to handle products and services to a marketer of consumer goods.

2. Articulate how each of the pricing objectives impacts the health care system in your state. Discuss the implications of your research.
Weight: 15%

Did not submit or incompletely articulated how each of the pricing objectives impacts the health care system in your state; did not submit or incompletely discussed the implications of your research.

Partially articulated how each of the pricing objectives impacts the health care system in your state; partially discussed the implications of your research.

Satisfactorily articulated how each of the pricing objectives impacts the health care system in your state; satisfactorily discussed the implications of your research.

Thoroughly articulated how each of the pricing objectives impacts the health care system in your state; thoroughly discussed the implications of your research.

3. Devise a plan that outlines the communication strategy you would use to reach your main stakeholder groups. Be sure to identify the stakeholders.

Weight: 25%

Did not submit or incompletely developed a plan that outlines the communication strategy you would use to reach your main stakeholder groups; did not submit or incompletely identified the stakeholders.

Partially developed a plan that outlines the communication strategy you would use to reach your main stakeholder groups; partially identified the stakeholders.

Satisfactorily developed a plan that outlines the communication strategy you would use to reach your main stakeholder groups; satisfactorily identified the stakeholders.

Thoroughly developed a plan that outlines the communication strategy you would use to reach your main stakeholder groups; thoroughly identified the stakeholders.

4. Assess the advantage of each advertising classification.

Weight: 10%

Did not submit or incompletely assessed the advantage of each advertising classification.

Partially assessed the advantage of each advertising classification.

Satisfactorily assessed the advantage of each advertising classification.

Thoroughly assessed the advantage of each advertising classification.

5. Craft a policy for health care marketing firms you would recommend be used to avoid ethical violations in the areas of pricing, service, and advertising.

Weight: 20%

Did not submit or incompletely crafted a policy for health care marketing firms you would recommend be used to avoid ethical violations in the areas of pricing, service, and advertising.

Partially crafted a policy for health care marketing firms you would recommend be used to avoid ethical violations in the areas of pricing, service, and advertising.

Satisfactorily crafted a policy for health care marketing firms you would recommend be used to avoid ethical violations in the areas of pricing, service, and advertising.

Thoroughly crafted a policy for health care marketing firms you would recommend be used to avoid ethical violations in the areas of pricing, service, and advertising.

6. 5 references
Weight: 5%

No references provided

Does not meet the required number of references; some or all references poor quality choices.

Meets number of required references; all references high quality choices.

Exceeds number of required references; all references high quality choices.

7. Clarity, writing mechanics, and formatting requirements

Weight: 10%

Passenger marketing is one of the most important activities in air transportation which include a broad are of business activity that directs the flow of services provided by the carrier to the customer.

a)Briefly explain in your own words the concept of airline marketing approach.

b) Discuss the difference marketing approaches. State examples for each approaches.

c) From your opinion, which is the best concept of airline marketing approach would you adopt for your airline company and state your reasons.


INTEXT REFERENCE ? should only have: Author name and Date (Ayah Cibulo, 2010)

END TEXT ? is complete one: Author name, date, article title, name of book & publisher, (from book), (Ayah Cibulo, 2010, Important Assignment Info, CASS Guidelines: CASS Publishing)

-??????????if from internet below is the sample:

Ayah Cibulo, 2010, Important Assignment Info, CASS Guidelines, Retrieve on 01 Aug 2010,www.emiratesgroupsecurity/CASS

Please select and answer one of the following questions in a well-organized and thoughtful 5-7-page research paper. Research paper title page and reference page are not included in the required paper length. CSU requires that students use the APA format in writing course papers. Therefore, the APA rules for formatting, quoting, paraphrasing, citing, and listing of sources are to be followed. Your paper must contain at least five references, and may include Internet sources, books, and professional journals or resources related to the profession.

"Toyota Motor Corporation has been struggling with the market for its motor vehicles in China. Toyotas original approach was to market their motor vehicles in China in the same manner as they do in Japan. However, there has been a change in strategy. Toyota has decided to try the marketing approach used in the United States market. Accordingly, compare and contrast Toyotas marketing strategy in Japan versus the United States. In addition, discuss why the China market might be more receptive to the strategy employed in the United States."

I will email the Intro I have completed, what I need is this section. Please don't do an intro since I got the introduction or conclusion, I will do it after combining other sections.

Our Product is Chery Automotive Automobiles and they are entering USA market. This section is part of a Marketing Plan for Chery Automotive.

Market Analysis

In this section you want to communicate to the reader a general understanding of the environment in which your product will be sold, and those forces outside your organization that will have an effect on the development and execution of your strategies. The key points to address include the definition of the market space in which you operate, your competitors, trends that will affect your market, and how the consumers are segmented.

2.1. Market Definition
Define the market in which your product will be sold. It is best to start with a broad description of the potential market, so as to include the most likely current consumer segments that purchase your type of products, as well as potential untapped market segments (i.e., that have a need/want your product can fulfill) who may want to buy your type of product if targeted accordingly. In addition, this broad classification will help to identify more organizations/products that will compete for your share of the market - be sure to include substitute products (i.e.,, those that are not exactly the same type of product, but consumers may consider as a means to fulfill the same need/want as your product) and potential new entrants into the market. As you work your way through this process, you can then narrow the definition of the market as necessary to make it more and more relevant, measurable, and manageable. The importance of this section is to identify the external opportunities and threats in which your organization will be confronted. Listed immediately below are some questions to consider for this section (keep in mind that you can include other information you deem relevant and beneficial for the reader):
How would you describe the market in which your product exists?
What are the basic needs/wants the market's consumers want fulfilled?
In which NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) category is your product classified?
o What is the description of products classified in this category?
o What is the size (total sales $ and number of units) of the market?
o What is your market share of this market?
o What is the recent, current and projected rate of growth in this market?
What products (direct and indirect/substitutes) do the market's consumers consider to fulfill their needs/wants?
Who are the key suppliers in the industry?
o What type of power and/or threats of forward integration, if any, do they possess that will make it difficult or easy for you to compete and execute your marketing plans?

2.2. Segmentation
The process of segmenting your market has two goals: 1] identify homogenous groups of consumers that think, feel, and/or act in a similar manner, with respect to the purchasing of your type of product, and are significantly different from other groups; and 2] identify groups of consumers that are large enough to justify a separate marketing approach. While these groups can be characterized by a variety of dimensions, the main goal here is to provide the reader with an understanding of the consumers in the market via profiles that depict who they are, and why and how they buy your type of product. Listed immediately below are some questions to consider for this section (keep in mind that you can include other information you deem relevant and beneficial for the reader):

How can you best describe the consumers that buy this type of product?
Demographics
o Behaviors
o Benefits sought
o Psychographics
o Attitudes
o Lifestyles
o Other characteristics?

How can these consumers be categorized into groups with similar characteristics such that it would be beneficial to construct different market strategies to get their attention, generate interest, and motivate them to buy your product? Whenever possible, use research data to support these distinctions.

Create a profile of each segment by giving each one a descriptive label and then listing the main characteristics that distinguish it from the other segments?

What are the population sizes of these segments? At what rate are they growing?
Marketing Plan Worksheets

Further Breakdown, there might be some duplicates from the top.

A. Target Market

1. Who is your target market and why?


2. What are the basic wants/needs your consumers' want fulfilled?


3. In which NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) category is your product classified?

a. What is the description of products classified in this category?

b. What is the size (total sales $ and number of units) of the market?

c. What is your market share of this market?

d. What is the recent, current and projected rate of growth in this market?

e. What products (direct and indirect/substitutes) do the market's consumers consider to fulfill their needs/wants?

f. Who are the key suppliers in the industry?

4. What type of power and/or threats of forward integration, if any, do they possess that will make it difficult or easy for you to compete and execute your marketing plans?

There are faxes for this order.

Hello,
I would like to have an original & plagiarism-free papers for my master thesis about the Internationalization process of SMEs. This thesis will be done by myself and my school partner. My parts consist of the subjects below (within the "Litterature review"):

A- Internationalization models
1. The traditional marketing approach (Penrose)
2. Uppsala model (the classical model)
3. Network theory (Hollensen2001+Johanson & Mattsson 1988)

B- Choice of entry modes (Root,1994)
1. Export entry modes
(Direct Export, Indirect Export, Cooperative Export...)
2. Intermediate entry modes
(Licensing, Franchising, Contract Manufacturing, JV...)
3. Hierarchical entry modes
(Resident sales rep., domestic-based sales rep., acquisition...)

Please find & attach schema/graphs if necessary. And please pay attention on the authors mentioned in the doc that I will send to you for references.
There are faxes for this order.

Answer each question separately per one page. Indicate each question. Back up each question with online reference. Thank you.

DQ2. Can you think of a product that could be marketed effectively using a mass marketing approach? If so, explain and justify your answer. If not, what types of changes would have to be made to the product to make it appropriate for a mass marketing approach?

DQ4. Why is it important to have a clear, concise, written positioning statement once the desired position has been determined? Give an example of a good positioning statement. Why do you feel this is a good statement? You may pick any company.

For a Website Design company in Brazil, analyze which marketing elements (such as product design, branding, pricing, advertising approach, retail outlets, etc.) have been standardized and which have been customized, comparing the what the companys marketing approach would be in the US with that in Brazil. Is the pattern similar to that which you observe with Apple Computers in Brazil?
Is there a certain mix of standardization/customization, which appears to be ideal in Brazil or is the optimum mix dependent on certain characteristics of the product, market segments, or competition?

please write about a hundred words for the discussion questons and a little over a hundred words for the case study questions.

THANKS!!!!!!!!!!

Week 8 discussion questions

1. What are the stages of the diffusion process? Briefly describe the individuals who make up each group.

2. What are the stages in the organizational buying process? Which stages are probably the most important to marketers?

3. What are the three types of research methods used in consumer research? Identify them and provide brief examples.


Case Study 8

AgeLab (http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/athena/dept/agelab)

By M. Joseph Sirgy,
H-1 Aging
The world?s population is aging rapidly. The 50+ population is the fastest-growing segment worldwide, and predicted life expectancies are at a historical high.
4. An American turns 50 once every 7 seconds.
5. Within the next few years, 50 percent of the European Union?s ?population will be 65 or older.
6. By 2030, in Italy, retirees will outnumber active workers.
7. By 2050, the median age in Thailand will rise to 50. ?With advances in medicine, public policy, and technology, people are not only living longer but also living better. Today?s older adults are more educated and engage in more activities than previous generations, including work, leisure, learning, and so on. The mod- ern face of aging is one that expresses vitality and commands a greater quality of life. We must look at the demands of this popula- tion with open minds to new opportunities for innovation. Innova- tions from government, business, and research created for the older population will ultimately benefit all ages. An aging society is the opportunity to invent the future of healthy, active living.1 ?H-2 The University Research Center ?Professor Joseph Coughlin of the AgeLab at MIT is a professor of management and specializes in developing products and services
Exhibit H-1
AgeLab is a partnership between MIT, industry, and the aging community. Its mission is to engineer innovative solutions to problems that can enhance the quality of life of elderly individuals.
H-3 Health and Personal Wellness Research Projects
Scientists at AgeLab are developing a lightweight ??space suit?? for the elderly that can monitor their health and help them move without walkers. The space suit is also designed to protect them from falling by cushioning their fall impact. But one wonders, why would the elderly be interested in buying a space suit? Professor Coughlin argues that the baby boomers are now turning elderly. One estimate puts the size of this market at 78 million consumers. Compared with its predecessor, the baby boomer generation grew up with high tech products and services. Therefore, a space suit is likely to appeal to the baby boomer generation turned elderly. This is a good example of developing products and services as a direct function of understand- ing the needs and motives of target consumers.2
H-4 Projects Related to Transportation Services
Another example of developing products and services designed to enhance the quality of life for the elderly is public transportation services. The baby boomers grew accustomed to driving their own vehicles. But what happens when they can no longer drive? Will they turn to public transportation? If so, is the public transporta- tion system available in their towns and cities adequate for their needs? How do business marketers and public officials in the many communities throughout the United States address this demand? Professor Coughlin believes that transportation is the number one problem that should be addressed with a sense of urgency. The challenge is to provide an alternative solution to the car, especially in the suburbs. The vast majority of people (and, yes, the baby boomers) live in the suburbs and rural areas. Suburbs and rural areas typically do not have public transportation services. One solution is a regional shuttle service. Elderly baby boomers would call this service from their cell phones, personal digital assistants, or cable TV and have a vehicle pick them up in half an hour. Providing a reliable shuttle service is very important for the elderly, especially elderly baby boomers accustomed to being very active. Today, many older adults have to book a ride 24 hours in advance. Today?s van service for the elderly is not reliable. Professor Coughlin estimates that there is a 1 in 5 chance that the van won?t show up. This kind of service makes today?s elderly feel like hostages in their own homes. Going out for a cup of coffee or to visit a friend is a major undertaking full of risks and pains.
H-5 Projects Related to Personal Transportation
AgeLab also is experimenting with virtual reality to help the elderly improve their driving skills. The car-driving virtual reality program is a simulator that uses actual gas and brake pedals, a steering wheel, paddle transmission shifters, and a racing seat (all of which are mounted on a chassis), as well as an electronic simulation complete with surround sound to mimic the behind-the-wheel experience. Of course, such a simulator is even more realistic than the handheld racing simulators that use joysticks and buttons to maneuver.
Joe Coughlin, director of MIT?s AgeLab, acknowledges that virtual training is getting cheaper, more realistic, and more power- ful. However, Dr. Couglin worries that some key mental aspects of learning still must be left to real-world driving. The virtual world may not allow the elderly to experience the pain or fear of making a mistake.
Besides training the elderly to improve their driving, the same technology can be used by people suffering from some spinal injuries. A Korean study has shown that such disabled people can be taught the mechanics of operating a vehicle with special con- trols.2
H-6 Projects Related to Assisted Living
Consider the problem of falling down and needing assistance. Or perhaps the assistance may be related to other reasons. Today?s elderly live with others or in assisted-living communities because they know they can count on others being around when and if they need physical assistance. Professor Coughlin envisions a more com- prehensive personal emergency response system. The elderly need- ing assistance can click on a pendant or wristwatch that taps into a support system. The support system may involve a virtual service collaborator that brings service providers together in a network that may use the Internet as a base. This system would allow companies to offer all kinds of services to the elderly?not only emergency
physical assistance but also nutritional services with health mon- itoring and food shopping, among others.
H-7 Projects Related to Shopping
What about shopping at the grocery store and needing to select food items that will not exacerbate health problems such as blood pressure, diabetes, and other diseases common to the elderly? Can the elderly shop with devices that can assist them in identifying food items that will not adversely affect their health condition? The problems are many, but so are the possible solutions. These sol- utions can be marketed to the elderly by businesses whose mission is to enhance the quality of life of the elderly. For more information about AgeLab and its research go to the following website: http:// web.mit.edu/agelab.
H-8 Projects Related to Knowledge Management
David DeLong, a consultant and research fellow at MIT?s AgeLab and author of a book (Lost Knowledge: Confronting the Threat of an Ageing Workforce, 2004, Oxford University Press) has an ongoing project that helps organizations ensure that the knowledge held only in employees? heads is not lost when they leave the company or retire. This type of project has come to be known as knowledge management (KM).
Unfortunately, implementing effective KM has been very diffi- cullt. This results from the fact that many companies approach the KM soluation from an IT perspective, delegating this task to IT personnel. To implement effective KM, the social context of knowl- edge has to be accounted for. That is, there is a definite need to tap into the experience, intuition, and social networks of employees.
If not the IT people, then who should take care of KM within an organization? Perhaps knowledge managers?people who can influence the direction of the company?should oversee KM. Or perhaps IT managers who are well-trained in the cultural aspects of KM could do so.3


Discussion Questions
1. The AgeLab caters to a particular consumer segment?the aging baby boomers. What kind of market segment is this? Read the Segmentation part in Chapter 3 and discuss.
2. Product development in the AgeLab is guided by the concept of quality-of-life marketing. Read about this concept in Chapter 17 and describe this concept in some detail. Compare and contrast AgeLab?s approach to product development with the traditional marketing approach.
3. Describe the types of innovations launched by the AgeLab from a diffusion-of-innovations perspective (refer to the Diffusion of Innovations part in Chapter 18). Can you predict the rate of diffusion for each of AgeLab?s innovations?
4. Develop an ad campaign for each of AgeLab?s innovations. Make sure to read Chapter 10 on communication and persuasion to help you with this task. Identify the demographic profile of the target market for each innovation. Specify communication goals using the hierarchy-of-effects models. What source factors would you suggest should be used in the communication campaign? Make a recommendation

Subject: Consumber Behaviour

Words: 3000 words

Company: "Dimmeys & Forges" http://www.dimmeys.com.au/

Assignment Topic: Devise a new consumer product or service for the Australian company "Dimmeys & Forges" (http://www.dimmeys.com.au/)

References: *MUST summarize and cite least five refereed journal articles and five industry articles. Reference each group of articles separately.
-------------------------------------------------

Please fulfil all 4 PARTS as listed below:


Assignment requirement:

Part 1(300 words), The New Consumer Product or Service

Devise a new product or service that this company does not currently offer,but one that consumers would regard as a plausible brand extension. Justify your choice.

Part 2(900 words), Issues Facing Consumers in Adopting this New Product or Service

Using the library journal databases, find information and report on theissues involved in consumers adopting this new product or service. You must summarize and cite least five refereed journal articles and five industry articles. Reference each group of articles separately.

Here's the website and username, password to access to the databases:

website: https://login.ezproxy-f.deakin.edu.au/login?qurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ebscohost.com%2flogin.asp%3fprofile%3dweb

or www.deakin.edu.au/library and then click on ALL EBSCOhost databases.

Login details:

Family Name: Tao
Library ID: x0110800599055


Part 3(900 words) , Consumer Response to these Issues
Talk to four people in the target market and ask for their reaction to the issues you have identified in Part 2. Summarise these discussions and discuss their implications for the company providing the new product or service.

Part 4(900 words), Conclusions and Recommendations
Make a recommendation as to whether the company should offer this product or service. If your company is not suitable, nominate another company better suited to provide the new product or service. Describe likely target markets and the overall marketing approach which should be used.

We have decided to bring the prestigious Voss water to Turkey. Voss is a Norwegian brand that was founded by two high school friends. The brand is built around high quality product to consumers all around the world. The reason for picking this particular brand is due to its bottle design and brand image more than its quality.
Voss is a fairly a new brand, which started its contribution in the market in April 2000.
Why Turkey? By reason of its geographically position Turkey plays and important role in uniting Europe and Middle East. Its a country that is starting to be influenced more by the western culture. In terms of timing its a great time to introduce a high quality European product in Turkey. In addition to this Turkeys geographic placement in the world is going to be a great help to experiment for Voss to see how they might do in the Middle Eastern countries in the future. Today Turkey, specifically Istanbul, is a rapidly growing niche market. Due to its early adopter and experiencer target market, positioning this product will be a promising success.
In order to reach its potential customers the main marketing approach we will use is promoting through high-end restaurants and hotels and later or expanding to the general public.

Scholarly Activity 3 ??" Unit VII
Complete your assigned readings before you complete the assessment.
Prepare a paper (700 to 1,050 words) discussing the case and incorporating answers to the questions below. It is important to address each of the questions presented.Students use the APA format in writing course papers. Therefore, the APA rules for formatting, quoting, paraphrasing, citing, and listing of sources are to be followed. The Reference List is not included in the required paper length. Your paper must contain at least five references, which may include your course textbook, internet sources, books, and professional journals or other appropriate resources. Please do not copy or plagiarize others materials. All papers are electronically scanned by SafeAssign. Significant deduction of points may result when copying and plagiarism is evident.
Read the closing case Avon Calls on Foreign Markets
Avon Calls on Foreign Markets
Avon, founded in 1886, is one of the world's oldest and largest manufacturers and marketers of beauty and related products. 92 Many are most familiar with Avon through its long- standing ad, ' Ding dong, Avon calling', but the company has recently switched to 'Hello Tomorrow' to change its image and better reflect the company's new marketing approaches. Where Opportunity Currently Knocks Avon is headquartered in the United States, but over three- quarters of its sales and employees are outside its North American division. It seems to be selling everywhere moisturizer to Inuits above the Arctic Circle and makeup delivered by canoe to residents of Brazil's Amazon region. It has its own sales operations in 66 countries and territories, and it distributes to another 44. Altogether, there are about 5.8 million independent representatives selling Avon products. However, Avon was 28 years old (an adult by human standards) before it ever ventured abroad, and then only to nearby Canada. Forty years later, a geriatric in human terms, it moved into its second foreign market, Venezuela. Map 16.1 shows how Avon now divides the world regionally and the portion of its business in each region. Why Avon Went Global. So why has Avon put so much emphasis on international expansion in recent years?
First, Avon forecast a slow growth potential in the U. S. market, because there is virtually no remaining untapped market for cosmetics, fragrances, and toiletries. To grow rapidly in the United States would mean taking sales from competitors, and the U. S. beauty market is very competitive. If you doubt this, just try weaving through a large U. S. department store without being accosted and sprayed on. Avon has preferred to put emphasis on less- competitive markets, and its latest annual report even states that it expects U. S. growth to be in line with that of the overall beauty market - which means its domestic sales will depend primarily on the population growth of women in the cosmetics- using age group. Even if there were a considerable untapped U. S. market, less than 5 percent of the world's population lives in the United States. Second, you need to understand Avon's distribution system to appreciate why Avon worried about U. S. sales in the latter part of the twentieth century.
Avon has always depended on direct selling by contracted independent salespersons (almost always women working part time and known as 'Avon ladies' or 'Avon representatives'), who sell to households by demonstrating products and giving beauty advice. These reps place sales orders with Avon and deliver orders to the customers once they receive them. Historically, these direct sales have been the backbone of Avon's success. To begin with, direct selling offers Avon a cost- savings advantage by enabling the company to maintain a smaller number of employees, keep its advertising budget low ( the Avon ladies do much of the promotion), and avoid having to pay for shelf space in stores. The lower costs have facilitated Avon's maintenance of generally lower prices than those that competitors charge in department stores. Thus Avon has consistently maintained an image of good value for the money.
Direct selling also offers additional marketing advantages, because word- of- mouth customers tend to be quite loyal to the Avon ladies they befriend. However, in the late twentieth century, the outlook for U. S. direct sales of any kind of product looked bleak. Droves of U. S. women were entering the workforce full time, which made them less receptive to door- to-door salespersons and less willing to spend time on makeup demonstrations and the arrangements for a later receipt of their purchases. Because of working full time, the pool of women seeking part- time employment also seemed to be drying up.
Meanwhile, back in the Home Market In an effort to combat the problem of house- to-house sales, Avon has allowed reps to open retail outlets, which are usually small kiosks in shopping malls. Further, Avon ladies have pretty much given up their old ' ding dong' routines by selling instead to friends and family, to colleagues at work, and through ads on their own Web sites. In the meantime, the prediction that the pool of part- time job seekers would dry up proved wrong. Between 1996 and 2007, the number of direct sellers in the United States for all companies increased from 8.5 million to 15 million, and sales value has increased proportionately. The global recession has since increased the availability of people to sell independently. When the U. S. outlook looked gloomy, the outlook in foreign markets looked bright. For example, the lack of developed infrastructure in the rural areas of such countries as Brazil and the Philippines deters women from leaving their homes to shop for cosmetics. But in these countries, Avon ladies reach consumers in some of the most remote areas, because there are ample numbers of potential Avon ladies. For instance, Avon has 800,000 representatives in Brazil alone. In transitional economies, Avon's market entry coincided with pent- up demand from the period of centrally planned economic policies. In rapid- growth economies, such as Chile and Malaysia, Avon taps a growing middle- class market that can afford its products.
The International Strategy Global Products.
As Avon moved internationally, it pretty much allowed its country managers to decide what products would sell in their markets. Either Avon's R& D unit in the United States or a local R& D unit would then develop them. These were largely produced within the country selling them and included such products as a combination skin cream ( moisturizer, sunscreen, and insect repellent) in Brazil, skin- lightening creams in parts of Asia, long-lasting citrus fragrances in Mediterranean countries, technology- driven skin products in Japan, health and wellness products in Argentina, and bigger bottles of personal- care products in Spain. Once products are developed, Avon disseminates the information to its facilities else-where. For example, Avon- Japan developed emulsion technologies to produce lotions and creams with lighter textures and higher hydration levels, and many Avon operations in other countries now use the process. Some Pitfalls of Product Proliferation On the one hand, this decentralization to fit the wants of local consumers has undoubtedly given consumers the products they want. On the other hand, it has come with costs. To begin with, the resultant product proliferation has increased manufacturing costs, which threatens Avon's strategy of maintaining a good profit margin while simultaneously offering customers a good value for their money.
Next, Avon has depended primarily on its catalogs to promote its products. For instance, it distributes catalogs every two weeks in the United States and every four weeks abroad. Its circulation dwarfs that of any other commercial publication. However, as its product line grew to '13,000 products for the Mexican market alone' the catalogs became too bulky, and the Avon ladies could not possibly know enough about the line to sell effectively. In 2006, Avon cu its product line by 25 percent, and it plans to cut the line even more. It is also moving toward more large-scale centralized production to save on manufacturing costs. Although Avon is paring its product line, this does not imply a cutback in new products, which are important in the industry. In fact, Avon has signed exclusive agreements with several universities worldwide (such as in Australia, China, Japan, and Thailand) to help develop new products.
For example, Asia has long been a leader in herbal and therapeutic treatments. Avon's venture with Chiang Mai University in Thailand has produced one of Avon's latest products using this Asian expertise, Anew Alternative, which is purported to diminish fine lines and wrinkles. Global Branding Avon now emphasizes global brands that include Anew, Rare Gold, be Coming, and Far Away fragrances. Through standardized branding, Avon creates a uniform global quality image while saving costs by using uniform ingredients and packaging. Global branding also helps inform consumers that the company is international. This helps sales in countries such as Thailand, where consumers prefer to buy beauty products made by foreign companies. Although Avon prominently displays its name on most of its products worldwide, some of its brand names differ among countries. For instance, when Avon has made foreign acquisitions, it has sometimes kept the successful brand name and goodwill it has acquired. For example, when Avon acquired Justine in South Africa, it kept the Justine name. The company prints instructions in local languages but may or may not put the brand names in that language.
It sometimes uses English or French brand names, because consumers consider the United States and France high- quality suppliers for beauty products. For example, Avon sells skin- care products called Rosa Mosqueta (in Spanish), Revival (in English), and Renaissage (in French) in Chile, Argentina, and Japan, respectively. In each case, the Avon logo appears prominently on the products' containers as well. Global Pricing for each country operation sets its own prices to reflect local market conditions and strategic objectives. However, at times the price difference between neighboring countries has created demand for contraband shipments from the country with lower prices - such as has recently occurred between Colombia and Venezuela. The prices are subject to change for each sales campaign. Avon runs a new campaign with different special offers every two weeks in the United States and every four weeks abroad. The shortness of campaigns is helpful for adjusting prices in highly inflationary economies. Avon also has a strategy of introducing two- tiered products that sell at different prices. The aim is to capture more up market sales while maintaining the existing clientele. For instance, it has contracted with Christian Lacroix to develop fragrances that will sell at a higher price than Avon's traditional ones. Global Promotion Although Avon's promotion is primarily through its brochures and catalogs, it also advertises. It uses such media as broadcasts and billboards and has four primary objectives: 'To sell newly launched products'. To accelerate sales in some of its fastest- growing markets, such as Russia - To recruit reps in places like China - To use a campaign called 'Hello Tomorrow' to change the public perception of its products as unfashionable and outdated to stylish and modern 'Hello Tomorrow' This campaign is Avon's first global ad campaign aimed at the image of its overarching Avon brand. Its prior global campaigns aimed at selling specific products. Despite the global campaign, some of Avon's ads vary by country. For instance, it sponsors a British TV drama about footballers' wives and one in Russia that includes a character who sells Avon products. Avon is also using celebrities to help sell its products. The Mexican film star Salma Hayek is the face of Avon. Academy Award winning actress Jennifer Hudson is the spokesperson for Imari fragrance. Baseball player Derek Jeter (yes, Avon does have some products for men too) has his name on a collection of skin- care products. Meeting the Needs of Women Worldwide Perhaps Avon's most important campaign is to develop a global image as a company that supports women and their needs, a campaign that has generated favorable publicity in media reports. Building on this theme, Avon co-hosted a Global Summit for a Better Tomorrow at the United Nations during International Women's Day, and it gives annual Women of Enterprise Awards to leading women entrepreneurs. It also publicizes how being an Avon lady heightens the role of women, which has been particularly successful at attracting new reps in developing countries such as Malaysia and the Philippines. Undoubtedly, Avon's biggest social- responsibility projects are its work internationally in fighting breast cancer and domestic violence. Avon ladies disseminate information about breast cancer along with their promotion brochures and sell items to raise money for local needs. Avon is the largest corporate donor to breast cancer research. The fight against domestic violence is a newer Avon program. It is working through local organizations to pre-vent violence through education and to treat women who have been victims. Global Distribution Avon basically duplicates its distribution method in foreign countries, which means that it sells to independent representatives who have taken orders from customers they have either communicated with or visited. However, there are some variations. We have already discussed some of the changes in the United States. In Japan, there is a substantial mail- order business. In Argentina, Avon has beauty centers. Probably the biggest deviation from direct selling occurred in China, the only single-country division in Avon's global network. In response to a 1998 Chinese law prohibiting house- to- house sales, Avon quickly opened about 6,000 beauty boutiques, lined up 9,000 independent stores to carry Avon, and opened 1,000 beauty counters. Thus Avon made its products available in virtually every corner of the country.
In 2005, the Chinese government loosened its house- to- house sales regulations but with many restrictions, such as capping the commission for salespeople and preventing them from recruiting others to work on a shared- commission plan. Avon seeks to transfer successful practices in one country to other countries. To encourage the transfer of know- how, Avon brings marketing personnel from different countries together to share what it calls ' best practices', and it passes on information from country to country. It also promotes competition among countries, such as awards for country- level initiatives to improve sales, quality, and efficiency. Looking toward the Future Avon has several challenges for the future. Although its direct- sales method has been important in Avon's success, there are drawbacks to it. For one, customers cannot obtain a product whenever they want it. For another, reps report many returns because customers cannot always discern exact colors from catalogs. For another, it may be difficult for Avon to capture clientele in a higher- price category while maintaining the value- for- money clientele. Avon anticipates that international operations will account for the bulk of its growth in the foreseeable future. Its products are still not available to a large portion of the world's women. It is already operating in all four BRIC countries, however, and is the market leader in two of them (Brazil and Russia).
Incorporate into your analysis responses to the following questions. You should make sure to incorporate core concepts from your reading assignment.
1. Your reading assignment for this unit describes different marketing orientations. Discuss the applicability of each to Avons global operations.
2. Why is Avon so much more dependent on its foreign operations than on its home ( U.S.) operations?
3. Discuss socioeconomic and demographic changes that could affect Avon.
4. How might a global recession such as the one that began in 2008, impact Avons operations?
5. What are the major competitive advantages that Avon has? How easily might other companies duplicate these advantages?
6. Avon does not sell within the United States in retail establishments (with the exceptions of kiosks handled by some of its reps). What are the pros and cons of distributing that way?
7. If you were advising Avon on the selection of new suppliers, what would be your major concerns as you evaluate firms that are potential suppliers? What criteria should the company use to make decisions on where to manufacture their products?
8. Identify the challenges Avon faces in both maintaining and expanding its global manufacturing and supply chain network given the dynamics of todays competitive environment.
Please use this reference as one of the five
References
Daniels, J., Radebaugh, L., & Sullivan, D. (2011). International business, environment &
operations (13th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall., 620-625.

Prepare a paper (800 words) discussing the case and incorporating answers to the questions below. It is important to address each of the questions presented. Please use APA format. The paper must contain at least five references, which may include your course text book, internet sources, books and professional journals or other appropriate resources.
Read the closing case ?Avon Calls on Foreign Markets? at the end of Chapter 16 in your course textbook. Incorporate into your analysis responses to the following questions.
1. Your reading assignment for this unit describes different marketing orientations. Discuss the applicability of each to Avon?s global operations.
2. Why is Avon so much more dependent on its foreign operations than on its home (U.S.) operations?
3. Discuss the socioeconomic and demographic changes that could affect Avon.
4. How might a global recession, such as the one that began in 2008, impact Avon?s operations?
5. What are the major competitive advantages that Avon has? How easily might other companies duplicate these advantages?
6. Avon does not sell within the United States in retail establishments (with the exceptions of kiosks handled by some of its reps). What are the pros and cons of distributing that way?
7. If you were advising Avon on the selection of new suppliers, what would be your major concerns as you evaluate firms that are potential suppliers? What criteria should the company use to make decisions on where to manufacture their products?
8. Identify the challenges Avon faces in both maintaining and expanding its global manufacturing and supply chain network given the dynamics of today?s competitive environment.

Textbook Reference:
Daniels, J., Radebaugh, L., & Sullivan, D. (2011). International business, environment & operations (13th ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Case: Avon Calls on Foreign Markets

Avon, founded in 1886, is one of the world?s oldest and largest manufactures and marketers of beauty and related products. Many are most familiar with Avon through its long-standing ad, ?Ding dong, Avon calling,? but the company has recently switched to ?Hello Tomorrow? to change its image and better reflect the company?s new marketing approaches.

Where Opportunity Currently Knocks

Avon is headquartered in the United States, but over three-quarters of its sales and employees are outside its North American division. It seems to be selling everywhere-moisturizer to Inuits above the Arctic Circle and makeup delivered by canoe to residents of Brazil?s Amazon region. It has its owns sales operations in 66 countries and territories, and it distributes to another 44. Altogether, there are about 5.8 million independent representatives selling Avon products. However, Avon was 28 years old (an adult by human standards) before it ever ventured abroad, and then only to nearby Canada. Forty years later, a geriatric in human terms, it moved into its second foreign market, Venezulea.

Why Avon Went Global

So why has Avon put so much emphasis on international expansion in recent years? First, Avon forecast a slow growth potential in the U.S. market, because there is virtually no remaining untapped market for cosmetics, fragrances, and toiletries. To grow rapidly in the United States would mean taking sells from competitors, and the U.S. beauty market is very competitive. If you doubt this, just try weaving through a large U.S. department store without being accosted and sprayed on.

Avon has preferred to put emphasis on less-competitive markets, and its largest annual report even states that it expects U.S. ?growth to be in line with that of the overall beauty market?-which means its domestic sales will depend primarily on the population growth of women in the cosmetic-using age group. Even if there were a considerable untapped U.S. market, less than 5 percent of the world?s population lives in the United States.

Second, you need to understand Avon?s distribution system to appreciate why Avon worried about U.S. sales in the latter part of the twentieth century. Avon has always depended on direct selling by contracted independent salespersons (almost always women working part time and known as ?Avon ladies? or ?Avon representatives?), who sell to households by demonstrating products and giving beauty advice. These reps place sale orders with Avon and deliver orders to the customers once they receive them.

Historically, these direct sales have been the backbone of Avon?s success. To begin with, direct selling offers Avon a cost-saving advantage by enabling the company to maintain a smaller number of employees, keep its advertising budget low (the Avon ladies do much of the promotion), and avoid having to pay for shelf space in stores. The lower cost have facilitated Avon?s maintenance of generally lower prices than those that competitors change in department stores. Thus Avon has consistently maintained an image of good value for the money.

Direct selling also offers additional marketing advantages, because word-of-mouth customers tend to be quite loyal to the Avon ladies they befriend. However, in the late twentieth century, the outlook for U.S. direct sales of any kind of product looked bleak. Droves of U.S. women were entering the workforce full time, which made them less receptive to door-to-door salespersons and less willing to spend time on makeup demonstrations and the arrangements for a later receipt of their purchases. Because of working full time, the pool of women seeking part-time employment also seemed to be drying up.

Meanwhile, Back in the Home Market

In an effort to combat the problem of house-to-house sales, Avon has allowed reps to open retail outlets, which are usually small kiosks in shopping malls. Further, Avon Ladies have pretty much given up their old ?ding dong? routines by selling instead to friends and family, to colleagues at work, and through ads on their own Web sites. In the meantime, the prediction that the pool of part time job seekers would dry up proved wrong. Between 1996 and 2007, the number of direct sellers in the United States for all companies increased from 8.5 million to 15 million, and sales value has increased proportionately. The global recession has since increased the availability of people to sell independently.

When the U.S. outlook looked gloomy, the outlook in foreign markets looked bright. For example, the lack of developed infrastructure in the rural areas of such countries as Brazil and the Philippines deters women from leaving their homes to shop for cosmetics. But in these countries, Avon ladies reach consumers in some of the most remote areas, because there are ample numbers of potential Avon ladies. For instance, Avon has 80,000 representatives in Brazil alone. In transitional economies, Avon?s market entry coincided with pent-up demand from the period of centrally planned economic policies. In rapid-growth economies, such as Chile and Malaysia, Avon taps a growing middle-class market that can afford its products.

The International Strategy

Global Products

As Avon moved internationally, it pretty much allowed its country managers to decide what products would sell in their markets. Either Avon?s R&D unit in the United States or a local R&D unit would then develop them. These were largely produced within the country selling them and included such products as a combination skin cream ( moisturizer, sunscreen, and insect repellent) in Brazil, skin-lightening creams in parts of Asia, long lasting citrus fragrances in Mediterranean countries, technology-driven skin products in Japan, health and wellness products in Argentina, and bigger bottles of personal-care products in Spain.

Once products are developed, Avon disseminates the information to its facilities elsewhere. For example, Avon-Japan developed emulsion technologies to produce lotions and creams with lighter textures and higher hydration levels, and many Avon operations in other countries now use the process.

Some Pitfalls of Product Proliferation

On the one hand, this decentralization to fit the wants of local consumers has undoubtedly given consumers the products they want. On the other hand, it has come with costs. To begin with, the resultant product proliferation has increased manufacturing cost, which threatens Avon?s strategy of maintain a god profit margin while simultaneously offering customers a good value for their money. Next, Avon has depended primarily on its catalogs to promote its products. For instance, it distributes catalogs every two weeks in the United States and every four weeks abroad. Its circulation dwarfs that of any other commercial publication. However, as it product line grew-13,000 products for the Mexican market alone-the catalogs became too bulky, and the Avon ladies could not possibly know enough about the line to sell effectively. In 2006, Avon cut its product line by 25 percent, and it plans to cut the line even more. It is also moving toward more large-scale centralized production to save on manufacturing costs.

Although Avon is paring its product line, this does not imply a cutback in new products, which are important in the industry. In fact, Avon has signed exclusive agreements with several universities worldwide (such as Australia, China, Japan, and Thailand) to help develop new products. For example, Asia has long been a leader in herbal and therapeutic treatments. Avon?s venture with Ciang Mai University in Thailand has produced one of Avon?s latest products using this Asian expertise, Anew Alternative, which is purported to diminish fine lines and wrinkles.

Global Branding

Avon now emphasizes global brands that include Anew, Rare Gold, becoming, and Far Away fragrances, Through standardized branding, Avon creates a uniform global quality image while saving cost by using uniform ingredients and packaging. Global branding also helps inform consumers that the company is international. This helps sales in countries such as Thailand, where consumers prefer to buy beauty products made by foreign companies.

Although Avon prominently displays its name on most of its products worldwide, some of its brand names differ among countries. For instance, when Avon has made foreign acquisitions, it has sometimes kept the successful brand name and goodwill it has acquired. For example, when Avon acquired Justine in South Africa, it kept the Justine name. The company prints instructions in local languages but may or may not pull the brand names in that language. It sometimes uses English or French brand names, because consumers consider the United States and France high-quality suppliers for beauty products. For example, Avon sells skin-care products called Rosa Mosqueta (in Spanish), Revival (in English), and Renaissage (in French) in Chile, Argentina, and Japan, respectively. In each case, the Avon logo appears prominently on the products? containers as well.

Global Pricing

Each country operation sets it own prices to reflect local market conditions and strategic objectives. However, at times the price difference between neighboring countries has created demand for contraband shipments from the country with lower prices-such as has recently occurred between Colombia and Venezuela. The prices are subject to change for each sales campaign. Avon runs a new campaign with different special offers every two weeks in the United States and every four weeks abroad. The shortness of campaigns is helpful for adjusting prices in highly inflationary economies. Avon also has capture more upmarket sales while maintain the existing clientele. For instance, it has contracted with Christian Lacroix to develop fragrances that will sell at a higher price than Avon?s traditional ones.

Global Promotion

Although Avon?s promotion is primarily through its brochures and catalogs, it also advertises. It uses such media as broadcasts and billboards and has four primary objectives:
? To sell newly launched products
? To accelerate sales in some of its fastest-growing markets, such as Russia
? To recruit reps in places like China
? To use a campaign called ?Hello Tomorrow? to change the public perception of its products as unfashionable and outdated to stylish and modern

?Hello Tomorrow?
This campaign is Avon?s first global ad campaign aimed at the image of its overarching Avon brand. Its prior global campaigns aimed at selling specific products. Despite the global campaign, some of Avon?s ads vary by country. For instance, it sponsors a British TV drama about footballers? wives and one in Russia that includes a character who sells Avon products. Avon is also using celebrities to help sell its products. The Mexican film star Salma Hayek is the face of Avon. Academy Award-winning actress Jennifer Hudson is the spokesperson for Imari fragrance. Baseball player Derek Jeter (yes, Avon does have some products for men too) has his name on a collection of skin-care products.

Meeting the Needs of Women Worldwide
Perhaps Avon?s most important campaign is to develop a global image as company that supports women and their needs, a campaign that has generated favorable publicity in media reports. Building on this theme, Avon cohosted a Global Summit for a Better Tomorrow at the United Nations during International Women?s Day, and it gives annual Women of Enterprise Awards to leading women entrepreneurs. It also publicizes how being an Avon lady heightens the role of women, which has been particularly successful at attracting new reps in developing countries such as Malaysia and the Philippines. Undoubtedly, Avon?s biggest social-responsibility projects are its work internationally in fighting breast cancer and domestic violence. Avon ladies disseminate information about breast cancer along with their promotion brochures and sell items to raise money for local needs. Avon is the largest corporate donor to breast cancer research. The fight against domestic violence is a newer Avon program. It is working through local organizations to prevent violence through education and to treat women who have been victims.

Global Distribution
Avon basically duplicates its distribution method in foreign countries, which means that it sells to independent representatives who have taken orders from customers they have either communicated with or visited. However, there are some variations. We have already discussed some of the changes in the United States. In Japan, there is a substantial mail-order business. In Argentina, Avon has beauty centers.
Probably the biggest deviation from direct selling occurred in China, the only single country division in Avon?s global network. In response to a 1998 Chinese law prohibiting house-to-house sales, Avon quickly opened about 6,000 beauty boutiques, lined up 9,000 independent stores to carry Avon, and opened 1,000 beauty counters. Thus Avon made its products available in virtually every corner of the country. In 2005, the Chinese government loosened its house-to-house sales regulations but with many restrictions, such as capping the commission for salespeople and preventing them from recruiting others to work on a shared-commission plan.
Avon seeks to transfer successful practices in one country to other countries. To encourage the transfer of know-how, Avon brings Marketing personnel from different countries together to share what it calls ?best practices,? and it passes on information from country to country. It also promotes competition among countries, such as awards for country-level initiatives to improve sales, quality, and efficiency.
Looking toward the Future
Avon has several challenges for the future. Although its direct-sales method has been important in Avon?s success, there are drawbacks for it. For one, customers cannot obtain a product whenever they want it. For another, reps report many returns because customers cannot always discern exact colors from catalogs. For another it may be difficult for Avon to capture clientele in a higher-price category while maintain the value-for-money clientele.
Avon anticipates that international operations will account for the bulk of its growth in the foreseeable future. Its products are still not available to a large portion of the world?s women. It is already operating in all four BRIC countries, however, and is the market leader in two of them (Brazil and Russia).

Sherry Crow is a licensed massage therapist. She wants to start her own practice to earn profits to help support her family, but she also wants to do work to support health care in her community. She has rented an office and equipment to perform the necessary patient care. Patients that have insurance and/or are capable of covering her full fee (which includes covering all costs plus a profit for herself), she wants to pay the full fee. However, Sherry also wants to ensure that 10% of her work week (40 hours) is donating her time to uninsured patients who cant afford to pay the full fee that she would otherwise charge. She does need these charity patients to contribute to her overhead costs though.

What kind of general approach(es) to pricing should Sherry use in her new practice? Choose among the 4 general approaches. Explain your reasoning. (You can assume that Sherry knows that she has to cover her fixed and variable expenses. I expect that you will answer this question in terms of a marketing approach to pricing, not an accounting discussion of how she should make sure to completely cover costs.) Should she price some clients one way and other clients another?

Sherry is going to buy a new massage table (rather than the rented one) from the profits from her new business. If the mark-up on the manufacturers cost is 20%, the mark-up on the wholesalers cost is 50%, and the mark-up on the retailers cost is 100%, what is the cost to the manufacturer of producing the massage table if Sherry buys it for $500?
Show all your work.


Should you choose to submit this for a grade, remember that your grade will be based on the memo's content, clarity, grammar, and depth of analysis. It should be typed with at least 1 inch margins, double-spaced, and have no less than 10 point font size.

Coca-Cola Is Everything: SCM, CRM, ERP, Social Media, You Name it

If we told you that Coca-Cola had operating units in 50 countries around the world, you probably wouldn't be surprised. If we told you that Coca-Cola had been in business for almost 125 years, you probably wouldn't be surprised. So, you tell us . . . how many different beverages does Coca-Cola produce? 100? 500? 2,000? Are you surprised yet? Worldwide, Coca-Cola produces an amazing 2,800 different beverages.
When an organization is that big, has that sort of worldwide presence, and boasts what is perhaps the most well-known brand ever, you can bet that a multitude of IT systems are constantly churning in the back?ground, not only keeping the organization running, but also keeping it running ahead of the competition.
To support internal collaboration efforts, Coke created something it calls its Common Innovation Framework, a Web-based system that combines project management capabilities with business intelligence. Using the Innovation Framework, anyone from any of the operating units worldwide can search for, find, and apply concepts, strategies, development successes, and marketing approaches that have been used elsewhere in the organization. For example, when introducing Georgia teas in Australia, the Coke people Down Under can research what marketing strategies worked well in related countries such as New Zealand. As Jean-Michel Ares, Coke CIO, explains it, "Once you've aggregated that pipeline of innovation, the object is to assess and prioritize the best allocation of resources in the organization.?
Beyond internal employees, Coke is reaching out with new and innovative IT steps. Recently, it rolled out a new line of software services based on hundreds of business processes to its extended family of bottlers. These software services each perform a specific common business function and run within SAP's ERP software and are delivered by Coke's IBM-hosted data centers. The goal is to create a standardized business and technology platform across all Coke bottlers, most of which are independent franchises. (There are some partly owned by Coke.) If Coke and all its bottlers are speaking the same language, so to speak, and using the same technology, then supply chain management applications will be the more efficiently streamlined. Standardization in this case equates to saving money by reducing expenses associated with supply chain activities.
And even beyond its extended family of bottlers, Coke is using social media technology to create loyalty and engage more with its customers. Its award-winning Web site, My Coke Rewards at www.mycokerewards.com, is the second most popular consumer packaged goods site, behind only www.kraftfoods.com. My Coke Rewards attracts some 300,000 visitors per day. Offering everything from magazine subscriptions to electronics as prizes (just look under your bottle cap), My Coke Rewards has reconnected Coke with its loyal drinkers. The site has teamed up with pop culture crazes such as American Idol, soccer, and auto racing to bring even more consumers into the fold. You can even find Coke labeled songs through iTunes. Over 32 million people "like" Coke on Facebook.


Read Case Above: Coca-Cola Is Everything: SCM, CRM, ERP, Social Media, and answer the questions below. APA formatting guidelines require a title page, abstract page, and reference page in addition to the body of the paper.

Why is standardization so important in supply chain management? Coke is developing its own set of software services for bottlers to use. Do you think Coke charges the bottlers for these software services? Why or why not?

How is My Coke Rewards an example of a switching cost? How can a switching cost not have a monetary penalty associated with it?

What sort of business intelligence could Coke gather from its My Coke Rewards Web site? How could it use this information for customer relationship management activities?

Visit Coca-Cola?s Facebook page. Can you buy Coke products there? What social media tools are present that allow you to communicate with Coca-Cola?

Now, visit Pepsi?s Facebook page. Compare and contrast it to Coca-Cola?s Facebook page. Which has more eye appeal? Which seems to have more activity? Why do you think this is true?

This is about art management and I would send a couple materials that you can review. They are:
1. Business Plan
2. Presentation Slide
3. Plan of Attack for seeking sponsorship

As an overview, Frog's Leap sculpture Walk is an art event that will be held in Melbourne, Australia bu Green Art Inc on mid January 2009- mid March 2009 in Royal Botanic Garden.
This is a free entry event as Everyone could gan free entry and have a look for sculptures that are going to be located in the garden. The purpose of the whole project is to support artists in Melbourne and also to promote Melbourne as a garden city.
Firstly, we will promote the competitions to artists through education institutions and also via media (magazines, poster, radio). After that, we are going to make a contract with each artist and also give each person $300 as a material cost for a sculpture. By the end of submission date, each artist should hand in his/her creation to our warehouse.


The whole paper should include:
1. Introduction
Briefly explain about Green Art Inc follow by its actual project, Frog's Leap Sculpture Walk.

2. Operational Plan
How we engage with all parties that are going to contribute on this event, budgeting, launch party and the event itself.

3. Risk Management
Elaborate the risk management as already outlined on the presentation slides. Why is it needed?

4. What are the strength of this event that will make it successful
* freshness of the idea
* we have plan of attack (marketing approach to seek sponsorship)
* Different people from different background
* strategic location (accessibility)
* advantaged by owning our own warehouse, legal advice that will minimize our cost
* we have children workshop. That means, we could try to promote our event to schools for their next study tours.

5. What are the weakness of this event?
* First event held by Green Art
* the successful of this event might depend on the artist itself as we could not control the quality
* big budget
* big amount of sponsorship package ($50000, $20000)
* big expense for launch party (to pay those celebrities)

6. Critiques
* no estimation of target audiences per day
* no calculation of Break Event Point
* No plan B
* Merchandises price are quite high. We better reduce the cost in order to emphasize on sales volume rather than the price

7. Conclusion
There are faxes for this order.

Attached is the assignment Task 1. Kindly do the following:

1. READ THE ASSESSMENT CRITERIA given below and try to answer the questions to meet the assessment criteria

2. Use practical examples and suggest clear recommendation inclined to meet the Assessment criteria

3. Also refer back to the case and the situation in the case

4. Proof read there should be no spelling mistakes

6 Follow the FORMAT which is very important. (Times New Roman 12)

7 Do not make a question answer issue - rather make it a report with heading of the question (eg. the report starts with an introduction or Executive summary then TOC - use word indexing - then body of the report do not cut paste any questions

8 The most important point _ DO NOT CUT PASTE anything from internet - PLAGIARISM

9. Have a conclusion and recommendations - Don't forget your body referencing and your end Bibliography. - USE HRS system of referencing


Learning Outcome 1

Understand the Value of an E-Strategy in Organizations

Assessment Criteria (AC) to Test Outcomes

AC1.1 - Explain the Benefits of Having an E-Strategy in Organizations
AC1.2 - Evaluate the Contribution of an E-Strategy to the Achievement of an Organization?s Objectives.

AC1.3 - Discuss How to Align an E-Strategy with an Overarching Organizational Strategy.

Tasks

Task 1 (1.1)

Task 1 (1.2)

Task 1 (1.3)

Learning Outcome 2

Be able to develop an e-strategy for an organization

Assessment Criteria (AC) to Test Outcomes

AC2.1 - Analyze the business factors that underpin the requirement for an e-strategy in an organization.
AC2.2 - Discuss the benefits of e-commerce to an organization.
AC2.3 - Develop a plan for an e-strategy that ensures an organization retains its competitive advantage in a global market
AC2.4 - Specify the technical infrastructure required in an e-strategy plan for an organization.

Tasks

Task 1 (1.4)
Task 1 (1.5)
Task 1 (1.6)
Task 1 (1.7)

Required Task 1: Leading E-strategy

Assessment and Grading:

This assessment is based on achievements in learning outcomes. In order to pass, all criteria identified in the assignment with reference to learning outcomes of the module must be met.
Word Count/Limit:
3,500 words (+/- 10%)

Please study the following case Study on Amazon available at http://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketing-strategy/online-business-revenue-models/amazon-case-study/ or amazon.com and complete the following tasks

Amazon Vision & Strategy

?Relentlessly focus on customer experience by offering our customers low prices, convenience, and a wide selection of merchandise.? The vision is still to offer ?Earth?s biggest selection and to be Earth?s most customer-centric company. Consider how these core marketing messages summarising the Amazon online value proposition are communicated both on-site and through offline communications. Of course, achieving customer loyalty and repeat purchases has been key to Amazon?s success. Many dot-coms failed because they succeeded in achieving awareness, but not loyalty. Amazon achieved both. In their SEC filing they stress how they seek to achieve this. They say:?We work to earn repeat purchases by providing easy-to-use functionality, fast and reliable fulfillment, timely customer service, feature rich content, and a trusted transaction environment.
A good summary of the latest business model initiatives is available in this Amazon annual report summary for 2011. For Q4, 2010:
? North America segment sales, representing the Company?s U.S. and Canadian sites, were $7.21 billion, up 45% from fourth quarter 2009.
? International segment sales, representing the Company?s U.K., German, Japanese, French, Chinese and new Italian sites, were $5.74 billion, up 26% from fourth quarter 2009. Excluding the unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, sales grew 29%.
Amazon performs exceptionally efficiently measured against revenue per visitor, which is one of the key measures for any commercial website, whether it?s a media site, search engine, social network or a transactional retailer or offers travel or financial services. Of course profit per user would be quite different due to the significantly lower costs of other .coms like Facebook and Google. Key features of our websites include editorial and customer reviews; manufacturer product information; Web pages tailored to individual preferences, such as recommendations and notifications; 1-Click? technology; secure payment systems; image uploads; searching on our websites as well as the Internet; browsing; and the ability to view selected interior pages and citations, and search the entire contents of many of the books we offer with our ?Look Inside the Book? and ?Search Inside the Book? features. Our community of online customers also creates feature-rich content, including product reviews, online recommendation lists, wish lists, buying guides, and wedding and baby registries.?In practice, as is the practice for many online retailers, the lowest prices are for the most popular products, with less popular products commanding higher prices and a greater margin for Amazon.
Free shipping offers are used to encourage increase in basket size since customers have to spend over a certain amount to receive free shipping. The level at which free-shipping is set is critical to profitability and Amazon has changed it as competition has changed and for promotional reasons. Amazon communicate the fulfillment promise in several ways including presentation of latest inventory availability information, delivery date estimates, and options for expedited delivery, as well as delivery shipment notifications and update facilities.
This focus on customer has translated to excellence in service with the 2004 American Customer Satisfaction Index giving Amazon.com a score of 88 which was at the time, the highest customer satisfaction score ever recorded in any service industry, online or offline. Round (2004) notes that Amazon focuses on customer satisfaction metrics. Each site is closely monitored with standard service availability monitoring (for example, using Keynote or Mercury Interactive) site availability and download speed. Interestingly it also monitors per minute site revenue upper/lower bounds ? Round describes an alarm system rather like a power plant where if revenue on a site falls below $10,000 per minute, alarms go off! There are also internal performance service-level-agreements for web services where T% of the time, different pages must return in X seconds.


Visions and importance of technology
According to founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos, technology is very important to supporting this focus on the customer. In their 2010 Annual Report (Amazon, 2011) he said:
?Look inside a current textbook on software architecture, and you?ll find few patterns that we don?t apply at Amazon. We use high-performance transactions systems, complex rendering and object caching, workflow and queuing systems, business intelligence and data analytics, machine learning and pattern recognition, neural networks and probabilistic decision making, and a wide variety of other techniques. And while many of our systems are based on the latest in computer science research, this often hasn?t been sufficient: our architects and engineers have had to advance research in directions that no academic had yet taken. Many of the problems we face have no textbook solutions, and so we ? happily ? invent new approaches?? All the effort we put into technology might not matter that much if we kept technology off to the side in some sort of R&D department, but we don?t take that approach. Technology infuses all of our teams, all of our processes, our decision-making, and our approach to innovation in each of our businesses. It is deeply integrated into everything we do?.
The quote shows how applying new technologies is used to give Amazon a competitive edge. A good recent example of this is providing the infrastructure to deliver the Kindle ?Whispersync? update to ebook readers. Amazon reported in 2011 that Amazon.com is now selling more Kindle books than paperback books. For every 100 paperback books Amazon has sold, the Company sold 115 Kindle books. Kindle apps are now available on Apple iOS, Android devices and on PCs as part of a ?Buy Once, Read Anywhere? proposition which Amazon has developed.
Amazon Customers
Amazon defines what it refers to as three consumer sets customers, seller customers and developer customers. There are over 76 million customer accounts, but just 1.3 million active seller customers in it?s marketplaces and Amazon is seeking to increase this. Amazon is unusual for a retailer in that it identifies ?developer customers? who use its Amazon Web Services, which provides access to technology infrastructure such as hosting that developers can use to develop their own web services.
Members are also encouraged to join a loyalty programme, Amazon Prime, a fee-based membership program in which members receive free or discounted express shipping, in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan.
Competitions
In its SEC (2005) filing Amazon describes the environment for our products and services as ?intensely competitive?. It views its main current and potential competitors as:
1) physical-world retailers, catalog retailers, publishers, vendors, distributors and manufacturers of our products, many of which possess significant brand awareness, sales volume, and customer bases, and some of which currently sell, or may sell, products or services through the Internet, mail order, or direct marketing;
(2) Other online E-commerce sites;
(3) A number of indirect competitors, including media companies, Web portals, comparison shopping websites, and Web search engines, either directly or in collaboration with other retailers; and
(4) Companies that provide e-commerce services, including website development; third-party fulfillment and customer-service.
It believes the main competitive factors in its market segments include ?selection, price, availability, convenience, information, discovery, brand recognition, personalized services, accessibility, customer service, reliability, speed of fulfillment, ease of use, and ability to adapt to changing conditions, as well as our customers? overall experience and trust in transactions with us and facilitated by us on behalf of third-party sellers?.
For services offered to business and individual sellers, additional competitive factors include the quality of our services and tools, their ability to generate sales for third parties we serve, and the speed of performance for our services

From Actions to Marketplaces
Amazon auctions (known as zShops) were launched in March 1999, in large part as a response to the success of eBay. They were promoted heavily from the home page, category pages and individual product pages. Despite this, a year after its launch it had only achieved a 3.2% share of the online auction compared to 58% for eBay and it only declined from this point. Today, competitive prices of products are available through third-party sellers in the ?Amazon Marketplace? which are integrated within the standard product listings. The strategy to offer such an auction facility was initially driven by the need to compete with eBay, but now the strategy has been adjusted such that Amazon describe it as part of the approach of low-pricing.
Although it might be thought that Amazon would lose out on enabling its merchants to sell products at lower prices, in fact Amazon makes greater margin on these sales since merchants are charged a commission on each sale and it is the merchant who bears the cost of storing inventory and fulfilling the product to customers. As with eBay, Amazon is just facilitating the exchange of bits and bytes between buyers and sellers without the need to distribute physical products.

Amazon Media Sales

You may have noticed that unlike some retailers, Amazon displays relevant Google text ads and banner ads from brands. This seems in conflict with the strategy of focus on experience since it leads to a more cluttered store. However in 2011 Amazon revealed that worldwide media sales accounted for approximately 17% of revenue!

Amazon Marketing

Amazon does not reveal much about its marketing approach in its annual reports, but there seems to be a focus on online marketing channels. Amazon (2011) states ?we direct customers to our websites primarily through a number of targeted online marketing channels, such as our Associates program, sponsored search, portal advertising, email marketing campaigns, and other initiatives?. These other initiatives may include outdoor and TV advertising, but they are not mentioned specifically. In this statement they also highlight the importance of customer loyalty tools. They say: ?while costs associated with free shipping are not included in marketing expense, we view free shipping offers and Amazon Prime as effective worldwide marketing tools, and intend to continue offering them indefinitely?.
Questions to be addressed in completing the Assignment tasks: 1

1.1 Explain the benefits of having an e-Strategy in organisation like Amazon? Critically evaluate using examples with particular emphasis on meeting strategic business objectives of Amazon? (Criteria 1.1)

1.2 From the information given in the case study evaluate contributions of an e-Strategy to the Achievement of Amazon?s objectives, analyse all the aspects in detailed manner?
(Criteria 1.2)

1.3 Critically analyse how the Amazon?s e-strategy is aligned with over overarching organisational strategy justify your statements with examples (Criteria 1.3)

1.4 Critically analyze the business factors that underpin the requirement for an e-strategy in the context of Amazon? (Criteria 2 .1)

1.5 Discuss the benefits of e-commerce to Amazon? As an e-commerce consultant proactively advise what are the future value additions (Criteria 2 .2)

1.6 Assume that you are heading the e-strategy initiatives at Amazon. Develop a plan for Amazon?s e-strategy to retain its competitive advantages in the global market place ? justify with relevant example (Criteria 2 .3)

1.7 Identify and conclude the technical infrastructure required for the strategy plan developed by you in task 1.6
(Criteria 2 .4)

Introduction:



Ethical situations may arise when entering a new international market. For example, specific marketing strategies currently in use in the United States and European countries may not be appropriate strategies for an Eastern Asian market.



Given:



Company A is headquartered in a regional manufacturing area in the United States. Company A produces engine components that undergo an extra heat-hardening process that provides extended life for engines of heavy-duty trucks, and it provides specialized machined engine components to all major U.S. truck and automobile manufacturers. Company A currently has 5,000 employees in the United States and wants to double its size within the next four years.



After establishing through market research that a huge growth potential exists for new entrants of heavy-duty trucks in several target countries, Company A expanded successfully into one European country this past year. The company is now considering expansion into an Eastern Asian market. Senior management believes Company A will more than double company profits with its expansion in the international market.



As a member of the expansion team, you will be a key player in ensuring the success of this new venture. You will be responsible for providing assessments, analysis, and written plans for successful furtherance of Company A?s global marketing plan. Your manager at Company A has asked you to submit a detailed marketing approach that the manager will present to the operating committee. Your approach should address any major cross-cultural challenges that may likely surface as Company A expands into an Eastern Asian market.



Task:



Write an essay (suggested length 3?5 pages) in which you:



A. Identify one country in Eastern Asia (e.g., Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea, Macau, Taiwan, or Mongolia) to be the focus of your essay.



B. Identify major cross-cultural issues that may impact Company A?s marketing approach in this situation.

1. Describe how the issues you identified may impact the approach Company A takes.



C. Explain how cross-cultural communication affects marketing strategies in the Eastern Asian country you identified in part A.

1. Provide examples that support your explanation.



D. Evaluate the impact of cross-cultural ethical differences in marketing strategies between the United States and the Eastern Asian country you identified in part A as Company A enters the Eastern Asian market.

You are to write a 20-page paper. Read the Case Study below. For Outside Sources, Use Internet Only.

**Your analysis should include all 12 of the strategic steps below. Additionally, be sure to conduct a financial analysis which allows you to present a future cash flow analysis to demonstrate that the firm can implement your recommendations.**

In writing a comprehensive written analysis. You must follow the steps outlined below, which correlate to the stages in the strategic management process.

12 Strategic Steps

Step 1: Identify the firms existing vision, mission, objectives, and strategies.

Step 2: Develop vision and mission statements for the organization.

Step 3: Identify the organizations external opportunities and threats.

Step 4: Construct a competitive profile matrix (CPM)

Step 5: Construct an external factor evaluation (EFE) Matrix

Step 6: Identify the organizations internal strengths and weaknesses.

Step 7: Construct an internal factor evaluation (IFE) Matrix.

Step 8: Prepare a strengths-weaknesses-opportunities-threats (SWOT) Matrix, strategic position and action evaluation (SPACE) Matrix, Grand Strategy Matrix, and Internal-External (IE) Matrix. Give advantages and disadvantages of alternative strategies.

Step 9: Recommend specific strategies and long-term objectives. Show how much your recommendations will cost. Itemized these costs clearly for each projected year. Compare your recommendations to actual strategies planned by the Company.

Step 10: Specify how your recommendations can be implemented and what results you can expect. Prepare forecasted ratios and projected financial statements. Present a timetable or agenda for action.

Step 11: Recommend specific annual objectives and policies.

Step 12: Recommend procedures for strategy review and evaluation.

Southwest Airlines Co.-2004
Despite terrorist attacks, new security measures, dramatic increase in aviation insurance costs, industry downsizing, rising energy costs, and a severe production in consumer air travel, Southwest Airlines is still poised for success. For 12 the consecutive years 1991 through 2002, the Department of Transportation and travel consumer report listed Southwest Airlines and among the top five all major carriers for on-time performance, best baggage handling, and fewest customer complaints. In a highly competitive industry, all Kerry is continually strive to place first in any of these categories of the Department of Transportation report; Southwest is the only airline to ever hold the Triple Crown for its annual performance. In addition to this honor, Southwest is consistently among Fortune magazines most admired companies second in 2002, and it is also one of the magazines list for a 100 best companies to work for. In 2002, Southwest ranked first among airlines customer service that expansion, as reported in the Wall Street journal. In addition, Southwest ranked first in Money magazine feature for the 30 best stock since 1972.Southwest continues to operate profitably despite geopolitical tensions: in 2003, it had $442.0 million in net income on $5.8 billion in revenues (Southwest annual report, 2003).in an industry that historically has been awash in red, where airlines continually go in and out a bankruptcy or fail, Southwest has an enviable record of holder 30 consecutive years of operation at a profit. But, considering the tremendous strain in current economical and political environment, can this record of success continue? In their best-selling book Nuts, Kevin and Jackie Freiburg point to a company with people who are committed to working hard and having fun and who avoid following industry trends. The Freiburg note that Southwest, based in Dallas, Texas, is a company that likes to keep prices at rock bottom; believes the customer comes second; runs recruiting ads that says, work at a place wearing pants is optional; paints its $30 million assets to look like killer whales and state flags; avoids trendy management programs; avoids formal, documented strategic planning; spend more time at planning parties than writing policy; and once settle a legal dispute by arm wrestling. This strategy has always worked, but will he continue to work?
History and Growth of Southwest Airlines
Rollin King and Herb Kelleher completed the necessary paperwork to create airline Southwest Co. later named Southwest airlines. The two filed for approval with the asked FAA; and on February 20, 1968, the Texas Aeronautical commission approved their plans to fly between the three cities. In the 1980s and 1990s, Southwest continued to expand, and by 1993, it was serving 34 cities in 15 states. Southwest Oakley, but methodically, moved Southwestern states into California, the Midwest, and the Northwest. It added new destinations in Florida and on the East Coast. With its low prices and no-frills approach, it quickly dominated the market it entered. In some markets, southwest entered, competitors soon withdrew allowing the airline to expand even faster than they projected. For example, Southwest entered the California market in 1990; it quickly became the second largest player, with over 20% of the interstate market. Several competitors soon abandoned Los Angeles-San Francisco route because they were unable to match Southwest $59 one-way fare. Before Southwest entered this market, fares had in as high as $186 one-way. California offers a good example of the real dilemma facing competing carriers, which to refer to Southwest as a 500 pound cockroach that was to be stamp out. While airfares were dropping, passenger traffic increased dramatically. Competitors, such as American Airlines and US Airways, were losing money on several key routes segments, even though they cut service drastically. In the late 1994 United began to fight back by launching a low-cost high frequency shuttle service on the West Coast. But it found that even a shuttle could not win against Southwest in a head-to-head battle. So United airlines repositioned its shuttle away from Southwest routes and even abandoned some routes altogether. According to the Department of Transportation, eight airlines surrendered West Coast routes to Southwest; at the same time, one-way fares fell by over 30% to an average of $60, and traffic increased by almost 60%. The major problem for the larger airlines was that many of these was cost rows were critical for feeding traffic into their highly profitable transcontinental in transpacific routes, and Southwest was cutting into that market. Southwest is currently before the larger domestic area in terms of customer boarded. Airline has transformed itself from a regional carrier operating out a Dallas, Texas into a truly national carrier. At year end 2002, the airlines surged 58 cities in 30 states and operated more than 2800 flights a day with its fleet of 375 Boeing 737s. In 2002, Southwest flew 45.4 billion revenue passenger miles compared with 44.5 alien revenue passenger miles in 2001. The most remarkable in its 30th year in a row of profitable operations, with total operating revenues in 2002 of $5.52 billion a decrease of 0.6% over 2001. Operating income in 2002 fell by 33.9% into the Houston one. Net income fell by 2.9% from $511.1 million in 2001 to $241.0 million in 2002 (Southwest annual report, 2003). Nonetheless, Southwest was the only profitable major US airline in 2002.
Management
Lamar Muse led Southwest its climb to profitability; but, in a dispute the board, he was ousted in 1978. With Muse out, Kelleher moved into the top position, and ran the airline until June 19, 2001. On that date, Kelleher was succeeded as CEO by Southwest vice president and general counsel, James F. Parker, 54. Colleen C. Barrett, 56, who started her collaboration with Mr. Kelleher 34 years earlier as his legal secretary, would-be president and chief operating officer. Mr. Kelleher is slated to remain as chairman for three years. Mr. Parker has been the airlines taught labor negotiator, making him well known to the Company employees, and, according to Mr. Klleher, he has had a say in every important decision for long long time. Ms. Barrett, the unsung hero of Southwest, has been the keeper and crusader of Southwests culture, and she has success indoctrinated thousands of new workers in southwests ways. Parkers plan as CEO is to stay with the cheap southwest below cost, low fare, no-frills airline it has always been. There will be no change in our core philosophy and our base business model, he says. It is a model he helped shape as general counsel for 15 years. Southwest Management team drives home the feeling that all of XP or part of one big family. Southwest culture committee, formerly headed by Barrett, has unique ways to preserve the Company under dog back ground and can do spirit. She constantly reinforces the message that employees should be treated like customers, and continually celebrates workers who go above and beyond the call of duty. Barrett also regularly visited each of the company stations to reiterate the airlines history and to motivate employees. As keeper of the company culture, Barrett commemorates all employees are a special events with cards signed Herb and Colleen. Employees know the culture and expect others to live up to it. Donna Conover, another longtime Southwest employee who also understands and supports the company culture, will succeed Barrett as president and COO.
Strategy
Southwest operation under Kelleher has a number of characteristics that seem to contribute to its success. It has always been able to quickly seize strategic opportunity whenever one arises. Other key factors are at its conservative growth pattern, its cost containment policy, and the commitment of its employees. Kelleher always resisted a chance to expand too rapidly. His philosophy was to expand only when there were resources available to go into a new location with 10 to 12 flights per day not just one or two. For years, he also resisted the temptation to being transcontinental operations or to get into a head-to-head battle with major carriers are long-distance routes. But even with a conservator approach, Southwest expanded any vigorous pace. Its debt has remained the lowest among US carriers, and, with an A-rating, Southwest has the highest Standard & Poors credit rating in the industry. Southwest has made its mark by concentrating on flying large numbers of passengers on high frequency, short hops (usually one hour a less) at bargain fares. It has avoided the hub and spoke operations of its larger rivals, taking its passengers directly from city to city. Southwest also tends to avoid the more congested major airports in favor of smaller satellite fields. Kelleher revealed that niche strategy of Southwest when he know and where rents other airlines a hub and spoke systems in which passengers on a shuttle to a few major hubs from which they are transferred to other planes going to their destination, we wound up with a unique market niche: we wound up with a market segment that is peculiarly ours, and everything about the airline has been at that to serving the market segment in the most efficient and economical way possible. However, the strategy may be changing. Southwest has begun to introduce longer, nonstop trips on such routes as Baltimore, Maryland to Las Vegas, Nevada (2099 miles), and Austin, Texas to Los Angeles (1234 miles). Even one-stop trips are being added through central cities such as Nashville and Kansas City coast-to-coast travel. The prospect of Southwest going long haul on a grand scale is what the genie rivals always hoped would not come out of the bottle, says analyst Kevin C. Murphy of the Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. He believes Southwest will continue its expansion and that it will really rewrite the economic of the airline industry. This shifting strategy is downplayed by the fact that Southwest still flies about 80% of its flights on routes that are shorter than 750 miles. In 2002, the average flight was 548 miles and had duration of 1.5 hours. We are built for the short-haul markets, and we know that, says chief financial officer Gary C. Kelly. Kelleher explains the jump into routes that are 1000 plus miles as a way to deal with the changes in the 1997 federal ticket tax, which was pushed by the bigger carriers. The incorporation of that new tax replaced a percentage tax with a tax that included a flat, per segment fee, which hits the low-fare carriers harder.
Competitors believe southwest would have moved strongly into the long-haul flights market despite the altered tax requirements. They have dug all a shallow hole, says Rona J. Dutta, senior vice president for planning at United Airline Inc. He also replied that other low-fare units are increasing the competition and South West core markets. As all other major airlines have performed poorly since the 2001 terrorist attacks, many are expanding for developing a low fare program in an effort to increase profit. Short-haul lines such as JetBlue, Spirit Airlines, ATA Airlines, AirTran Airlines, SkyWest Airlines and Frontier Airlines, as well as Delta Song and Continentals JetExpress, maybe affecting Southwest probability, but with its lower cost and impressive balance sheet, Southwest still prevails. Nonetheless, some low-fare lines have ended operations because they were unsuccessful in competing with existing low-fare lines. These include US Airways MetroJet, shuttle by United, Vanguard, and national airlines. Southwest continues to be the lowest cost airline in its markets. Even when trying to match Southwest cut rate fares, the larger carriers could not do so without incurring substantial losses. Southwest continues to operate with the lowest cost per available seat mile (the number of seats multiplied by a distance flown) among all major airlines, what an average of 15 to 25% below its rivals. One of the major factors in this enviable record is that all of its planes used are of a single type Boeing 737s which dramatically lower the Company cost of training, maintenance, and inventory. Because of Southwest crews know the 737 inside and out, they could substitute personnel rapidly from one flight to another in an emergency. In addition, Southwest recognized that planes only earn you money while they are in the air, so the company worked hard to achieve a faster turnaround time on the ground. Most airlines take up to one hour to unload passengers, clean and service the plane, and board new passengers. Southwest has a turnaround time for most flights of 20 minutes or less. Thorough knowledge of 737has helped in this achievement. Southwest has also caught cost in the customer service area as well. Because of its flights are usually one hour or less, it does not offer meals-only peanuts and drinks. Boarding passes are reusable plastic cards, and boarding time it saves since the airlines has no assigned seating. Airline does not subscribe to any centralized reservation service. It will not even transfer baggage to other carriers: that is the passengers responsibility. Even with this frugality, passengers do not seem to object, since the price is right. The ability to turn planes around rapidly, surprisingly, has not jeopardized by the events after 9/11, but this did not happen without incurring added expenses. Initially, new government mandated security procedures did not cause delays and longer check-in times. Since then Southwest has added new automated systems and technologies that have streamlined the check-in process. This includes computer-generated baggage tag and boarding passes and self-service rapid check-in kiosks. Because of these new additions, Southwest reports that check-in times are almost back to normal. Southwest has achieved team spirit that others can only envy.one of the reasons for this team spirit is that the company truly believes that employees come first, not customers. Southwest is known for providing its employees with tremendous amount of information that will enable them to better understand the company, its mission, its customers, and its competition. Southwest believes that informatio is power. It is a resource that enables employees to do the job better. Armed with this knowledge, they are able to serve the customer better, and customers will deal with Southwest rarely get the runaround. Even though unionized, Southwest has been able to negotiate flexible work rules that enable it to meet the rapid turnaround schedules. It is not unusual for pilots to help flight attendants cleaned airplanes or to help the ground crew the baggage. Consequently, employee productivity is very high, and the airline is able to maintain a lean staff. In good times, Kelleher resisted the temptation to over-higher, and so avoided lay offs during lean times.
Southwest has only laid off three people in 25 years and it immediately hired them back. The airline industry as a whole has furloughed approximately 100,000 employees as a result of the 2001 attacks. Not only did Southwest lay off no one, it also hired employees in 2002 and increase overall salaries, wages, and benefits. This was made possible by reductions in other areas: new plane deliveries were delayed, renovations to the company headquarters was scrapped, but layoffs were not considered. Said CEO Parker, we are willing to suffer some damage, even to our stock price, to protect the jobs of our people. This employee we change in policy has contributed to employees feeling of security and a fierce sense of loyalty. The people of Southwest see themselves as crusaders whose mission is to give ordinary people the opportunity to fly. Maximizing profitability is the major goal at Southwest. This leads to a drive to keep costs low and quality high. The airlines ideal service consists of state, frequent, low-cost flights that get passengers to the destination one-time and often closer to the destination and the major airlines do, because its competitors use larger airports farther from the cities. Southwest uses Dallass Love Field, Houston Hobby Airport, and Chicagos Midway, which are closer to their respective downtown areas, are less congested, and are, therefore, more convenient for the business traveler. This also helps Southwests on-time performance. In its marketing approach, Southwest always tries to set itself apart from the rest of industry. It also plays up its fun-loving, rebel reputation. In the early years, when the big airlines were trying to run southwest out of business by undercutting its low fares, Southwest made its customers an unprecedented offer. In response to a Braniff ad offering $13 fare to fly between Houston and Dallas, Southwest place an ad that read, nobodys going to shoot Southwest Airlines out of the sky for a lousy $13. It did offer to passengers the opportunity to purchase a ticket from Southwest the same price, which was half the normal fare or to buy a full fare ticket for $26 and received a bottle of premium whiskey along with it. The response was unprecedented. Southwest planes were full and, for short time, Southwest was one of the top liquor distributors in the state of Texas. Southwest ads always try to convince the customer that what the airline offers them is of real value to them. It also believes it is in the business of making flying fun. With its ads, the company wants customers to know that when they fly Southwest Bay will have an experience unlike any other. It promised a safe, reliable, frequent, low-cost air transportation that is topped off with outstanding service. By keeping its promises, Southwest has earned extremely high credibility in every market it serves.
e-Business
Southwest has been aggressively marketing its services on the Internet, and it was the first airline to establish a home page on the Web. When Fortune magazine asked experts which businesses have web sites that work, the answer to got was not many. However, Southwest was one of the Jim side as a business doing it right. In the Internet travel rays, many observers think the West has lost the battle to a subsidiary of American Airlines, Travelocity. Yet while Americans have been getting most of the attention, Southwest has been getting the business. According to a Nielsen/Net Ratings survey 13.8% of the people visited Southwest site booked a flight. The company looked to book ratio is twice that of Travelocity and higher than that of any traditional retailer on the Web. Southwest, it seems as being a success in turning browsers into buyers. In March 2002 Internet week reported that Southwest experienced Internet traffic gain 16%.Southwest reports that approximately 50% of its passenger revenue is generated by online bookings. It costs per booking via Internet is about one dollar; in comparison, the cost per booking via a travel agent is about $10. Southwest web site has also been named the top ranking web site customer satisfaction among major travel sites, according to research conducted Harris interactive. The Southwest side scored a rating of 8.62 out of 10, with its web site attracting 4 million unique visitors during March 2001. In the June 11, 2001, issue of Internet week, Southwest web site was named as one of the top 100 ebusinesses in United States, as determined by the publications survey.
Competitors
Since September 11, 2001, competition for Southwest Airlines has yet to our major airline to low-fare airlines. This happened mainly because major airlines incurred losses and 2002. Before September 11, 2001, United Airlines, the second largest airlines with over 100,000 employees, was one of Southwest most formidable competitors. Since then, the company has downsized to approximately 85,000 employees. Because of financial losses, United airlines filed for bankruptcy in December 2002. Since United shuttle service ceased operation shortly after September 11, 2001, direct competition with Southwest Airlines has diminished. Following September 11, 2001, Delta Airlines, the third-largest US carrier, cut 21% of its workforce and in 2003 was operating with approximately 70 5000 employees. Delta Airlines flies to about 225 US and foreign locations, and remained particularly strong throughout much of the southern tier of the United States, where two of its major hubs Atlanta and Dallas/Fort Worth are located. In the summer of 2003 Delta Air Lines replaced its low-fare regional carrier service Delta express with Song, in an effort to better compete with low-fare airlines like Southwest. Delta airlines have also acquired a minority stake in three regional airlines which can feed passengers into its several hubs, and has established an alliance with Continental Airlines and Northwest Airlines. A third past competitor, American West Airlines, is faring better than both Delta Airlines and United airlines. In July 2002, American West Airlines recalled virtually all employees furloughed after the September 11, 2001, attacks. Despite net income losses of $388 million in 2002, American West airlines expects to restructure its finances with the of federal loan guarantees totaling $380 million. It has about 1100 employees and serves 144 cities in United States with foreign locations in Mexico and Canada. American West Airlines has a strong position in its hubs, Phoenix and Las Vegas. These locations put it into direct competition with Southwest. With Continental airlines and Mesa airlines, which have small stakes in American West Airlines, America West Airlines has formed alliances which give it access to another 35 destinations.
The low-fare carriers are doing better because they do not rely on high business fares and do not of frill the major carriers offers. They tend to gravitate toward secondary airports where less congestion and lower fees keep cost down. Many also fly point-to-point without stops, and in general have relied on highly efficient e-business. Most importantly, low-fare airlines have succeeded in appealing to the customer in ways that major airlines never could by using creative market strategies in promoting individualism. As a result, customers are intrigued by this new mode of transportation after trying it, are convinced that it is a new way to travel. In 194, revenues earned by low-fare carriers represented 5% of the $76 billion US air travel market. By 2003, their share was over 20%, according to CFO magazine, up from just 10% in 2000. Experts predict that low-fare airlines will have 25 to 35% of market share by the end of 2004, an increase that may restructure the airline industry forever. JetBlue airline is one of Southwest newest and possibly most noteworthy competitors. In 2002, JetBlue was the only airline to report profits, with $55million on revenues of $635 million. In 2003, despite geopolitical tensions, JetBlue was hiring an average of six new employees a day to accommodate growth. JetBlue founder and CEO is David Neeleman, who was employed in the inner circle of Southwest for over a year. Thus it is no surprise that JetBlue is structured similarly to Southwest: a low-cost, low-fare airlines with high employee productivity, a laid-back attitude, and a single aircraft model. Perhaps these are the reasons that JetBlue continues to grow and earn profits. It may also explain why Southwest CFO Gary Kelly stated, we have got to be prepared for intense competition. In fact, Southwest gave model JetBlue planes to its executives with a note: know your enemy. Currently, the two airlines do not compete in many of the same markets, but being the only two airlines experiencing significant growth, they are certainly affect each others potential growth. All of the competitors have calm into head-to-head competition with Southwest on several occasions. Southwest always walk with competition and firmly believes it can come out ahead in any of those situations. Kelleher when asked about his thoughts on facing a competitor such United shuttle head on, stated, I think its good to have some real competitive activity to get your people stirred up and renews their vigor and their energy in their desire to win.
Long-haul success for Southwest will put pressure on the profits realized by its bigger competitors. A cost advantage of Southwest includes a rat 20 minute gate turnarounds; an efficient all-Boeing 737 fleet, including new 737700s that can fly cross-country nonstop; and a more productive workforce. Even if longer flights increase the cost, Southwest still realizes a significant competitive advantage. Roberts, Roach& Associates Inc., an airline consultant in Hayward California says that Southwest has at least 59% cost advantage over a bigger rivals at flights of 500 miles, as well as a 35% lead for flights at 1500 miles. It is a huge threat, says a rival airline executive. Already, a quarterly to an estimate by analyst Samuel C. Buttrick from PaineWebber Inc., nonstop flights longer than 1000 miles account for more than 16% of Southwest capacity. Southwest is not the only low-fare airline that has expanded long-haul services in recent years. According to report from the Department of Transportation, AirTran Airways, ATA Airways, Frontier airlines, JetBlue Airways, and Spirit Airlines, along with Southwest, had expanded long-haul services by 26% between 2000 and 2002. Will longer flights or these airlines also mean a lost in profit due to increased cost, or could low-fare airline win an even larger portion of the market to reign in the American skies? For now, consideration serious expansion had to put on hold as many airlines are still trying to recover from losses over the past two years. Southwest will continue its strategy to capitalize conservatively and increased growth steadily. It is capitalizing on the schedule cutbacks other airlines have made, but as a result, the door is also open for other low-fare carriers to profit.
The Future
Today, Southwest provide services to only eight cities, so there are tremendous opportunities for expansion. The problem: competitors have learned from Southwest Airlines and its unique management strategies, and they are using these tactics as well as unique ones to win over consumers. Southwest has always utilized conservative growth tactics, but this may hurt it if new competitors opt for faster growth strategies. Over 100 cities have asked Southwest Airlines to begin service in their communities because of positive impact the Company has had when it began operations in a new location. But if Southwest does not do it, another low-fare airline will.

Details of report should contain but is not limited to the following components
Background information
Business topic
Situation and market analysis
Solution generation and evaluation (fish bones diagram)
Finding and recommendation
NOTE: we have turnitin program to find palagismia so please make good paraphrasing and comprehensive with wide range of references.

Easy Way Company
Easy Way Tea Australia has 45 retail stores nation-wide which, 20 stores are owned by company itself and 25 are owned by franchisees. Easy Way Tea started it first store in Sydney CBD area in year 2001, and expanding rapidly to 8 stores within 2 years. As the reputation has been growing stronger each day, progressively franchisees are joined in and stores are being opened in different suburbs all over the New South Wales. Easy Way Tea only two stores in Melbourne due to the local culture background, however, there are 6 stores had successfully being setup in Brisbane and Gold coast up to recently. Last year, Easy Way Tea has also setup another shop in Perth city.

The main products are Iced Milk tea, Green tea, Black tea and other fruit flavoured tea and milk smoothies. There also are fruit juices and blended ice for customer to choose. In additional, Easy Way Tea also provides unique jelly toppings to fancy its customers appetite, such as starched pearl jelly, lychee or green apple coconut jelly, and varieties types of puddings.

Easy Way Tea Company has capitalized on treating the iced Tea beverages as well as milk shakes, Blended Ice and other unique products of Taiwan, such as Jelly toppings, Fig Jelly and Herbal Jelly, etc. The Franchising strip has been growing stronger in the company in recent years. Nowadays, Easy Way Tea has won a large share of Bubble Tea market in Australia. However, it has mainly being subjected in Asian group.

There are many different distribution channels for fresh fruit juice. One such channel is quick-service restaurants (QSRs) such as McDonalds. QSRs, McDonalds in particular, are increasingly emphasising their healthy menu options and see fruit juice drinks as further underlining of this proposition. Furthermore, Boost fresh juice bars, Nudie bottled fresh juice and national food juice are also strong competitors in this market.

Competitive landscape

Boost is the fresh juice bar chain in Australia. Now Boost has over 189 stores, since opening in Adelaide in 2000, Including international franchises in Singapore, Hong Kong, South Africa, Chile, the UK, and more. Recently Boost entered the juice drink manufacturing industry by launching 1litre and 350ml bottled products at major Australian supermarket chains Woolworths and Coles.

Nudie bottled fresh juices were launched in Sydney in 2003. Nudie Crushies are now sold in around 5,000 retail outlets in Australia. Although entering into a highly competitive marketplace the brand has seen rapid growth. Nudie has opted for an insurgent marketing approach spreading the news through targeted samplings, PR and word-of-mouth.

National Foods is Australias largest juice company. In March 2008, the company released a new Berri Australian Fresh Omega-3 blend, using Market Biosciences vegetarian form of DHA-omega 3. National Foods holds a 55% market share and has such brands as Berri, Daily Juice, Prima, and Super Juice under its umbrella (Fruit /vegetable juice Australia Report, 2009).

Weakness (this is the main weakness for Easy way company)

? The main weakness is Easy Way Tea teas lack cultural understanding of adapting their range to the Australian market.
? Brand image is not strong enough in Australian market.
? Employee education in product knowledge is not well-built enough.
? Due to the high percentage of Asian employees in front line, which are include in both store managers and staffs, there is a lack of communication between staffs and customers.
? Beverages are all Asian style drinks.
? Lack of communications and promotions in Australian local market.
? Little information to inform the public about the benefits and health.



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Business topic
? The main core issue is Easy way teas lack cultural understanding of adopting their range to the Australian market.
? Brand image is not strong enough in Australian market
? High percentage of Asian employee so lead to lack of communication
? Beverage are all Asian drinks
? Little information to inform the public about the benefit and health
? Lack of communication and promotion in Australian market


What is the industry of coffee bars and juice bars in Australia and supplier .use (porter 5)
What is SWOT analysis for Easy Way Company?
Briefly description of demographic and culture in Australia and what is the future trend that could affect in the company?(references)
The main problem of the company is lack culture understanding of adopting their range
to the Australian market. So, we need to use 5W question. The answer about what the culture and life style of Australian consumer as well as what their motivation.(with references)for example of 5 w(what is Australian consumer need ?)

Use fish bones diagram to identify the causes of problem and what is the solution.
What is the product (juice) more suitable for Australian People?
What is the value chain of new product?
What is the business portfolio for the company when enter new product?
Marketing mix (product, price promotion placement)
Recommendation

3) Examine and outline the risks of exchanging data with other partners.
4) Describe the marketing approach the group would take to encourage health care vendors to exchange data


Prepare this assignment according to the APA guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required

This assignment uses a grading rubric. Instructors will be using the rubric to grade the assignment; therefore, students should review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the assignment criteria and expectations for successful completion of the assignment.

compare the marketing approach of Apple USA and Apple in Brazil. What marketing elements (such as product design, branding, pricing, advertising approach, retail outlets, etc.) appear to be standardized? What marketing elements appear to be customized? Why do you think these particular elements were customized? Do the customized elements appear to be unique to the country you have selected or are they found in neighboring countries as well, thus taking advantage of a cultural affinity zone?