Segmentation in the Holiday Market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Segmentation in the Holiday Market - Essay Example illustrate the importance of market segmentation in holiday market, this paper will cite examples on how different companies segment their market through different methods and offer a specialized product for each segment. An empirical example of this is Tourism Victoria which aims to market Victoria to international travelers. In order to properly address the needs of its differing market and deliver maximum customer value to each customer, it has used market segmentation. The whole market of Tourism Victoria ranges from local Australian residents to international travelers. However, to identify the most lucrative groups and sub-groups in the market it had to classify customers into different sub-groups according to their unique characteristics and target only those profitable niches. Afterwards, the company was able to come up with three major target market segments. Methods of Market Segmentation In its market segmentation process, the company utilized three market segmentation techniques-Roy Morgan Value Segments, MOSAIC, and life cycle. Roy Morgan Value Segments Roy Morgan Value Segments is developed by Colin Benjamin in partnership with Roy Morgan Research Center. This technique is a proprietary methodology which divides the holiday market in terms of customer preferences, needs and motivations. This methodology largely relies in the employment of psychographic data which supplies information on the "deeper drivers of choice" through an evaluation of behaviors in addition to demographics data such as age, income, etc (Domestic Market Segmentation 3). The rationale of using Roy Morgan Value segments is for the company to "distinguish the market segment with highest yield potential and identify their value needs (Domestic Market Segmentation 4)." The wide... This paper stresses that the holiday market is comprised of vast and diverse consumer groups. To further illustrate the importance of market segmentation in holiday market, this paper will cite examples on how different companies segment their market through different methods and offer a specialized product for each segment. The author talks tyhat the whole market of Tourism Victoria ranges from local Australian residents to international travelers. However, to identify the most lucrative groups and sub-groups in the market it had to classify customers into different sub-groups according to their unique characteristics and target only those profitable niches. Afterwards, the company was able to come up with three major target market segments. The use of relevant marketing models in ensuring an efficient marketing plan for the company is practiced by almost all companies worldwide. These marketing models become an effective tool in diagnosing the marketing needs of a firm at the same time that they also convey the marketing needs of a particular product or product line. This report makes a conclusion that an effective marketing strategy is often the key to the profitability and marketability of a product. In this past faced world, the key is in knowing your customers and efficiently serving them according to their needs. An analysis of the consumers’ lifestyle, attitude, preference, and behavior is very essential in crafting an effective marketing strategy not just in the holiday market but in other industries. Likewise, it is also important to consider the life cycle of a product in making right marketing mix.

Pharmacy Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Pharmacy - Personal Statement Example I believe taking up the field of Health Science and Medicine Pharmacy shall allow me to make a positive contribution towards health science. Therefore, the significance of Health Science and Medicine Pharmacy cannot be underestimated as we can learn from Louis Pasteur’s work that played a major role to save lives of million people against the infection. I believe as we progress further into the twentieth first century the field of health science will face several challenges and I want to play may part to tackle these challenges. I love to work, understand different types of drugs and their contents that may affect people’s health to transform their lives. In my opinion, the field of medicine is a vast field, and by enrolling in the course I shall be able to enhance my knowledge and apply it to make other’s lives better. I have always dreamt of running my own business for Aurvedic medicines, and I believe that by enrolling in the course, I shall be able to accompl ish my dream. The field of Health Science and Medicine Pharmacy is a tough field, which requires students to work with a higher dedication. Though, I have encountered several difficulties during the course of my A-level, my aspiration and hard work towards the field assessed me to gain good grade in the next round. I believe my determination and interest in the fields of sciences shall persuade me to the course more effectively with good grades. For me, the field of Health Science and Medicine Pharmacy is more a passion to me, since my sixth grade. I was always curious to know how these small pills can actually work to fight diseases. In addition, the dream to work in a place where I can dedicate myself to serve the humanity drove me to work harder to acquire good grades in the second round of A levels. I have worded as HSE Assistant Trainee in a Marine company. It allowed me to enhance my knowledge regarding Health and Safety Environment. In addition, it also provides me

Energy Drink and Red Bull Essay Example for Free

Energy Drink and Red Bull Essay This global profile focuses on the industry trends in soft drinks. ? All values expressed in this report are retail/off-trade in US dollar terms using a fixed exchange rate (2012). ? 2012 figures are based on part-year estimates. ? All forecast data are expressed in constant terms; inflationary effects are discounted. Conversely, all historical data are expressed in current terms; inflationary effects are taken into account. SOFT DRINKS OFF-TRADE RTD VOLUME 534. 8 billion litres Bottled Water 192 billion litres Sports and Bottled and Energy Drinks Sports Energy Water 15 billion litres Drinks 205. 1 billion 16. 2 billion litres Concentrates litres 43 billion litres RTD Coffee 4. 5 billion litres Disclaimer Much of the information in this briefing is of a statistical nature and, while every attempt has been made to ensure accuracy and reliability, Euromonitor International cannot be held responsible for omissions or errors. Figures in tables and analyses are calculated from unrounded data and may not sum. Analyses found in the briefings may not totally reflect the companies’ opinions, reader discretion is advised. Carbonates 169. 5 billion litres. Fruit/Vegetable Juice 62. 0 billion litres Concentrates 43. 7 billion litres RTD Tea 30. 1 billion litres While Red Bull remains the world leader in energy drinks, it is facing growing competition from other players. TCCC in particular, with Monster in the US and Burn in Brazil, is also posing an increasing threat. These two markets are emerging as energy drinks battlegrounds and the implications are considerable for Red Bull’s ability to remain the number one ranked player.  © Euromonitor International SOFT DRINKS: RED BULL GMBH PASSPORT 2Dietrich Mateschitz and Chaleo Yoovidhya each owned a 49% stake prior to 2012 when Mr Yoovidhya passed away. Mr Yoovidhya’s son Chalerm holds the remaining 2%. While Mr Yoovidhya was alive he acted as a silent partner. Red Bull GmbH Headquarters: Regional involvement: Category involvement: Fuschl am See, Austria Global Carbonates, sports and energy drinks ? Red Bull has created the global market for energy drinks, and the pioneering Red Bull brand has became synonymous with energy drinks for a large number of consumers. Red Bull remains bullish and ambitious in their corporate brand. Despite rising competition, Red Bull continues to comfortably lead the global energy drinks market in both volume and value terms. However, the threat from The CocaCola Co (TCCC) has been mounting. World soft drinks share by off-trade 0. 2% RTD volume (2012): World soft drinks off-trade RTD volume 12. 4% growth (2011-2012):  © Euromonitor International SOFT DRINKS: RED BULL GMBH PASSPORT 4 STRATEGIC EVALUATION Red Bull continues to see strong net sales growth ? Red Bull operates many other businesses aside from energy drinks The company owns and manages a construction company, football clubs, youth academies and TV broadcasting and recently online clothing (Red Bull label only) sales. ? Additional media products include print magazines about football, motor racing, celebrity gossip and lifestyle. The company has even ventured into the mobile phone service business in Austria, Hungary, Switzerland and South Africa.? As a privately-held company, financial information is limited however the company reported net sales of â‚ ¬4. 9 billion in 2012 and 5. 2 billion cans sold, representing growth of 15. 9% and 12. 8%, respectively.  © Euromonitor International ? Red Bull reported exceptionally strong net sales growth in South Africa (+52%), Japan (+51%), Saudi Arabia (+38%), France (+21%), the US (+17%) and Germany (+14%). Red Bull cited efficient cost management and ongoing brand investment as underpinning its growing profitability. SOFT DRINKS: RED BULL GMBH PASSPORT 5 STRATEGIC EVALUATION SWOT: Red Bull GmbH STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES Broad geographic presence ? Red Bull has ? Red Bull has a broad established a strong, geographic presence, consistent brand image which should ensure (an independent, edgy positive long-term brand) globally. Red Bull growth even if certain is synonymous with markets reach maturity. energy drinks in many countries. Category leader OPPORTUNITIES Category limitations Controversial ? In overall soft drinks, ? The relatively high Red Bull has a limited caffeine content of Red product portfolio Bull makes the brand compared to the rising highly vulnerable to number of rivals with a regulatory control. plethora of flavour variants and categories. THREATS. Emerging markets New production Competition High marketing costs ? Red Bull is building a new ? Monster represents the ? Market maturity in ? Emerging markets production facility in Brazil biggest threat to Red developed markets will represent newer which is likely to make its Bull as it contains make marketing to its geographies for Red retail price more natural ingredients, core consumers harder Bull’s expansion. competitive than imported which seem more than in the past. Accelerating the product prices. Building a desirable than Red Bull Constant communication marketing and site in Asia should also be for some consumers.with consumers means sponsorships in these high marketing costs. markets is a wise move. considered.  © Euromonitor International SOFT DRINKS: RED BULL GMBH PASSPORT 6 STRATEGIC EVALUATION Key strategic challenges and objectives It is not easy at the top ? Red Bull’s success has attracted considerable interest from soft drinks multinationals, TCCC and PepsiCo. TCCC in particular has been successful at leveraging its distribution network to launch Burn across many markets and to back Monster. Burn is a major threat to Red Bull in Brazil while in the US Monster has overtaken Red Bull in offtrade volume sales terms. Red Bull will need to find ways to hold onto its number one ranking globally in energy drinks and stave off this competition. Will premium work in emerging markets? ? Red Bull has consistently maintained its premium positioning from its slimline metal cans to its price differential versus brands such as Monster. While this strategy has reaped dividends in the mature markets, it remains to be seen if it will sustain growth in the emerging markets. Brazil with its large population of lower-income consumers may pose a challenge giving cheaper brands such as TCCC’s Burn a competitive advantage. Red Bull stands up to health regulators ? While health officials continue to voice concerns over energy drinks and the category remains under threat from stronger regulation, energy drinks has seen relatively little impact in terms of sales. To some extent this has added to the category’s â€Å"edginess† attracting young consumers and generating consumer interest. There is little risk of Red Bull reformulating its product to cater to health concerns and instead the company insists that its products do not pose a health risk. Red Bull breaks with tradition in 2013 ? In 2013, Red Bull, for the first time in 15 years added new products to its energy drinks range. Red Bull underperformed the overall energy drinks market in 2011-2012. While the company’s market share of the energy drinks market in the US increased in 2012, the market’s growth rate overall began to wane. Red Bull remains heavily dependent on the US for its global growth. Weakness here is reflected in the company’s weakening global performance in volume terms. The company however continues to enjoy the position of number one ranked player in energy drinks globally with a 21. 4% market share. ? In terms of absolute volume growth however, the US remained Red Bull’s key growth engine in 2011-2012 reflecting growth of 96% over 2007-2012. Brazil came second in terms of absolute volume growth expanding by 608% over the review period or 48% CAGR. This market was a particular focus for Red Bull with the company sponsoring various sporting events in order to raise the brand’s profile.  © Euromonitor International SOFT DRINKS: RED BULL GMBH PASSPORT 9 COMPETITIVE POSITIONING Red Bull faces mounting pressure ? In value terms, the company’s performance was stronger in recent years although even in value terms the company’s performance fell below that of the energy drinks market overall. The energy drinks market has attracted a number of other players including Monster Beverage Co, and The Coca-Cola Co (TCCC) which marketed it own brands in the category including Burn as well as engaging in a distribution alliance with Monster Beverage Co. PepsiCo had a modest presence in energy drinks with its brand Sting; however like TCCC it maintained its own alliance, with Rockstar Inc. ? Red Bull’s sister brand non-carbonated Red Bull remains owned by TC Pharmaceutical which led the energy drinks category in China and was present in Thailand where it ranked second. Top 10 players in soft drinks by off-trade value share Soft Drinks: Global Top 10 Companies by Off-Trade Value, Rank 2007-2012 and 2012 Share 2007 2008 2009 2010 2012 2011 Company Coca-Cola Co, The PepsiCo Inc Nestle SA Suntory Holdings Ltd Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc Danone, Groupe Red Bull GmbH Asahi Group Holdings Ltd % company share 2012 26. 2 11. 3 2. 8 2. 7 2. 0 1. 9 1. 6 1. 5 ? Danone’s volume share is significantly higher than its value share, due to its large volume sales of low-priced bottled water in emerging markets, notably Aqua (Asia Pacific) and Bonafont (Latin America). Meanwhile, Mondelez does not rank among the top 10 in value terms due to its reliance on the low-priced concentrates category in RTD volume terms. ? Red Bull GmbH however with its relatively premium but small serving size Red Bull brand ranks seventh in 2012. The company’s narrow focus in soft drinks, being almost exclusively based on energy drinks, continues to keep the company out of the top five in soft drinks. ? TCCC and PepsiCo capture a stronger share in value than in volume terms chiefly due to their products, particularly carbonates, being priced higher than local brands and   ? North America will continue to lead energy drinks in absolute volume growth terms over the forecast period. However, its CAGR of 8. 1% over 2012-2017 represents a moderation from the 11. 4% CAGR seen over 2007-2012. The Monster brand has led the market in the US over the review period in terms of absolute volume growth. Rockstar, due in large part to its alliance with PepsiCo, has also seen strong growth in this market. ? Red Bull entered China in 2011, however Asia Pacific remains the company’s weakest region in terms of market share. However, this region will be exceeded only by North America in terms of absolute off-trade volume growth over 2012-2017 which may raise some concerns for Red Bull. After a period of strong market share gains in this region between 2007-2010 its performance began to moderate. TC Pharmaceutical with its non-carbonated version of Red Bull is the regional leader. Despite the close relationship between Red Bull GmbH and TC Pharmaceutical with the latter having been founded by the late Chaleo Yoovidhya, the companies remain separate entities.  © Euromonitor International SOFT DRINKS: RED BULL GMBH PASSPORT 14 MARKET ASSESSMENT The Americas to lead growth in energy drinks ? In value terms, both Latin America and Asia Pacific gained in importance for Red Bull over the review period. Latin American sales represented 12% of global value sales in 2012 while Asia Pacific made up 8%. In terms of growth prospects, the strongest growth will take place in North America where the market for energy drinks will expand by US$4. 1 billion over 2012-2017. In CAGR terms however, the strongest performance will take place in Latin America which will see a 20% CAGR. ? Red Bull is ranked number one in both markets. In Latin America, its market share remains a healthy 49. 7%, however this represents a decline over 2007-2012 as the company faced strong competition from TCCC whose share has risen from 2. 5% in 2007 to 14. 9% in 2012. ? Growth in both Eastern and Western Europe will be a comparatively modest at 5% and 5. 1% CAGRs, respectively. However, these exceed the CAGRs for soft drinks overall in these regions, which will be only 2. 7% and 0. 5%, respectively. CATEGORY AND GEOGRAPHIC OPPORTUNITIES Leading players in energy drinks by off-trade volume and value  © Euromonitor International SOFT DRINKS: RED BULL GMBH PASSPORT 17 CATEGORY AND GEOGRAPHIC OPPORTUNITIES Red Bull shows some weakness in volume sales ? The rankings of the leading players in energy drinks vary significantly by volume and value. Red Bull commands a stronger market share in value than in volume terms reflecting its relatively high price points and reliance on the mature markets, particularly the US, for its sales. The company however maintained is leading position by both measures in 2012 although in both cases it has seen its market share plateau over 2007-2012. ? The Lucozade brand has faced strong competition in its domestic UK market from Red Bull. In 2012, GSK announced a strategic review of the Lucozade and Ribena brands, which may lead to possible divestment. ? Red Bull has been constrained to some extent in volume terms by its highly concentrated production infrastructure. Up to 2012, the company produced exclusively in Austria leading to high shipping and ? The major winner over the review period was production costs, which opened up the emerging Monster Beverage Co, which until 2012 was known markets in particular to less expensive energy drinks as Hansen Natural Corp. Underpinned by its brands. In 2012, the company announced plans to distribution agreement with TCCC the brand has build its first factory abroad in Brazil which may help made rapid gains in both value and volume terms. improve its competitiveness. The brand’s success has been driven by its North ? Rockstar’s distribution agreement with PepsiCo did American performance where it generated 90% of not bring in the same share gains as the Monster its volume sales in 2012. and TCCC alliance. Rockstar made few share gains ? In contrast GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and its Lucozade brand have been losing market share. In volume terms, GSK has lost 2. 4 percentage points in market share over 2007-2012. globally, with sales mainly coming from developed Western markets where Red Bull continues to lead. PepsiCo may have found it hard to drive Rockstar sales in these mature markets in the face of TCCC’s penetration and Red Bull’s dominance.  © Euromonitor International SOFT DRINKS: RED BULL GMBH PASSPORT 18 CATEGORY AND GEOGRAPHIC OPPORTUNITIES Most dynamic energy drinks markets over forecast period  © Euromonitor International SOFT DRINKS: RED BULL GMBH PASSPORT 19 CATEGORY AND GEOGRAPHIC OPPORTUNITIES Red Bull tries to counter weakness in key markets with new launch ? While the US will lead growth in energy drinks in both volume and value terms over 2012-2017 there are clear differences among the top 10 rankings by both measures. ? China will push ahead of Brazil in volume growth terms. The market for energy drinks in China is more mature than in Brazil. Unit price growth in Brazil will as a consequence be higher than that in China allowing it to take second position in terms of value sales growth. In China, Red Bull’s sister company TC Pharmaceutical with its Red Bull is the overwhelming category leader with a market share of 81. 2% in off-trade volume terms in 2012. ? Markets entering the top 10 in volume terms include the Philippines and Vietnam both relatively price-sensitive markets. Per capita consumption however in both markets is higher than the global average. Energy drinks in many Asian markets have a long history of being consumed by truck drivers and labourers as a temporary energy boost. These products were in fact the original inspiration for Red Bull; a Westernised version of the potent drinks sold through by Thai pharmacists.  © Euromonitor International ? The UK ranks among the top five most dynamic markets in both volume and value terms. While Lucozade remains the leader here, its fortunes have waned. Red Bull was responsible for much of Lucozade’s market share loss in the early part of the review period. However, later in the review period, smaller brands are increasing fragmentation. The UK is becoming increasingly fragmented as newer and smaller players have entered the market. ? In 2013, Red Bull launched three new flavour variants in the US market. This marks the first major launch for the brand in the energy drinks category over the review period. The new range called Edition includes cranberry-, blueberry- and lime- flavoured variants packaged in red, blue and silver cans, respectively. The move may help to invigorate consumer interest in key markets such as the UK and the US where the range of energy drinks options has increased considerably. It is recommended that the range be rolled out to other markets where market share has weakened. SOFT DRINKS: RED BULL GMBH PASSPORT 20 CATEGORY AND GEOGRAPHIC OPPORTUNITIES Top US brands in energy drinks  © Euromonitor International SOFT DRINKS: RED BULL GMBH PASSPORT 21 CATEGORY AND GEOGRAPHIC OPPORTUNITIES Red Bull and Monster look to high-adrenaline sports sponsorship Monster pulls ahead in volume sales ? The Monster brand pulled ahead of Red Bull in the US energy drinks market in 2009 in volume sales terms but remains second to Red Bull in value terms. Monster has achieved wider presence in supermarket and forecourt retailers. TCCC has leveraged its strong distribution network through both channels thus giving Monster an edge in terms of volume sales. ? The Monster brand has also been supported by sponsorship of high-adrenaline sports such as MotoGP, NASCAR and Freestyle Motocross which is a direct challenge to Red Bull, which also relies on sponsorship of these sorts of events to maintain consumer interest. Another reason behind the disparity has been the fact that Red Bull sells primarily in smaller 8. 3oz cans, whereas Monster is sold in larger 16oz cans at a relatively cheaper price. Red Bull has since begun to offer its product in a wider variety of sizes and in 2012 trumped Monster with Red Bull Stratos, sponsoring Felix Baumgartner’s free-fall from over 128,000 feet. Threat from consumer health ? Both Monster and Red Bull have also been challenged by the 5-Hour Energy brand from Living Essentials, included in Euromonitor International’s Consumer Health database as a tonic and bottled nutritive drink. This product has been heavily marketed on US television and offers a small pack size (57ml) and the benefit of being sugar-free. While Monster is targeted primarily at younger male consumers, 5-Hour Energy is positioning itself as a pick-me-up for office workers and working mothers. ? The addition of new flavours in 2013 will help to reignite consumer interest. Red Bull’s success in the US has been due in part to its success in the on-trade which has helped to introduce the brand into the off-trade. Educating consumers about how the new flavours can be mixed with alcoholic drinks in the on-trade should form part the marketing campaign to launch the brand.  © Euromonitor International SOFT DRINKS: RED BULL GMBH PASSPORT 22. CATEGORY AND GEOGRAPHIC OPPORTUNITIES Leading players in Brazilian energy drinks  © Euromonitor International SOFT DRINKS: RED BULL GMBH PASSPORT 23 CATEGORY AND GEOGRAPHIC OPPORTUNITIES Red Bull vs Burn in Brazil TCCC pushes Burn ? Strong growth in the Brazilian energy drinks market has attracted a wider number of players, many of whom have focused on the emergent C socioeconomic class, launching energy drinks at lower prices in 1-litre PET bottles. Examples include BadBoy Power Drink from Horizonte and Orbit from Bebidas Chiamulera. These moves have helped to fuel growth overall in the category.? TCCC has made significant gains in the market with its Burn brand investing significant resources in marketing. Like Red Bull, TCCC has targeted high-adrenaline sporting activities, announcing in 2012 its sponsorship of Kimi Raikkonen’s Lotus F1 team. The brand competes directly with Red Bull, packaged similarly in a slimline metal can. Its price points however are typically lower than those of Red Bull giving it a stronger presence among lower-income groups. ? In 2012, Red Bull announced plans to begin producing its energy drinks locally. Localisation of production will help Red Bull ? Localising production in such a key market is a wise move for Red Bull. It also gives the company stronger capacity more widely in Latin America where the markets for energy drinks in Colombia and Mexico are also set to see strong growth. While Red Bull’s number one position remains safe for the time being, reducing the price premium with TCCC is recommended. This will be supported by significantly reducing costs associated with importing the product from Austria. ? The entry of Anheuser-Busch InBev NV was a key development in the market in 2011. By 2012, the Fusion brand had managed to capture 0. 2% of sales in off-trade volume terms which, while modest compared to the Red Bull brand at 19. 8%, indicates strong potential for further growth. Marketing initiatives centred around the popular Big Brother Brazil TV programme in 2012 helped to increase awareness of the brand among young people.  © Euromonitor International SOFT DRINKS: RED BULL GMBH PASSPORT 24 CATEGORY AND GEOGRAPHIC OPPORTUNITIES Worlds apart: A tale of two Red Bulls ? The relative weakness of Red Bull from Red Bull GmbH in Asia Pacific is due in part to the strength of sister brand Red Bull from TC Pharmaceutical. A more cohesive international strategy should be developed by both companies. ? The strongest prospects for the two players is in China, however opportunities are also being missed in markets such as the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia. TC Pharmaceutical sales here in energy drinks have been virtually flat over the review period, as newer, more dynamic brands such as Cobra from Asia Brewery and Sting from PepsiCo in the Philippines have invested heavily in marketing and advertising. ? A decisive entry for Red Bull GmbH in key Asian markets will be complicated by the presence of TC Pharmaceutical’s Red Bull. However, both companies could benefit from working more closely together including on the production side to reduce costs and widen their distribution network. The sudden death of TC Pharmaceutical founder Chaleo Yoovidhya in 2012 may present a challenge however in ongoing collaboration.  © Euromonitor International SOFT DRINKS: RED BULL GMBH PASSPORT 25 STRATEGIC EVALUATION COMPETITIVE POSITIONING MARKET ASSESSMENT CATEGORY AND GEOGRAPHIC OPPORTUNITIES BRAND STRATEGY OPERATIONS RECOMMENDATIONS BRAND STRATEGY Red Bull’s premium focus will result in pressure on market share ? Red Bull’s sales in 2012 remained dominated by the US market. In most of its major markets the company has managed to retain its number one position in volume terms despite strong competition from newer entrants. The US is an exception where Monster owing to the strength of its alliance with TCCC combined with an aggressive marketing campaign has managed to topple Red Bull from first place. ? In value terms however, the company’s premium positioning has meant its ranking has remained more secure. As the dynamics of forecast demand shift to emerging markets, where consumers remain more price sensitive, this premium focus will result in growing pressure on Red Bull’s market share. TCCC and PepsiCo have emerged as the company’s strongest competition whether indirectly through distribution agreements such as TCCC/ Monster and PepsiCo/Rockstar and through their own directly owned brands such as Burn and Sting, respectively  © Euromonitor International SOFT DRINKS: RED BULL GMBH PASSPORT 27 BRAND STRATEGY High octane sports drive home Red Bull message ? Event and sports sponsorship have been key elements for Red Bull’s marketing strategy for many years. Red Bull’s eponymous brand has achieved remarkable global success and 30-40% of its sales are re-invested back in marketing and promotional activity. Red Bull’s strategy has historically been a 3-pronged approach incorporating buzz marketing, sponsorship and TV advertising. Buzz marketing, including handing out free samples at campuses and events where under 30s gather, is often used as a way of initially raising consumer awareness when entering new markets. ? In 2012, the company took its marketing literally to an entirely new level with the Stratos campaign which featured Felix Baumgartner in a record- breaking 128,000 feet jump from the earth’s stratosphere, making him the first man to break the speed of sound while in freefall. The event was streamed live on line with viewers able to log in to post comments via Twitter and Facebook. Motorsports is another key focus for the company with its own very successful F1 racing team.  © Euromonitor International SOFT DRINKS: RED BULL GMBH PASSPORT 28 BRAND STRATEGY Red Bull tries to stay true to its roots ? In a bid to stave off competition from rival brands, Red Bull launched the Red Bull Edition range in 2013 in select city markets in the US. The launch will likely be followed by a nationwide roll-out later in the year. Despite pressure from other energy drinks brands many of which have launched additional flavours Red Bull has stayed loyal to its original formulation and packaging. ? The launch of cranberry, blueberry and lime Red Bull variants is a major direction change for the brand, being its first major launch over the review period. In order to differentiate between Red Bull Edition and the original Red Bull the new cans received a facelift with the addition of new colours and a new bull design. ? Red Bull has not as aggressively as other brands launched into new packaging formats, remaining almost exclusively with slimline metal cans. It has however in some mature markets such as the UK launched into 1-litre PET bottles. This reluctance is in part due to the company’s strategy of retaining its premium positioning.  © Euromonitor International SOFT DRINKS: RED BULL GMBH PASSPORT 29 STRATEGIC EVALUATION COMPETITIVE POSITIONING MARKET ASSESSMENT CATEGORY AND GEOGRAPHIC OPPORTUNITIES BRAND STRATEGY OPERATIONS RECOMMENDATIONS OPERATIONS Expanded corporate operations Red Bull GmbH Red Bull Soft Drinks Other Businesses Red Bull Energy Drinks Motor Racing, Media, MVNO, Fashion Online Retailing Red Bull Simply Cola, Carpe Diem.  © Euromonitor International SOFT DRINKS: RED BULL GMBH PASSPORT 31 OPERATIONS Red Bull looks to diversification ? Red Bull is diversifying into other businesses, rather than limiting itself to energy drinks. In recent years, it has been branching out and became a media company in its own right. The participation in sports sponsorships and events connects the company with a global brand that has passion and excitement associated with it. The company is also present in RTD tea and bottled water with the Carpe Diem brand which it launched to target the health and wellness trend in soft drinks. Carpe Diem Kombucha is a premium RTD tea sold in Western Europe. The brand is also in bottled water in Switzerland and Austria using plant extracts and slight carbonation to offer a healthy alternative to carbonates. ? The company owns two Formula One teams (Red Bull Racing, Scuderia Toro Rosso), a NASCAR racing team as well as several football teams in Brazil, the US and Germany. ? In South Africa, the company is partnering with Cell C to offer voice and broadband services as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), ie a company that provides a mobile phone service but does not have its own licensed frequency. Red Bull Mobile will be the second MVNO in the country, after Virgin Mobile. ? It also sponsors many events from cliff diving to air races and subscribing to Red Bull Mobile is a way for people who like the brand to access further benefits when they attend these events. These kinds of partnerships between operators and consumer brands are common in Europe. In Germany, for example, one operator, E-Plus, has 19 such partnerships. It is a way for these brands to get closer to their target group. ? The Group also includes Austrian TV station ServusTV, lifestyle and fashion magazines and a construction company called Bull Bau. ? Red Bull had 8,966 employees in 165 countries as of 2012. The company, which is not listed, traditionally finances its investments from its cash flow.  © Euromonitor International SOFT DRINKS: RED BULL GMBH PASSPORT 32 OPERATIONS Red Bull expands production outside Austria for first time ? Red Bull received approval from the B\razilian government to build its first production facility in the country in early 2010. The companys initial investment in the pr.

Communication And Stakeholder Issues In Requirement Engineering Information Technology Essay

Communication And Stakeholder Issues In Requirement Engineering Information Technology Essay Requirements Engineering starts with requirements elicitation. Requirements elicitation is a process of discovering, obtaining and expanding requirements for adopting a computer-based system. Requirements Elicitation process is challenged by different factors. After our research, we found poor communication and stakeholder issues are the most common factors which results the blockage of users needs. It is one of the most critical issues in RE which causes the delay and failure of the software projects. [1] Unsurprisingly, effective communication is very hard to achieve and is a repeating problem in the elicitation of requirements [2]. There are several reasons for less effective communication (i.e. different time zones, cultural differences, lack of awareness etc.) Wahab Hussain (Author) MS. Software Engineering (Reg. # 1071112) Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Inst. of Science Tech. Karachi, Pakistan [emailprotected] The two major sections discussed in this research paper are: Communication issues in Requirements Engineering Section 4 Stakeholder issues in Requirements Engineering Section 5 Later in Section 5, Conclusion is presented. Why Requirements Gathering We gather requirements to cut down the risk of common mistakes that grow from the lack of communication or understanding. We can discover real requirements if requirements gathering activity is approached in an organized way (we know who the stakeholders are likely to be and what kind of questions we need to ask from them). [3] Developing software and constructing building sounds similar. Lets take an example of constructing hotel instead of developing software. Dont you think that before starting foundation, you should have the complete design and architecture of the hotel that how its interior and exterior looks like after completion? Of course you would. In the same way in developing software, you gather requirements before the start of the project and looks into the architecture (i.e. ERD, class diagram, state diagrams, component diagrams etc) in more detail. While building a hotel, you go into several inspections to make sure the work carrying forward in the right direction or not (like we have inspections in software projects to ensure the requirements). [4] The other similarities between developing software and constructing hotel in terms of roles as listed in Table 1: Developing Software Constructing Hotel Project Manager Contractor/Builder Resources Developers SQA/Test Engineering Technical Writers Resources Electrician Carpenter Painter Plumber Problem Formulation: Communication between the system analyst and stakeholders can be described in term of communication between two parties as shown in Figure 1. [1] Four components are involved in this type of communication as shown in Table 2. [1] Communication issues in Requirement Engineering As discussed in previous sections that the major cause for the project failure is the lack of effective communication. Mostly errors in the software system are due to poor communication. There are several reasons; sometimes the customer is unable to communicate the proper application knowledge to the analyst, sometimes development is done on Ad hoc basis due to unavailability of requirement document, sometimes requirement document is too long that no one can be able to read it completely. These all causes conflicts, confusions, false impressions and inconsistency in work. The main communication issues faced in Requirements Engineering are as follows: Problems within User The within roadblock is basically the individual culture limitation. It relates the behavioral boundaries within the individual users. In within problems, user fails as an information receiver, information processor and problem solver. [5] Problems Between Users The between roadblock is basically the organizational culture concerns with the interaction between customer and analyst. Every organizational culture is different from other organization (i.e. nature of work, organization hierarchy, management style and terminologies used within the organization) so confliction possibly will grow because business analyst perhaps may not familiar with the hierarchy of the organization and their operations. [5] Problems Among the users The among roadblock is basically the national culture limitations. In large complex system, people with different cultural backgrounds are involved having different languages, difference in attitudes and judgments and priorities. Problems occur when different users express their needs that are incompatible or invalid or conflicts either in contents or priority and they want a reviewer for resolution. [5] Requirement conflicts increases when several users present the same information in different and inconsistent manner. It is the demanding situation for the development organization to resolve such issues. [5] One Way Communication Channels In one way communication, we used to express information within the development team and with different stakeholders. In this way, the channel of communication sounds effective because all knowledge is shared but it results expensive and time consuming to support wide range of communication between professions. As per research, it looks that requirement specification document is the only way of communication between the development team and stakeholder. [6] The Notations War It is often difficult for the customer and development team to understand each other terms/notations (i.e. Business analysts and software engineers prefer to talk about the system in terms of it procedures and data structures, end users prefer to talk about the system in terms of its general behavior and functionality of software system). This causes the unfamiliarity of various people with various notations. For example, a customer must not want to learn formal specification language, but the programmer may require these to obtain an appropriate level of detail. [6] Organizational Barriers Requirement Engineering activities and software design activities are carried out separately. Each activity is discussed and presented by different sets of people. Requirement Engineering meetings include business analyst, developers SQA engineers and end uses. While in design review activity, end users are not included. Only development team is limited in design review activity because no one from outside organization is allowed to attend this activity. [6] Informal Communication Informal communication is usually used when face to face conversation is required with a friend. It is based on common interests and combined relations creating channels through which information is collected easily. Informal communication channels can be destroyed by rivals who can discourage the joint action which affect the normal flow of information. Telephonic conversations are also a part of informal communication but it is the least used method in exchanging information between the two professions. Such informal communication proved to be expensive and results time consuming discussions and meetings. [6] Nevertheless, there is no specific support for informal communication for software projects in the early phase of Requirement Engineering because in many cases business analysts and customers meet for the first time. [6] Traceability Problem Requirements Traceability is critical for all phases of SDLC to help concluding requirements and justify changes. The research shows that traceability problem is very serious in the later stages of RE (i.e. requirements review) when late requirements are brought in the project life cycle. Now it is necessary to re-establish communication with team mates in order to avoid conflicts with newly introduced requirements with existing one. This is very challenging and difficult because by this time business analyst may have halted or may have started working on any other project while programmers moved to later phases of the project. [6] Communication challenges representing through Quadrant Model in RE Refer Figure 2 which shows communication challenges taken from Davis et al. [14] Quadrant (a) correspond common knowledge between analyst and user. Quadrant (b) correspond knowledge that the user has but the analyst does not. It looks that there is unique business model of the user business. Quadrant (c) correspond that the analyst has the knowledge but user does not yet. The analyst would be looking for to teach the user. Quadrant (d) correspond new knowledge that will be produced from the interaction between analyst and user. It looks that analyst asks questions and tries to dig more information from the user. [14] Stakeholder issues in Requirement Engineering Stakeholder plays the most important role in the acceptance of a software product. After having research, we found there are different observations of who the stakeholders are? [11] Stakeholders are individuals or organizations who affect or are affected by the software product. In other words, a stakeholder is a person who has a power to develop requirements. Identifying the stakeholders and getting them involved in the Requirements Engineering process helps to make complete set of requirements early in the software development life cycle. [7] The stakeholders can be categorized in three main parts which are: [7] The acquirers of the software product (who are customers and users/end-users) The suppliers of the software product (includes individuals or teams that develop the software product or part of the organization who are business analysts, designers, developers, testers, documentation writers, project managers and technical support) Other stakeholders (there are also other stakeholders who are interested in requirements are: Legal or contract management, Manufacturing or product release management, Sales and Marketing, Upper management and Government or regulator agencies) Table 3 summarizes the different ambitions and interests to different stakeholders in a RE process. [8] Stakeholder Ambitions and Interests Requirements Engineer Wants a tool that makes their job easier, more satisfying and more productive. Customer/User Wants usable system, with fewer errors. Project/Process Manager Wants to deliver on time with the right specification quality Quality Manager Wants to ensure that the delivered system specification is error-free. Senior Management Wants to see a return on investment and increased productivity. Requirements from all stakeholders are important; we can not ignore the requirement of any stakeholder but we can prioritize them. There are many stakeholder issues in Requirement Engineering which cause the project failure: [9] Stakeholders dont know what they really want. Stakeholders convey requirements in their own terms. Requirements may conflict in case of different stakeholders. Organisational and political factors may effect the system requirements. The main stakeholder issues faced in Requirement Engineering are as follows: The Yes, But Syndrome The Yes, But syndrome is simply human nature and the users ability to experience the software. The Yes, But syndrome is the frustrating and the most occurring problem in all of application development. It is observed in users reactions for every piece of software developed. As per research, there are two immediate and different reactions when the users look the software functionality for the first time which are: [3] Wow, this is so cool; we can really use this, what a neat job, and so on. Yes, but, hmmmm, now that I see it, what about this . . . ? Wouldnt it be nice if . . . ? Whatever happened to . . . ? The Undiscovered Ruins Syndrome In Undiscovered Ruins syndrome, the more you find, the more you realize still remain. It seems that the search for requirements is similar to a search for undiscovered ruins. No one feels confident as he/she has done with all the requirements or not, and possibly you never will. Without a doubt, development teams always struggle to determine when they are in requirements elicitation process; the requirements which are available are enough; whether they have found all the requirements or when have they found at least enough? [3] The User and the Developer Syndrome Communication gap grows between the developer and the stakeholder. In many cases, developers and stakeholders are from different parts of world, may have different backgrounds and objectives and may even speak different languages. [3] The problems are: [3] Users do not know what they want, or they know what they want but they are unable to express to developers. Analysts think they understand user problems better than users do. Users have trust to themselves. They know what they want, and when functionality is handed over to them, they claim what they said they wanted? The Living with the Sins of your Predecessors Syndrome Stakeholder and developers remember what happened in the past. Issues appear every time after the end of release. And then the development team and stakeholders sit together and ensuring trust with each other and make sure that existing issues will not arise in next release. The team prioritize the requirements and cut down the features which are less important. Try to build trust slowly. But after sometime, there is a huge pressure from stakeholder that he wants i.e. XYZ features in upcoming release. And from here the problem starts, the release delivered consist unclear requirements and short of expectations. [10] Introduced new stakeholders during analysis Requirements change during the analysis process is very common. After requirements gathering, analysis phase starts. During analysis, new stakeholders may be introduced which results the change in the business environment. Other challenges concerning stakeholders There are some very common challenges. These challenges are faced by those stakeholders who are technically weak. The problems are: [12] Users dont have a clear vision of their requirements. Different vision of the system under development [13]. Users are not very capable to participate in reviews. Communication with users is slow. Users dont understand the development process. Users dont know about present technology. Users are not wise in the ways of the world/unsophisticated. Too honest to promise more than he could deliver. Different involvements of stakeholders. For example, some stakeholders are allowed to make decisions and others arent [13]. Conclusion: The focus of this research paper was to find out the communication and stakeholder problems in requirement engineering. After having literature review and research, we have identified the most important communication and stakeholder problems faced in RE. It is found that lack of understandability is the root cause of all other problems, and poor communication is the first step towards project failure. These problems are significant important because they are related to stakeholders and stakeholders have various other limitations while expressing their needs. Beyond all these issues, there are also applicable solutions presented to get over these problems.

Plato’s Unwritten Doctrines from a Hermeneutical Point of View* :: Philosophy Philosophical dialogue Essays

Plato’s Unwritten Doctrines from a Hermeneutical Point of View* ABSTRACT: In this paper, I will show the deep roots of dialogue in Plato’s thought, in order to examine the validity of the so-called ‘esoteric Plato’. The confrontation between dialogicity and unwritten doctrines is the main theme of this article. These two views — Hermeneutics and TÃ ¼bingen School — are not far away on concrete contents, with more or less variations. But it must be noticed that both conceptions of Platonic thinking are contradictory and that is reflected in their explanations of Plato’s own philosophical project. To begin with, I will not compare each point of the Hermeneutic and Tubingen School positions. I will explain, so far as I can understand, why the explanation of the TÃ ¼bingen School is unsatisfactory. (1) These insufficiencies are not related to its deep analysis of the Platonic oral tradition, exactly to its interpretation. (2) The question is wholly hermeneutical and refers to the pretension, extension and value that this oral doctrine can have in Platonic philosophy. I will avoid the content questions, because they are far away from the purpose of this paper. The implicit question in these two trends is the following: can Plato’s own philosophy be reduced to a metaphysical system? (3) The affirmative answer to that question holds the whole account of the TÃ ¼bingen School. But I consider that this assumption is not correct and that it supposes the projection of alien elements to Platonic philosophy. And my task in this contribution is to show why. Plato’s thought has two axes: thematical and formal. Thematically it moves around the Good, and formally, around the dialectic. Both themes are the ground of his whole work and the ideas are not more than the attempt of joining them. The dialectical access to ideas is fully congruous with the question of the Good, at all levels. This is clearly exposed in the beginning of Philebus, (4) where it is necessary to reach the truth about the good through dialogue, with all required efforts. But dialogue is not a combat between enemies to win one position, but the battle between allies supporting the truth. Dialectic is not another thing than the ability to guide a conversation, that is, the capability to dialogue. (5) Because of that, language —exactly (6) — has no secondary position in Plato’s philosophy. Even one of his works is wholly dedicated to that theme — Cratylus —, and there it can be seen that language is neither pure nature nor complete artifact.

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Kiryakov et.al.,(2004) have argued that semantic annotation needs to be based upon domain knowledge and not to be isolated from ontological commitments. Thus, they use ontology associations to annotate and index concepts from documents. SEWISE (Gardarin et al., 2003) uses ontologies only for describing a common data model in a given application domain that supports Web information organization and retrieval. TAP (Guha et al., 2003) represents documents and concepts are nodes using a semantic network. The main objectives of TAP are the development of a distributed query infrastructure for ontology data and augmentation of queries with data from surrounding nodes. However TAP supports only keyword search without ranking. Mayfield and Finin (2003) combine ontology-based techniques and text-based retrieval in a blind relevance feedback iteration. In their approach, taxonomies are used for query expansion, and for enhancing the semantic annotations of the documents. The documents are anno tated with the help of RDF triples, but ontology-based queries are restricted to boolean string search...

Realism and Romanticism: Similarities and Differences Essay

Romanticism and Realism, the two major threads in art and literature in the nineteenth century, both clearly had their roots in the burgeoning industrialism of the world around them. While both strove to show real people and question who was in power, Romanticism did this through the individual and exotic or even supernatural situations, while Realism focused on the average person and very real and harsh settings. Romanticism can be seen in Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe as it tells the story of an individual and his relations with the supernatural, whereas Realism is shown by A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, a play about the average household and the reality of marriage. However, while they have their differences, both these deal with defiance of and the disillusionment with authority. Two of the most important aspects of Romantic literature can be found in Goethe’s Faust, as it is about Heinrich Faust, one singular person, and how he and his life are influenced by the supernatural. In Faust, the title character is visited by Mephistopheles and has his life dramatically changed as a consequence of a heavenly wager on his life between Mephisto and God. God describes Faust as confused, but nonetheless one of his followers, when the Devil wagers him that, â€Å"You shall lose him yet / Provided you give me permission / To steer him gently the course I set† (pg 849). Because of this, Faust enters into a deal with Mephistopheles wherein he is promised anything, as long as he does the same for Mephisto in hell after he dies. From this he gains several things, including youth and his lover Gretchen.