Marketing Management Project Elements Essay

* What should Sonic’s mission statement be? -â€Å"Make technology an asset in your life and not a setback. Be the creator of your world through advanced technology. Sonic brings advanced technology to you through providing communication, information storage and exchange, organization and entertainment on mobile devices†. * In what competitive spheres (industry, products and applications, competence, market-segment, vertical, and geographic) should Sonic operate? Industry: PDA’s and smartphones for all lifestyles. Whether personal, business, or the student on the go. Products and applications: Smart devices that have numerous features and functions on a single device. Some features may include, Wi-Fi capabilities, Bluetooth technology, high definition quality videos, live movie and television streaming, music, camera, and security system all available at a competitive price. Competence: Creating and selling an original product with a wide range of features at a reasonable rate Market-Segments: Students can use the device to contact family and friends while on the go and also as multimedia device. Professionals may be more inclined to use the smart devices for business, such as scheduling appointments, emailing employees, customer transactions, and organizing contact information. Entrepreneurs and corporate users may seek to update and access critical data. Vertical: The product is manufactured and distributed throughout the U.S. markets by wholesalers and retailers. Geographic: The product is placed throughout the country. * Which of Porter’s generic competitive strategies would you recommend Sonic follow in formulating overall strategy? Sonic should look at Porter’s differentiation of focus generic strategy. One of Sonic’s strength is its clever and unique products. Since there products are innovative, it stands out from similar products that may already be on the market. Also, Sonic focuses and targets its products on a few segment markets and aims them at users for different uses. * What demographic changes are likely to affect Sonic’s targeted segments? The target segments that are likely to be affected are the professionals, students, corporate users, entrepreneurs and medical users. The demographic changes would be in age, gender, income, schooling and the kind of work a person does. All these would serve as the body of consumers or non-consumers that would buy Sonics new product. * What economic trends might influence buyer behaviour in Sonic’s targeted segments? The economy is always experiencing alternating periods of growth and decline. In this case economic trends that may influence a buyer behaviour of Sonics target segments is that technological development would have to be on the rise, allowing better ways to do certain things. Also period of growth would be and influence. Persons would spend more money during that time of economic growth. * How might the rapid pace of technological change alter Sonic’s competitive situation? The rapid pace of technological change may alter sonic competitive situation because of the large market of technology. Other companies that are in the same market that are targeting the same demographic would serve as competition. The competitors would come up with new and innovative ideas so that they may be the leaders in that market. * What surveys, focus groups, observation, behavioural data, or experiments will Sonic need to support its marketing strategy? Be specific about the questions or issues that Sonic needs to resolve its marketing problem. Sonic will need to use online surveys, small focus groups and observation to support its marketing strategy. An online survey will be ideal for Sonic as it is more beneficial to collect quantitative information in the fields of marketing from numerous consumers and the target market. A small focus group should be done on students, ranging from ages 18-25 to discern why PDA’s may or may not be popular among this age demographic. The moderator can ask questions such as, â€Å"How many persons are willing to pay more money for a newer, improved product with more features?†. The questions can then become more specific and the moderator can ask about the various brands of PDA’s, preference in brands, pricing, and factors that may persuade a consumer to purchase a certain product. Observation will also be needed to support Sonic’s marketing strategy. Company researchers can observe individuals and settings unobtrusively as they shop for products. They can also ask consumers to write down, there thought process, what they look for in a PDA, as well as how they compare pricing and perceived value amongst products. * Where can you find suitable secondary data about total demand for PDAs over the next two years? Identify at least two sources (online or off-line), describe what you plan to draw from each source, and indicate how the data would be useful for Sonic’s marketing plan. Suitable secondary data can be found online websites such as â€Å"Business.com† and â€Å"ReportLinker.com†. Using â€Å"Business.com†, information can be gathered on the latest news and trends regarding PDA’s. By using this source, we plan to draw information on the newest personal data assistants and handheld computers on the market and how they compete. How other businesses use PDAs in specific industries for specialized task and what may be on the horizon for cutting edge PDA technology. By using â€Å"ReportLinker.com† we will be able to view trends, analysis, statistics and various PDA market reports throughout the country as well as globally. * Recommend three specific marketing metrics for Sonic to apply in determining marketing effectiveness. To determine marketing effectiveness Sonic should apply these three marketing metrics: 1) Sales by market segment. 2) Brand awareness. 3) Customer Satisfaction.

Social Disorders of Shyness and Social Desirability in Colle essays

Social Disorders of Shyness and Social Desirability in Colle essays DISORDERS OF SHYNESS AND SOCIAL DESIRABILITY Social Disorders of Shyness and Social Desirability in College students I examined the physical interaction and involvement in social situations alleviates social approval disorders, as doe constant reassurance of oneself when placed in a social condition. I handed out questionnaires to Loyola University Students that possibly were in seek of approval in social situations to try and better understand what some contributing factors that might lead to them feeling this way. I hypothesized that shyness disorders would prevail over social desirability disorders in the ending result. As expected, most students were faced with shyness disorders in the college social life. These results showed me that most college students are not socially compliant in social settings. Social Disorders of Shyness and Social Desirability in College students Most college students are awkward in most social situations. Most college students are not aware of ability to socialize without running into the problems with shyness or social desirability. But, the few that are aware of their social problem with interaction are the ones that help us in understanding and targeting others who possess the same problem. What college students get out of socializing is a sense of identity. If they do not possess quality socializing skills they end up feeling awkward when present in a social situation and either refute from engaging in typical conversation or try and pretend they know what others are talking about when really all they want is to be apart of the scene. Growing up is a gigantic learning process for all college students. Their ability to recognize and correct their problems of social interaction due to shyness or social desirability makes possible for better future social engagements. Different steps can be taken to overcome social disorders. What do college students learn from identifying their social i...

#FreelancerFriday #8 - Ellie Clarke, Editor

#FreelancerFriday #8 - Ellie Clarke, Editor #FreelancerFriday #8 - Ellie Clarke, Editor â€Å"For a first-time author the process can be quite illuminating. For the author to have given you their work, and for you to have made alterations and made sure that they’re happy about it, you’re the second-closest person to their project. It can be quite great – especially if you know you’ve done a good job and that the client is happy.† Ellie Clarke is an editor based in the south-east UK. Ellie is something of a polymath, offering services for every step in the process, from ghostwriting through to proofreading. You can  enjoy our conversation below. – What kind of services do you offer as an editor? I do a wide range of editing and editorial work. I do everything from development editing all the way down to proofreading – light copy edits, heavy copy-edits, structural edits. I also ghostwrite, doing things from the other side.   Basically, all the things. I used to work in-house as a project editor. I had to manage everything from end-to-end. That meant organising other people to do the different stages, and sometimes doing it myself. I’ve carried on with that approach – to be able to put myself forward for any type of editing. Once you’ve got the skills it’s important to keep practicing them. Do you often do multiple types of edit for a single client? Like a developmental edit, and then a copy edit as well? For larger clients, publishers and so on, I might do a variety of different types of editorial work on different projects. So for one I’ll be structurally editing, another will be a copy-edit, and another will be a proofread. Private clients sometimes ask for a combined service, and I’m happy to offer it, but usually I would recommend that if someone wants, say, a copy-edit and a proofread, I often think its better to go to someone else for the proofread. A fresh pair of eyes can really help.   Then again, it depends on the project – if someone has specific knowledge that they’ll need in order to do the proof properly, getting the original copy-editor to proofread it is a good idea. Having a fresh pair of eyes is good, but then also familiarity with a project has its own benefits. What do you think those benefits are, in your experience? One of the main ones would be if a new copy-editor comes in after a development edit has happened, they might reverse some stylistic choices previously made – especially if there isn’t a good style sheet for the project. It could be any decision, even down to using double or single quotation marks. That sort of thing can end up being lost unless it’s been written down – but you also can’t write down every single decision – otherwise you’d end up with the Guardian style guide. Does the relationship between the author and the editor change over the course of a project? For a first-time author the process can be quite illuminating. For the author to have given you their work, and for you to have made alterations and made sure that they’re happy about it, you’re the second-closest person to their project. It can be quite great – especially if you know you’ve done a good job and that the client is happy. It can be difficult as well. Sometimes people think of an edit as a friend looking through your book and looking for typos. It’s important to be diplomatic and understand that the project is their baby. The dynamic changes over time. At first people can be defensive. As they realise that you have their project’s best interests at heart it gets a lot easier. This is especially true when you’re working directly with an author – it’s very different to when you’re working through a publishing house or a project management company. Is there a difference between working directly with a publishing house verses working with the author directly? Certainly. It can be beneficial, especially if you’re thinking about self-publishing, in that the author retains a lot more creative control. The benefit of having direct contact with your editor is that you can feed, as we were saying, information about creative elements that you want a certain way directly to the editor. Otherwise that can sometimes get lost in translation. How does thinking about the reader affect how you work, how you set objectives for when you’re editing a piece? I think personally I’m working for the reader. I want the reader to get a book that works for them, that they enjoy, and that is high quality. When you’re editing, what are you looking at? The flow of the prose, the expression of the idea? It depends on the subject matter. For fiction editing, you’re certainly looking at the flow of the story, you’re looking at character development, at whether the text is too long or too short. Line editing and copy-editing is more practical – grammar, typos, for example. When in the writing process should an author approach an editor? You should definitely have a draft ready. Contacting someone when you’ve got a few chapters and a synopsis can be a good idea, and people out there are happy to look at what you’ve got so far to let you know if they think it’ll be worthwhile. In terms of actually getting into the nitty-gritty of the editorial process, you should have a draft and you should have reread that draft yourself.   Some people, quite a lot of people, recommend that before you’re ready to have someone else look at your manuscript you should have gone over somewhere between three and ten times. I would say be as happy as you can be with the manuscript before you send it to an editor. The better shape the manuscript is in, the less editing it will tend to need, which makes it a faster process and a cheaper process – obviously good if you’re an indie author. What makes a project great to work on? Having a shared interest definitely helps. For authors it’s important to find an editor who’s interested in what you’re writing. If you’ve written a sci-fi novel and you approach someone who generally edits gardening textbooks they’re probably not the best person. Maybe they are! Maybe they also have a secret interest in sci-fi! It’s good when an author is ready for the process. Some people sometimes think they’re ready, but still find it quite difficult. When you’re being edited the fact is that some of your text will be changed. Working with someone who’s easy-going and open to talking about change is good. It’s about being able to have those conversations and say â€Å"I would recommend this, what do you think?† The author can say â€Å"Yes, I agree,† or â€Å"No, I don’t agree, and this is why.† Being able to have that flow of ideas with someone really helps It’s also good to be clear about the expectations you have from each other. The author should know what you need from them – in terms of the manuscript, in terms of how much time you need. As the editor, you should know what the author needs – how heavily they want the text edited, how long they have, if they have a specific deadline, if there are certain things they don’t want to change. Do you dialogue with authors as well as marking up the text? In developmental editing there’s often more dialogue – you might come across something where you need to know what the author wants to do before you can really proceed. That can come up in other forms of editing as well. I’ve known people who prefer to be presented with the edit and just go through the comments, and I’ve also known people who want to be consulted at every stage. It’s usually better if the author’s prepared to not have every change discussed – that can take a very long time, which isn’t useful for them. Is there anything about working with a publisher that’s impossible to match working freelance? I don’t know that you’d match it exactly – it would still be a different experience. Unless you hire a project manager as well, which you can do, you end up being the project manager for your own book†¦ which can be quite stressful. But in terms of the book doing well, in terms of getting a good quality of finished project, I think you probably can match it.   As long as you’re willing to take the time with it and understand that you probably do need at least an edit and a proofread – generally one stage isn’t enough to get it as a finished product – then I think you can end up with a very good end product. Obviously, some people do very well indeed from publishing on Amazon, for example. Whether it will be different to a traditionally published book depends on what you as the author are happy to do with the book, and how many stages you’re happy to go through. Thank you for your time Ellie.

Answers to Questions About Plurals

Answers to Questions About Plurals Answers to Questions About Plurals Answers to Questions About Plurals By Mark Nichol Here are DailyWritingTips.com readers’ queries about plural usage, and my responses. 1. Is staff singular or plural? Staff can be either singular or plural, though the singular form is preferred: â€Å"The staff is encouraged by the new policy† is correct. â€Å"The staff are encouraged by the new policy† is also correct but is better rendered â€Å"The staff members are encouraged by the new policy.† â€Å"Staff members are encouraged by the new policy,† however, has a slightly different connotation; when staff is preceded by the, the implication is that the opinion is one of consensus. Without the, it’s assumed that the conclusion is based on a sampling, though that distinction would be clearer if the sentence read, â€Å"Some [or many, or another qualifier] staff members are encouraged by the new policy.† 2. â€Å"Is shingles referring to the disease, not the roof covering singular or plural?† Shingles or any similar condition (hives, measles, mumps) should be referred to with a singular verb: â€Å"Shingles is more common in adults than in children.† If that seems awkward, you could write, for example, â€Å"Contracting shingles is more common in adults than in children.† 3. I am confused about something, specifically singular and plural usage when writing about music groups. For instance, I might write about the fictional music group Music Band: â€Å"At last night’s concert, Music Band was awesome!† I have been told it is more correct to say, â€Å"At last night’s concert, Music Band were awesome!† Which is more correct? Isn’t was more correct when referring to the band as a whole? And yet, almost every instance I’ve seen uses were instead of was, which just doesn’t sound right to me. In American English, the verb should be consistent with the form of the name. Plural-style names (â€Å"the Beatles†) take plural verbs, and singular-style names (â€Å"the Who†) take singular verbs. In British English, both forms take a plural verb. (This post discusses these usages and the convention for references to sports teams.) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:What Does [sic] Mean?Latin Plural Endings7 Sound Techniques for Effective Writing

Produce a 2000 word report that critiques and evaluates an Essay

Produce a 2000 word report that critiques and evaluates an environmental impact assessment for a named project - Essay Example Noise- Noise is by and large viewed as an unwanted sound or sound, which transforms disagreeable consequences for the ears. Noise is processed by family devices, vehicles out and about, plane planes, boisterous speakers and so forth. Noise produces extreme unfriendly impacts on the nature of man encompassing and is, subsequently, recognized to be contaminating the earth. It is the din and term of the commotion which is exasperating and reasons physical uneasiness and harm to hearing. The major source of noise is derived from the centre’s nearness to the A64 and due to construction works. Air Pollution- Air pollution alludes to the vicinity of strong particles and gases buzzing around. Contaminations may be regular or synthetic. These contaminations cause inconvenience, illness, or demise to people. Other living life forms are likewise influenced. The environment is a dynamic complex mixture of gases that is key for manage life on Earth. Emanations from vehicles, processing plants, clean, and dust and mould spores may be suspended as particles. Some air toxins are harmful; inward breath of contaminated air causes respiratory illnesses, for example, asthma, heart sicknesses, changes in lung capacity, and additionally expiration. Long haul presentation to contaminated air can bargain the development (particularly lung advancement) in youngsters. Air pollution is not limited to the earth: indoor pollution is additionally perilous to health. (Gall, Carter, Earnest, & Stephens, 2013). Car emissions from the A64 and the general smells associated with the land-based works particularly the dairy farm on the site creates a major amount of air pollution. The construction dusts and the dusts belonging to the demolished buildings also play a significant role in causing air pollution. Water Pollution- Water pollution is the sullying of water

Functional Ares of Top Shop Business Case Study

Functional Ares of Top Shop Business - Case Study Example It has over 300 stores around the world. It also has around 165 stores for men’s wear. It is the number shop in Britain when it comes to clothing, accessories and make up. This company offers high quality products at a reasonable price and it has embarked on technology to market and sell its products. THE 5 KEY FUNCTIONAL AREAS IN TOP SHOP BUSINESS Human resource: their main responsibility is to look and hire new employees who will efficiently carry out the company’s responsibilities. They also make sure that their employees are well trained to enhance efficiency in their endeavors. They should make sure that the employees have filed in all the paper work before they embark on their duties. They also determine the salary scale for each employee according to the employee’s occupation and responsibilities in the company. Marketing: this department should always give directions on what products the company should release to the market. It should always be aware of w hat is on market and what is not. They should also know the needs of their customers and be sure to meet each and every one of it. They reach these conclusions by researching through various mechanisms. They help the company to put its strategies in order so as to meet the demand of the customer. They have a responsibility to determine the price of a certain product considering the cost involved in processing it. All products should be advertised and promoted so as to educate the public on the products. This needs budgeting and proper planning. They determine the distribution channels that are going to be involved in distributing the products. The ICT and administration support: This group has always supported day to day running of the business. They involve themselves in the clerical duties, cleaning of the premise, they offer computer and technological help and they ensure people’s security health and safety. Operations: this is a department involved in producing the nice a nd appealing garments seen on the web to see that the customers are coming back for more. They are people with skill, creativity, attention to detail and informed. They use the available machinery, the building and raw materials provided to come up with products to be sold to the clients on order. Research and development: With the use of ICT, people are able to stay informed and get as much information as possible. The customers can give feedback which will inform this department on what they want. This department keeps competition on check by updating on existing designs. Customer care: (Lyon, 2012) notes that the front desk is the most critical and sensitive area. The front desk personnel should never fail to impress so as to have many clients. For every opportunity be it a phone call, an appointment honor, the excellence of the business should be seen. The front desk has always set the pace for everyone in the company to emulate and internalize. The main responsibility of this d epartment is to make sure that their customers are satisfied and their questions are well answered. They answer calls from customers, give extra information on the products or services offered and solve their customers’ problems in relation to the products they are interested in. The personnel in this department are well trained and they understand the company’s policies. Additional responsibilities include receiving of payment, handling refunds, cashing checks, and selling stamps.  

Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 5

Art - Essay Example It makes individuals draw out the shape of an object and the viewpoint and the object determine shape. As individuals changes his or her view of the object, the contour also changes Option 1: Blind Contour To elaborate about my reflection, I went to the second floor of my balcony where I picked on the landscape I wanted to have a blind contour. I was having a lot of information, which I could see, as it comprised of staffs parking lots as well as residential houses. I observed the nature and the settlement of the neighborhood, which gave me insight information of what I should consider drawing. I stepped outside with my drawing brush and I wanted to airbrush what i was seeing. i did not having enough information on how to even airbrush the pictures I was seeing . It was difficult but not impossible using my arm to aid the drawing. If I wanted to move my hand, I would have with ease since I was prepared to do the drawing, as it was part of my class. As much as I was flexible and wante d to come up with an abstract figure, I had to follow the rules and be observant on what it entails. One of the things I imagined was never to move my arm when bowing. It was the first mindset to overcome to enable my hand to be free and for easy movement. I was not controlling my bow and I was simply controlling my drawing tools. During my initials stages, I was disappointed because the images I drew were very small and they did not reflect on what I wanted to have. My drawing focused on the transition of the sky and the trees. I took keen interest on the type of trees, the patterns of their trunk and ways of their droppings. On the side of the buildings, I had to recall the siding and the plants that grew next to them. As I observed on the Far East, there were around 6 trees in the foreground. I had the tendency of remembering what was in the environment, which consisted of the telephone posts and obscure details. When I settled to drawing, I resorted to blind contour as I loved i t and it was part of the instructions front the lecturer. I did not look at the paper and I had to draw the object in front of me. My experience during this drawing was that no matter what I did without looking at the paper, it looked awesome. This is because of the condition in which I drew the object; it was very pleasing to come out with as ketch as it is also not the same thing when you know exactly what you are doing. It was full of surprise coming out with a figure resembling what I was viewing. Throughout the picture, I would move my hands throughout the paper as I remember the details of what I was seeing. I could feel the paper edge though I initially had no idea in relation to that. My eyes were widely open as I was looking at what I was drawing, it was good for me to come up with such a drawing owing to the blind contour I was engaged in. The following is the first image I came out with. Option 2: Detail Reduction I chose the image, traced it source on a plain paper, and came with a complete composition like the one shown in the figure below. I chose the object because I am in love with nature more so animals. It was tempting to trace because my hand could not easily move on the paper as it could shift away from the paper. It was a good feeling tracing the images because it offered guidance since I was only to follow the laid framework and the layout. This was so easy and I could see the image I was tracing coming out. However, I was not always conscious of