An Integrated Approach To Writing English Language Essay

An Integrated Approach To Writing English Language Essay The first chapter of my paper puts forth three main issues: an investigation of writing in relation to the other language skills, a comparison between writing-for-writing versus writing-for-learning as well as an analysis of the teachers roles and the students involvement in the process of teaching writing. By exposing these aspects, I demonstrate that writing should not be taught as an isolated language skill but rather as a part of an integrated approach. Additionally, I show how writing-for-writing is as significant as writing-for-learning and how students play a crucial part in teaching writing and take responsibility for their own learning. An Integrated Approach to Writing and the Other Language Skills Contemporary methodological tendencies split the four language skills into two broad categories: receptive skills and productive ones. The latter includes speaking and writing with their much-debated differences. The process of writing presupposes the use of graphic symbols or letters chained together in higher sentence sequences that respect a particular order and form a coherent text. Writing is primarily linked to two other language skills: speaking and reading. On the one hand, the association writing-speaking gives rise to tough debates about whether teachers should focus more on teaching writing or teaching speaking. It may be argued that writing is not merely an ordinary extension of speech; the former practice differs from the latter in multiple ways as Donn Byrne cogently shows in the following table: SPEECH WRITING Takes place in a context. Creates its own context. Speaker and listener(s) in contact. Reader not present and no interaction possible Person addressed is specific. Reader not necessarily known to writer Immediate feedback given and expected. No immediate feedback possible. Speech is transitory. Writing is permanent. Sentences often incomplete and sometimes ungrammatical. Hesitations and pauses common. Sentences expected to be carefully constructed and linked and organised to form a text. Range of devices (stress, intonation, pitch, speed) to help convey meaning. Facial expressions, body movements, and gestures also used. Devices to help convey meaning are punctuation, capitals, and underlining (for emphasis). Fig. 1. Differences between speech and writing (Byrne 3). Source: Byrne, Donn. Teaching Writing Skills. London: Longman, 1993. Thus, the written language asks for a greater standardization of grammar and vocabulary whereas speech is varied according to distinctions in regional dialects. Speaking usually occurs as a spontaneous act while writing is carefully planned. Then, speakers make use of their body language and voice to put across meaning but writers have to count on their words for the same purpose. Finally, speech has a more informal and repetitive character where the written discourse develops logically in a more formal and compact style. On the other hand, writing is related to reading as these two skills represent the basis of literacy. Nowadays, theoreticians such as S.B. Kucer and E. Delgado-Larocco consider literacy as a multifaceted and active practice that encompasses sociocultural, cognitive, developmental, and cognitive factors (see Fig. 2 below). Consequently, for a person to become literate, he or she has to master all the abovementioned dimensions of literacy at the same time (Kucer 4). First, the cognitive influence dictates the writers wish to find, build, and share meaning. Afterwards, the sociocultural component contains markers of social identity (ethnicity or gender). Third of all, the linguistic element puts forth the language used by the writer as the conveyor of meaning. Last but not least, the developmental aspect includes the other three factors: since literacy is a dynamic process, the writers / readers development never ceases (Kucer 5-6). Fig. 2. Dimensions of literacy (Kucer 59). Source: Kucer, Stephen B. Dimensions of Literacy. A Conceptual Base for Teaching Reading and Writing in School Settings. New Jersey: LEA Publishers, 2005. Moreover, the question of why and how writing should be taught arises. Since writing is a skill which is (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) difficult to acquire (Byrne 6), it is obvious by now that instructors should set very clear teaching goals as concerns writing. In this sense, writing may be taught as a response to students needs and diverse learning styles: introvert learners do not feel at ease expressing themselves orally, so writing allows them to feel more self-confidence. But writing may equally be taught for reasons of memorization or retention and thus it offers students the confirmation for part of their learning progress. The most evident purpose for teaching writing seems to be the need for its presence in informal and formal examinations alike. In general, teaching writing is not meant to be an isolated practice. Instead, an effective student exposure to the foreign language is acquired through more than one medium as Eli Henkel points out: in meaningful communication, people employ incremental language skills not in isolation, but in tandem (quoted in Harmer 265). In the classroom, the teaching-learning environment tries to mimic real-life situations and this is the reason why lessons often integrate multi-layered language skills. In this context, writing invites us to gather and organize our thoughts in order to clearly communicate them (Johnson 8). Teaching Writing-for-writing versus Writing-for-learning Language is the vehicle of thought. The essential hypothesis is that-being a language skill-writing means writing a connected text and not just single sentences, that writers write for a purpose and a reader, and that the process of writing is a valuable learning tool for all our students (Raimes 11). Contemporary methodological trends dictate that writing should be taught interdependently with reading, speaking, and listening. There is no single approach to teaching writing but many. Writing may reinforce recently acquired language structures, it may improve the students mental and linguistic development, and it may also emphasize individual learning styles. Additionally, the type of writing teachers promote depends greatly on the learners age, level, and personal interests. In The Practice of English Language Teaching, Jeremy Harmer divides the teaching of writing in two broad categories: writing-for-learning and writing-for-writing. The former type is defined as the kind of writing we do to help students learn language or to test them on that language (Harmer 330). Thus, writing-for-learning can ask students to build sentences using the Past Tense Simple or the Going to Future for instance; here, the aim is not to train students to write, but rather to help them remember (Harmer 330) a certain grammar item. Learners build writing habits for language practice in this case-they come to grasp, retain, and acquire new language structures. Besides this, writing-for-learning promotes learners involvement in the lessons development and outcome by raising their awareness and by making them responsible for their own learning. By contrast, writing-for-writing addresses specific writing genres such as narratives, ads, letters, postcards, job applications, reports, or articles whose construction we want our students to master. Therefore, if we are to build the students writing skills, it is advisable to use such writing-for-writing tasks as often as is appropriate (Harmer 330). This category focuses more on familiar, daily styles that the learners find useful and that they are likely to come across more frequently. Writing for fun or for pleasure is also included here since it allows students to acquire knowledge in their own rhythm; self-experience proves valuable and motivates learners intrinsically, making them accumulate new language items more rapidly and with more ease. There are countless types of writing of activities targeted for this type of writing, amongst which: questionnaires, scenarios, puzzles, instructions, quizzes, diaries, headlines, or programmes. Unlike the controlled practice in class w here pupils are asked to comply to certain composition rules, writing for fun does not require obeying specific conventions but rather using the language that learners have at their disposal. As a result, writing for pleasure enhances students creativity and underpins their level of proficiency in the foreign language. Furthermore, Art Young-in Teaching Writing across the Curriculum-dwells on the same distinction between writing-for-learning and writing-for-writing, although he labels these categories differently: writing to learn and writing to communicate. Fig. 3. Writing to learn and writing to communicate (Young 9). Source: Young, Art. Writing across the Curriculum. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1999. Young exposes the fact that on the one hand, writing to learn encourages students to take the time to discover new language items step-by-step through creativity and problem-solving skills. Thus, writing to learn sets forth the writers linguistic knowledge and principles in his attempt to explain the matter to oneself (Britton quoted in Young 10). On the other hand, writing to communicate enables writers to share newly acquired structures with others, to explain the matter to others (Britton quoted in Young 10). This time, the reader or the receiver of the writers text is privileged and further supported to revise shared information or discover new perspectives. All in all, writing-for-learning and writing-for-writing are only two of the many possible ways of teaching writing. These two categories are not reciprocally exclusive, so teachers should not focus solely on one of them at the expense of the other. Although writing-for-learning focuses more on content areas whereas writing-for-writing on compositional forms, they both represent invaluable tools for the teaching-learning process. Used jointly within pairwork or groupwork, these techniques bring about the advantages of unimpeded communication, creativity, self-confidence and peer-reliability. Teachers Roles and the Students Involvement in Teaching Writing Teachers whose goal is to instruct students how to become proficient writers must always take into consideration the learners background and emotional makeup but also their life experiences that they bring to class. An efficient teaching of writing presupposes acknowledging the students active role in this process. Thus, a culturally sympathetic input offered by teachers embraces and explores class diversity. Besides the open-mindedness to culturally diverse learners, teachers also play other crucial roles in the classroom such as: resource, organiser, prompter, motivator, participant, and feedback provider. As resource, the teacher should be ready to supply information and language where necessary (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) offering advice and suggestions in a constructive and tactful way (Harmer 330), especially for longer writing tasks. Skilled teachers operate with their expertise when it comes to teaching writing and make sure that they put across new structures in a significant and accessible way. When the teacher becomes organiser, he or she is involved in physically setting up the classroom environment so that students get to better assimilate the writing tasks. The teacher may require that the students work in pairs or in groups and that the class setting be corresponding to the task (horseshoe, circle, groups of four desks or more, u-shape, or others). In this case, the teacher can also act as prompter, hinting at certain English structures to ensure a smooth flow of the activity; he or she could pass from group to group and offer learners tips and cues. Assuming the role of motivator, the teacher tries to boost both the learners intrinsic and extrinsic motivation since student motivation often proves to impede the acquiring of new English structures, whatever the taught skill may be. For teaching writing, motivation usually means giving students the advantage of choice without limiting their perspectives to a single activity. This is not to say that students may roam freely or disregard topics assigned by the teacher, but that they can rely on their life experiences, on their options in terms of English knowledge as well as on the prospect of a real audience (their colleagues, teachers, etc.) in order to successfully conclude an assignment. In this respect, one of our principal roles (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) will be to motivate the students, (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) persuading them of the usefulness of the activity, and encouraging them to make as much effort as possible for maximum benefit (Harmer 330). Additionally, acting as participant, the teacher can share with the students his or her own experience as a writer. By doing this, the teacher exposes writing strategies and offers insight into techniques typically used by proficient, expert writers. Students have to opportunity to witness the teacher struggling with logic and coherence and thus, they become more confident in their own writing skills. Humbertson even recounts: As I continued to write and share with my students, they connected and invested in their own literacy (11). Finally, the teacher as feedback provider is a position that I am dealing with in greater detail in my following chapter. However, mention should be made of the fact that teachers should respond positively and encouragingly to the content of what the students have written (Harmer 331). A negative feedback discourages students and makes them reticent to writing. It is generally accepted nowadays that the teachers feedback should highlight only one aspect that needs improvement every time: English register, vocabulary, punctuation, grammar, or word order. Nonetheless, the acclaimed student-centred teaching style of today does not obviously revolve exclusively around teachers roles in the classroom. Instead, this approach views teachers and students as partners or collaborators in the teaching-learning process. Students are as active a part of the writing practice as their instructors. By showing that they care and understand the learners needs and interests, teachers allow their students to become responsible for their own learning. Another instance of students involvement in teaching writing is the case of groupwork tasks when more proficient learners can guide or help out less proficient ones. Regardless of the writing context in the classroom, the teacher can follow certain steps to guarantee successful learning outcomes: design authentic and meaningful writing tasks, teach writing together with other language skills as part of an integrated approach, alternate teaching methods or techniques, create a sympathetic class atmosphere, and adopt a supportive attitude towards the learners. Overall, the first chapter of my paper has dwelled on aspects concerning first of all the relationship writing-speaking and writing-reading, then the similarities and differences between writing-for-learning and writing-for-writing, and ultimately the teachers responsibilities as well as the students participation in teaching writing. In this respect, I have revealed the fact that an integrated approach to teaching the language skills is the most appropriate technique to adopt in class, that writing-for-writing is as significant as and sometimes more constructive than writing-for-learning, and that good teachers know how to include students in the teaching-learning process by offering them a share of self-reliance, awareness, and motivation.

Red Bull Marketing/Segementation/Pricing Essay

You are asked to address the following questions: 1. Who are the principal target segments for Red Bull and how are they positioned towards these target segments? 2. Analyse the Red Bull brand using any frameworks you judge appropriate. 3. Comment upon Red Bull’s pricing approach 4. Evaluate Red Bull’s distribution channel strategy 5. Would you describe Red Bull as a national, a European or a global brand – give reasons? 6, What marketing strategy would you recommend that Red Bull should adopt over the next 5 years? Who are the principal target segments for Red Bull and how are they positioned towards these target segments? Red Bull has an aggressive international marketing campaign that targets young males. These customers are often similar in their tastes for extreme sports, either as spectators or participators. Its numerous sponsored activities range from extreme sports like mountain biking, BMX, motocross, windsurfing, snowboarding, skateboarding, kayaking, wakeboarding, cliff-diving, surfing, skating, freestyle motocross, rally, Formula 1 racing, and breakdancing to art shows, music, and video games. It is this range of activities that enable the brand to be relevant to a huge collective of audiences across the globe. These target consumers use Red Bull to replenish energy levels. The high caffeine content of the energy drink is the key influence behind the target segments for Red Bull. The ‘Anti-establishment, premium end, positioning is aimed at capturing brand loyalty from young, Generation Y males, or students aged 16+ who feel the need to re-energise. The need for caffeine is associated with being active, whether physically: nightclubbing, playing sports or mentally: working long hours, driving or studying. Positioning Red Bull is positioned towards two major market segments at present: The Primary Market Red Bull is marketed at students, via student ‘Brand Managers’ in on-campus buzz marketing promotions, at drivers in petrol stations, as a premium priced mixer in nightclubs and at gyms. Red Bull’s demographic is moving from the Generation Y population to include a more mature market demographic. The Secondary Market More recently, people up to the age of 44 are feeling a ‘maintained sense of time pressure’ (Mintel 2011) and are drinking Red Bull to navigate the challenges of modern living. Red Bull has aligned its marketing approach to appeal to a wider consumer base than the primary ‘Gen Y’ market segment, with alignment to more traditional, mainstream sports such as Formula One motor racing, motorcross and World Rally Championship (WRC) car racing. Red Bull Media The Red Bull Media House operates an online â€Å"consumer platform†. The content of the platform, TV Station, global magazine and mobile operator service is all positioned at the ‘active lifestyle’ market. The exhilarating content: documentaries, films and even music, is a key cornerstone to the brand’s positioning to its target segments. Red Bull positions itself as an aspirational lifestyle brand: athletic, challenge-driven and, to the Gen Y market, youth culture, spirited and dangerous. Red Bull media programming also pursues potential business partners who may have similar target audiences. 2. Analyse the Red Bull brand using any frameworks you judge appropriate. Red Bull has managed to successfully position its brand as the leader in a market that did not exist before (Blue Ocean strategy – we need a value innovation curve). By establishing the brand itself as the â€Å"anti-brand† and building a strong relationship with an audience of consumers crowd that did not want to be told what to do, Red Bull has developed a relationship with its consumers by listened to this audience helping them to shape their  personality and fulfill their interests (Self concept attachment)., This gave the Red Bull brand giving the brand a high level of loyalty and helped it to and leveraging its brand equity. [Perhaps delete, covered later, here more disussion on Value Innovation] There are many reasons why Red Bull has become such a successful brand, consumed by many and known by all. Firstly, Red Bull has developed a very strong brand recognition, from its unique and memorable name, its instantly recognizable can, to the logo, which consists of bold graphics. Its slogan ‘Red Bull gives you wings’ has been reinforced with consumers by repetition, consistently making it instantly recognizable by all. Red Bull segmented the market and positioned the brand very effectively, with its controversial and anti-establishment status. Red bull is not viewed as being just a product, it is a â€Å"Way of Life† which is associated with energy, extreme sports and danger, very appealing to its core audience. Even though Red Bull has been followed and copied several times by similar products, due to its consistent and unique communications strategy Red Bull has managed to stay â€Å"fresh and relevant† (how?) and still maintain a leading position in a very crowded market. (how?) Red Bull’s unique and extremely well coordinated marketing repertoire is without a doubt one of the key factors for its success. Red Bull’s strategy to target its audience with non-traditional ads, made the brand more believable for its â€Å"No brands† followers. For a brand such as Red Bull, marketing communications are deemed to be so important that 35% of its turnover goes to communications and events. Through this manner of communication, Red Bull avoids traditional media channels by making the product readily available – through this strategy, consumers are attracted to the brand, giving them a sense of freedom and choice which further adds to the credibility of the brand. People talk, and if the topic is hot and controversial, even more. Red Bull is aware of this and heavily relies on â€Å"the word of mouth†. Since the very  beginning the brand has had bad press mentioning the danger of consuming this product and the fact that Taurine (a component in Red Bull) was extracted from the genitals of bulls, giving the product â€Å"aphrodisiac† attributes (this was also posted on Red Bull’s website). The buzz this created, and the fact that the product was not easy to find, gave the Red Bull brand its original mystique that still remains today. Strategy (work in to this question) 3. Comment upon Red Bull’s pricing approach Red Bull’s pricing approach is to set the price at a high level. The pricing given in the article ranges from â‚ ¬2-â‚ ¬6 depending on the point of purchase (either retail or in a bar/night club). Red Bull are not alone in charging a higher price for their product, the majority of producers in the energy drinks sector also charge a premium. This is shown in the in the table below where the price of energy drinks is compared to a close substitute, carbonated soft drinks: (Mintel, 2011) Since 2004 the consumers have paid an average premium (per litre) for energy drinks of 66.29%. They are willing to pay this premium as they perceive that energy drinks provide unique benefits (i.e. an energy boost) when compared to substitutes. â€Å"While energy/sports drinks charge a premium compared to non-functional fizzy drinks (ie Coca-Cola) this has not harmed sales, even though the majority of UK consumers do think they are expensive for what they are. Nevertheless, consumers have shown that they are prepared to pay a premium for a product which provides such a tangible benefit†.(Forsyth, 2011) Setting the pricing at a high level also leads the consumer to make price quality inferences about Red Bull. The consumer associates the high price with a high level of quality. In doing this Red Bull are making their product a â€Å"premium product†. In defining a premium product Penny Coase refers to the use of this pricing strategy: â€Å"A premium brand will always command a higher price, often significantly more than that charged by mainstream brands within the product category. However, there are typically ‘tiers’ of price and of premium;† (Coase, 2010) The benefit that premiumization (through pricing) provides to Red Bull is that it leads them to higher margins and away from competing through providing discounts. Whilst the price of Red Bull is high in comparison to substitutes it is still affordable as the cost makes up a small portion of an individual’s disposable income. This approach to pricing means that Red Bull falls in to the â€Å"masstige† (Silverstein & Fiske, 2003) category, where they can access the mass market whilst still retaining an image of quality: â€Å"These goods occupy a sweet spot between Mass and class. While commanding a premium over conventional products, they are priced well below super premium or old- luxury goods† (Silverstein & Fiske, 2003) Red Bull sold 4.631 billion cans of drink in 2011 (Red Bull, 2012) which shows that even at a higher price than it’s substitutes their pricing strategy generates significant volume of sales. Following the theory that: Profit =Price Ãâ€"Volume –Costs Red Bull will be able to generate a high level of profit as they charge a high price whilst achieving significant sales whilst producing a product at relatively low costs. Finally Red Bull were one of the first entrants into the caffeinated energy drinks market (prior to this energy drinks were based on Glucose content) and this has allowed them to set the level of pricing that they want within the market. As the product life cycle approaches maturity and Red Bull’s competitive advantage decreases they will be able to partake in â€Å" Price Skimming†, whereby they reduce the price of the good to a lower level and attract a new group of consumers who were more price sensitive to the original pricing: (witiger.com) Red Bull Q4: Evaluate Red Bull’s distribution channel strategy Red Bull was an ‘anti-brand’ that was targeting the young ‘in-crowd’. Young at this time meant Generation Y who had no brand loyalty and were suspicious of being ‘marketed to’. This called for a fresh distribution strategy to support the brand positioning. One of the hardest business strategies to effect is to break into a profitable industry dominated by established brands. Virgin Cola struggled to make an impact in the US when it was launched in the late 1990’s due to the stranglehold that Coke held over shelf space. However around the same time Red Bull launched using a radically different distribution strategy. Channel Implementation In order to both promote Red Bull as an anti-brand whilst by-passing the lock that established soft drinks manufacturers held on the distribution and retail network in most markets, the company adopted a novel two-pronged approach. Firstly it developed a ‘street marketing strategy’ in which the â€Å"Wings Team† (generally comprising attractive female students in a customised Mini with a giant Red Bull can on the back) would distribute free samples to those thought in need of energy. This would typically be in public spaces where the young and cool hang out; this might include public squares, beaches, parks, ski resorts, or skating parks. This would be an opportunity to introduce the product, talk about its properties and convey consumer feedback. Secondly it would target a select number of venues – generally trendy bars or nightclubs that were again deemed to be the places where the cool people hang out. Here DJs, bar tenders and other opinion leaders would be approached. Empty cans would be left on tables and even in bins outside. In the early period other venues that asked to sell Red Bull would be turned away, re-enforcing its select image and supporting the price premium that was charged. The company moved on to establish â€Å"student brand managers† on university campuses. These would throw parties at which Red Bull would be distributed.  The brand would become better known amongst the target audience and very cheap market research would be reported back at very low cost. Through this unconventional ‘youth underground’ the viral message spread. As its popularity grew (aided by the ‘invention of the Vodka Red Bull’) it was able to dictate terms to bars that stocked its cans. This included minimum pricing to maintain exclusivity and the requirement that bar tenders fill a glass and present the customer with the rest of the can – thus creating high brand visibility in the bar. The same energy effects that made it popular with clubbers also drew a following amongst long distance truckers. Its availability in late night gas stations and even vending machines added to its edgy image whilst channelling sales to new markets. Outcomes Red Bull has succeeded in breaking into the soft drinks market by effectively establishing a niche through bypassing conventional distribution channels. Its positioning as an exclusive (and elusive) product meant it was well placed to be carried on a wave of buzz marketing into the mainstream. Red Bull has become a mass-market drink and is found across a wider range of supermarkets and licensed premises. This presented the risk that it would lose its exclusivity as the cool crowd grew up and moved on, leaving it as one of a number of similar commoditized products that would be vulnerable to price competition. However potential brand risks such as it being banned in Denmark and France and being restricted to medical use in Japan and Norway actually ensured the edgy image endured. Hence thus far its brand strategy has enabled it to maintain the power in its relationship with sellers, and is hence able to dictate terms in a way that has supported the brand positioning so far. 5. Would you describe Red Bull as a national, a European or a global brand – give reasons? Red Bull can be considered a global brand both in terms of its near-global customer base and its extensive marketing campaigns. Red Bull does this by carefully targeting a huge collective of niche audiences across the globe, which cumulatively comprise its total share of the energy drinks market. This managing of the brand globally allows Red Bull to achieve economies of scale, particularly for product and promotion, and give it greater communications control and consistency in how it reaches target audiences, often through a global brand message. There are, of course, exceptions and these will be addressed in the closing paragraphs. Red Bull has an aggressive international marketing campaign that targets young males. These customers are often similar in their tastes for extreme sports, either as spectators or participators. Its numerous sponsored activities range from extreme sports like mountain biking, BMX, motocross, windsurfing, snowboarding, skateboarding, kayaking, wakeboarding, cliff-diving, surfing, skating, freestyle motocross, rally, Formula 1 racing, and breakdancing to art shows, music, and video games. It is this range of activities that enable the brand to be relevant to a huge collective of audiences across the globe. At the end of 2011, Red Bull reported employment of 8,294 people in 164 countries. In the same year, Red Bull achieved worldwide sales of 4.631 billion cans. This scale has been achieved through its positioning as a global brand, notably on the basis of product and promotion. With few exceptions the company manages a highly focused brand effort. On a product level, the company maintains the ‘Red Bull’ brand name and ensures consistent product ingredients across its markets. Its beverage brand extensions are also consistent i.e. ‘Red Bull Sugarfree’ or ‘Red Bull Energy Shot’. This is further reinforced by universally recognised packaging and company merchandising, which are also consistent. On a promotional level, the company deploys steady messaging that is always on-brand in terms of look and feel. The bold contrast of its red lettering against a navy and silver background is recognisable across the globe. Its  advertising slogan, ‘Red Bull gives you wings’, is also adopted as is in most markets without the usual translation pitfalls. The exception to this is in Malaysia, where the company instead deploys a single one-word slogan, Bullleh!, a word play on the Malay word Boleh (lit: Can be done) and the word Bull. Furthermore, Red Bull is sold world over in a tall and slim blue-silver can, except in Thailand where it is sold in a wider gold can with the name of Krating Daeng. It is these examples of exception to Global promotion, that highlight the entry challenges to more challenging markets. A key example is China, where Red Bull may need to revise its global marketing strategy to break into this valuable market where there are significant differences in consumer culture, needs and usage patterns. As the previous example of Thailand illustrated, Red Bull may need to diversify its marketing strategy and seek alternative ways of reaching Chinese youth culture. This experience tallies with many Western brands who have tried unsuccessfully to break into Asian markets, particularly China. The challenge Red Bull must face in trying to enter China is whether to adapt or to continue to standardise its marketing strategy to date. And, if it choses to adapt its strategy, would this in turn impact its brand positioning in its domestic market? (A recent example of this is Google’s decision to temporarily suspend its worldwide operating values as it currently does in China.) Furthermore, despite the company’s employees being based across 161 countries, most of its major decisions are still made either at Red Bull’s headquarters in Fuschl, an Austrian village, or at Hangar-7, a few minutes outside Salzburg. This is true even of decisions relating to Red Bull Media House, its brand extension media company. This corporate structure could work to hamper local, or glocal marketing agility. However, as Apple has demonstrated in recent years, it is possible for a company to export its vision of the world to far flung markets across the world. 6. – What Marketing strategy would you recommend that Red Bull should adopt over the next five years? : In researching this paper, many sources expressed concern that Red Bull may  already be reaching its greatest success in a maturing engergy drinks market. However, research indicates the opposite. The energy drinks market is expected to grow organically by 33% until the year 2015 (Datamonitor, 2011). So, a more important challenge for Red Bull over the next five years is how it might grow its share of this market. Our research leads us to conclude that Red Bull has already begun positioning itself favourably in order to capitalise on a growing market opportunity in two ways. Firstly, its should continue to its successful founding practice of aggregating niche markets globally. The popularity and growing range of exptreme sports will continue to form a core part of Red Bulls’ progressive audience, which in turn helps convert into a broad customer base. Secondly, Red Bull is at the forefront of marketing practices that are overhaulling existing models of demand generation. In the case of Red Bull, the company is doing this via its recently launched Red Bull Media House. Above all, Red Bull Media House enables it to tap into its audiences increased media consumption at a global scale. This is a shrewd move by Red Bull as it also enables it to create further advertising and partnership revenues as a secondary source of profit. The move into media communications could help Red Bull deepen its penetration in hard to convert markets, such as Asia. From a brand perspective this is clearly desirable as it reduces the requirement to create alternative brands. Moreover, by controling media messaging it may also extend its reach to other chosen demographics. These two features of Red Bull’s marketing strategy should enable it to capture this growth in the Energy drinks sector. However, as the success of Red Bull Media House reveals, there are more radical ways in which Red Bull might pursue its next five years. Product Possibly the most radical area Red Bull could chose to innovate in would be a subtle but significant brand extention to its core product Red Bull energy drink. It could tap into another adjucent category, health drinks, by focussing its attension on additional healthy ingredients like guarana and vitamins. This brand extension, Red Bull Health, would extent its extreme sports image into one that is moreover health conscious. Further products like branded energy bars, decaffinated Red Bull for kids, and Red Bull water would fit into this new market extension. A subtle repositioning such as this would also enable Red Bull to consider entering the fitness services market, such as gyms. A Red Bull gym would deliver a wider customer base, while enabling it to be creative with the range of supported activities. Promotion Red Bull Media House is the communications platform that will enable its customers to be always on in communicating with the brand. If a wider market share strategy is adopted, via gyms for instance, Red Bull might do well to consider a new slogan for its brand. As challenging as this may be, brands like Coke have shown that this is possible and even necessary to stay relevant in changing times. Here, Red Bull might chose to review its ‘give you wings’ slogan by finding a tag that positions it as an active lifestyle brand. Place By capturing more mainstream market share through Red Bull gyms and its Media House, Red Bull may reach markets previously difficult to open, such as China. It could opt to launch Red Bull gyms first, thereby positioning it firmly as a lifestyle brand. A launch of its health drink variants could follow. Distribution of Red Bull could also be deepened by use of vending machines in places complemenatry to active lifestyles. Price As the market continues to grow, Red Bull can continue to maintain its price premium. In conclusion, the evolution of Red Bull as brand will most certainly come from brand extensions which are based upon broader product offerings. As the success of Red Bull to date indicates, its forward-thinking marketing has created an enormously valuable brand that is very likely set to continue its global success. There is no doubt that Red Bull created a new market, but with so many competitors using the same marketing approach and targeting the same consumers, there is a strong possibility for endless generic similar products to flood the market and effectively question the authority of Red Bull. Constant change in the market, consumers behavior and high volume of direct competitors continuously launching new products poses a significant risk to Red Bull. A primary threat is those with marketing strategies which  establish the brand as being ‘small, unique and rebellious’. Even though these brands are positioning themselves very well, capturing the attention of the â€Å"anti-brand† crowd, Red Bull remains the leader in this market. We believe that Red bull should be bold and confident and aim for a bigger marketing strategy, while still adopting a NON-traditional approach,(guerilla campaigns, experiential, etc). Red Bull cannot deny its size, it should embrace its position by leveraging its brand equity. It is possible to apply a mass marketing approach. without alienating consumers. For example, Virgin a big company doing mass communication has managed to build a mass marketing campaign without losing its individualist spirit, brand vision and rebellious soul. By adopting a mass marketing strategy, Red Bull may lose some of its original consumers however, it will gain a new set which appeal to a broader audience. If Red Bull does not advance its marketing campaign in the face of increased competition, other brands are likely to gain market share, if they bring something new to the table (e.g. new trends or more relevant image), and Red Bull faces the potential risk of appearing ‘dated’. Red Bull should be loyal to its original attitude and proposition, but be bold, in the face of a changing business context by going big, even bigger than the actual hangar!

Depression And Its Effects On Children - 1411 Words

Depression in Children Students’ Name Institutional Affiliation Depression in Children Commonly, depression is a serious disorder that affects all individuals irrespective of their ages; that is the children and adolescents. In definition, it is the persistent experience of irritable mood as well the loss of interest in nearly all activities (Wade Tavris, 2000). Normally, these feelings are accompanied by additional symptoms that affect the activity level, concentration, sleep, appetite, as well as feelings of self-worth. Psychologists believe that mental illness affects the entire body; it influences the way an individual feels, acts and thinks. Depression can cause school failure, suicide, and drug abuse such as alcohol†¦show more content†¦The things that the child enjoyed now bring little or no joy to the child who is now depressed. Child psychiatrists give advice to the parents to be careful and observant to avoid cases of depressions on their children while they are in their young age (Bornstein Bradley, 2012). Children, who are depressed, may utter we ird words such as they want to die, or others may talk about committing suicide. Depressed children face high risks of for committing the act, suicide. At times, children who are always causing troubles at school and homes may be suffering from depression. Since the young child may not always seem sad, teachers and parents may not be in a position to realize that troublesome behaviors come as a result of depressions, and when directly asked, these children openly state that they are sad or either unhappy (Evans Andrews, 2005). The types of depressions that affect children are major depression; adjust disorders with depressed mood, dysthymia, seasonal affective disorder, as well as bipolar. Major depression This is considered a very serious condition, which is characterized by a long-lasting sad mood, guilt, the inability to feel happiness, and feelings of worthlessness (Evans Andrews, 2005). Depression cases that are majors normally interfere with day-to-day activities of the child such as sleeping and eating. Children suffering from major depressions feels depressed everyday day (Evans Andrews, 2005). Dysthymia This

Cultural Feminism What is the Essence of Being a Woman

Cultural feminism is a variety of feminism which emphasizes essential differences between men and women, based on biological differences in reproductive capacity. Cultural feminism attributes to those differences distinctive and superior virtues in women. What women share, in this perspective, provides a basis for sisterhood, or unity, solidarity and shared identity. Thus, cultural feminism also encourages building a shared womens culture. The phrase essential differences refers to the belief that  gender  differences are part of the  essence  of females or males, that the differences are not chosen but are part of the nature of woman or man.   Cultural feminists differ as to whether these differences are based on biology or enculturation. Those who believe differences are not genetic or biological, but are cultural, conclude that womens essential qualities are so ingrained by culture that they are persistent. Cultural feminists also tend to value qualities identified with women as superior or and preferable to qualities identified with men, whether the qualities are products of nature or culture. The emphasis, in the words of critic Sheila Rowbotham, is on living a liberated life.    Some cultural feminists as individuals are active in social and political change. History Many of the early cultural feminists were first radical feminists, and some continue to use that name though moving beyond the model of transforming society. A kind of separatism or vanguard orientation, building alternative communities and institutions, grew in reaction to the 1960s movements for social change, with some concluding that social change was not possible.   Cultural feminism has been linked with a growing consciousness of lesbian identity, borrowing from lesbian feminism ideas including the valuing of female connectedness, women-centered relationships, and a woman-centered culture. The term cultural feminism dates back at least to the use of it in 1975 by Brooke Williams of  Redstockings, who used it to denounce it and distinguish it from its roots in radical feminism. Other feminists denounced cultural feminism as betraying feminist central ideas.  Alice  Echols  describes this as the â€Å"depoliticization† of radical feminism. The work of Mary Daly, especially her Gyn/Ecology (1979), has been identified as a movement from radical feminism into cultural feminism. Key Ideas Cultural feminists argue that what they define as traditional male behaviors, including aggressiveness, competitiveness, and domination, are harmful to society and to particular fields within society, including business and politics. Instead, the cultural feminist argues, emphasizing caring, cooperation, and egalitarianism would make a better world. Those who argue that women are biologically or inherently more kind, caring, nurturing, and cooperative, also argue then for more inclusion of women in decision-making processes in society and in particular fields within society. Cultural feminists advocate for equal valuing of female occupations including parentingrespecting child care in the homepaying wages/salaries so that staying home is economically viable;respecting female values of care and nurturingworking to balance a culture that overvalues male values of aggression and undervalues â€Å"female† values of kindness and gentlenesscreating rape crisis centers and women’s shelters, often in cooperation with other kinds of feministsemphasis on the shared values of women from white, African American, and other cultures, more than on the differences of women in different groupsa female sexuality that is based on an equality of power, based on mutuality rather than control, based on nonpolarized roles, and refuses to recreate sexual hierarchies Differences With Other Kinds of Feminism The three main aspects of cultural feminism that are critiqued by other kinds of feminism have been essentialism (the idea that male and female differences are part of the essence of male and female), separatism, and the idea of a feminist vanguard, building the new culture rather than transforming the existing one through political and other challenges. While a radical feminist might critique the traditional family as being an institution of patriarchy, a cultural feminist might work to transform the family by focusing on the nurturing and caring that a woman-centered family can provide in life. Echols wrote in 1989, â€Å"[R]adical feminism was a political movement dedicated to eliminating the sex-class system, whereas cultural feminism was a countercultural movement aimed at reversing the cultural valuation of the male and the devaluation of the female.† Liberal feminists critique radical feminism for essentialism, often believing instead that male/female differences in behaviors or values are a product of current society.   Liberal feminists oppose the depoliticization of feminism which is embodied in cultural feminism.   Liberal feminists also critique the separatism of cultural feminism, preferring to work â€Å"within the system.† Cultural feminists critique liberal feminism, claiming that liberal feminists accept male values and behavior as the â€Å"norm† to work for inclusion into. Socialist feminists emphasize the economic basis of inequality, while cultural feminists root social problems in the devaluing of womens natural tendencies. Cultural feminists reject the idea that oppression of women is based on the class power exercised by men. Intersectional feminists and black feminists critique cultural feminists for devaluing the different ways that women in different racial or class groups experience their womanhood, and for de-emphasizing the ways in which race and class are also important factors in these womens lives.