Hostile Or Friendly Takeovers Mergers Economics Essay

Hostile Or Friendly Takeovers Mergers Economics Essay The process of mergers and acquisitions is gaining a significant importance in todays corporate world and is extensively used for reorganizing the business organizations. (Cartwright, Cooper, 1992).The phrase mergers and acquisitions refer to the characteristic features of Corporate strategy, corporate finance and management that deal with the purchasing, selling and combining of different companies that can support, fund, or give their hand to an upcoming company in a given industry and grow rapidly without having to create another firm(Gauhan, 2007). There are many reasons why MNCS go in for merging and acquisition, the most important among them are the rising market, political power, defensive reactions, economies of scope or synergies, reduction of transaction and information costs.( Gaughan,2005) The factors that generates a firm to go in for merger and acquisition are identified in the budding regulatory changes that happen internationally, regionally at national levels and in the fast pace of technological change which enhance the market opportunities of a business, technological interrelationship, communications and cross border reconstituting. The advantages of MAs are evaluated in terms of the ability to exploit the scale and scope of economies, gain the market control, economize the transaction costs, diversify risks, and to provide access to the existing know-how It is. (Cantwell, Santangelo, 2002) A multinational enterprise (MNE) considering an entry into a foreign market by foreign direct investment (FDI) has to consider two strategic decisions regarding the organizational form of its foreign operation. First what is the level of control i.e. whether it will be a full ownership or a joint venture and, secondly, the mode of foreign entry i.e. setting up a new venture via Greenfield investment or merger and acquisition (Muller, 2007). Let us analyze the circumstances which make MA activity the optimal entry mode into a new international market in the forthcoming paragraphs. In the period of global competition, firms realise that the effectual use of universal sourcing will contribute significantly to the performance of the market. With the materialization of new products and technologies, the firms began to experience a new developing cycle which is accompanied by the degree of competition in the market. Most of the development of the industries experience four processes and they are starting up, developing, maturing and the declining (Wang, 2009). With the invention of new products and technologies, the industries start experiencing a new developing cycle. In the initial stages of development due to less competition firms preferred greenfield investment as the optimal mode of entry in to the foreign market. As the industry started maturing the speed of the MAs which is one of the main factor started to be seen as the biggest advantage over the Greenfield investment or any other entry modes (Kang, 2001). One of the most fundamental motives for MAs is th e speedy growth and the growth through MAs are a quicker process and it takes only few months than the other entry modes. An example of this kind is the German automobile company Daimler-Benz which realised that it needed a bigger occurrence in the U.S automobile market, therefore it did not waste its time by building new factories in United States which would have taken years, instead it acquired the number three U.S. automobile company, Chrysler, and merged the two operations to form Daimler-Chrysler(Barba Navaretti,2006). Firms either expand within their own industry which is the internal growth or they expand outside their business category which is the external growth to increase the market share or the removal of a rival. When the firms grow internally, competitors respond quickly and take the market share and in due course of time the firms advantages dissipate. The firms are left out with only solution of acquiring other companies that have possessions. For example Johnson a nd Johnson, rather than internally trying to be on the fore front of each of the major area of innovation decided to purchase those companies who had developed successful products. This strategy simply describes that instead of suppressing its competitors by its internal growth JJ stretched out for acquisition to increase its market power and this is referred to as inorganic development (Gaughan, 2007).Companies like Nestle use acquisition as a form of external growth to improve its organic growth( Morschett, Schramm-Klein,2009) Merging so as to create synergy is most often the cited validation for an acquirer to shell out a premium to the target firm. Synergy is created by redeploying a firms assets. The acquiring firm may transfer a resource from the target firm to the acquiring firm and assets may be redeployed from the bidder to the target. Authors like Colombo, Conca, and Gnan (2007) found that a strong forecaster of acquisition performance was the extent to which the asset is redeployed from the target. For example, Renault acquired Nissan and therefore the leadership skills of CEO Ghosn were redeployed to the benefit Renault and firms like Ford and GM were unsuccessful in enticing Ghosn away from Renault (Hopkins.D, 2008) Economic motivations are an important subcategory of MA establishing the economies of scale thereby reducing the costs due to superfluous resources of two firms in the same or related industry. Thus acquiring a firm in the same or a related industry results in considerable overlap between the two firms and reduces costs. When Daimler-Benz acquired Chrysler it announced that the merger would lead to $1.3 billion of cost savings in the first year mainly through collaboration (Morck, Yeung, 1992). Diversification is another important strategy that motivates the firms going in for MA.Diversification is growing outside a companys current industry category. Firms either diversifies to extend their product, extend their market, or purely diversify. When a firm is specialized in a given technology or product base it tries to enter new market by entering in to different industries, different social group or different geographical location. An example of this type is G.E which was merely an electronic company through a pattern of acquisitions and diversification started operating in insurance, television stations, plastics, medical equipments and so on(Hitt.M,Ireland.D,2009). Often firms go in for merger and acquisitions to exploit a core competence and take an insubstantial skill, know-how, or information and purchase it by spreading its use to additional industries where it can create a competitive advantage. For example the company such as Honda by its internal combustion engines develops a core competence and tries to use it as a basis of competitive advantage in different businesses (Hopkins, 2008) (Morosini, Shane, Singh, 1998) say that the larger the distance in culture of the countries in which merger partners are based the greater the potential benefit Cultural differences can also be a source of complimentary strength in the cross border MAs i.e. cultural differences between countries, like the nations strength allows working in groups for example collectivism in Japan versus the individualistic in the U.S, clearly shows that by the combination of two companies that are based out of different culture and country might result in a stronger combined company (Hennart, Young-Ryeol, 1993). Companies in order to improve their product development and to improvise their research and development which is important for the future growth of many companies go in for MA and cross border activities. During the 1990s a widespread consolidation took place in the pharmaceutical industry and the motive for such a merger was to come up with new drugs and mounting costs of RD, this explains the reason for the mega merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham merged in order to increase the RD budgets.(Gaughan.P,2007) Changes in the technology results a firm to either buy or sell depending on its position with respect to technological changes and effects. For example, Indias third largest software exporter Wipro had a success history of 10 acquisitions. Most of the acquired companies were based out in Europe and dealt technology or RD services. The Nerve Wire, AMS and Mpower helped Wipro gain skills in areas like financial securities, utility consulting and technologies respectively. (Paulson, Ed., Huber, 2007) CONCLUSION These were one among the few strategic factors that motivate a firm to opt for the Merger and Acquisition than going in for the other modes of entry. Despite the fact that by far the largest part of worldwide FDI takes the form of MA while in some regions Greenfield investment is most prominent.

Marketing Mix of Unilever Soaps Essay

Unilever Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of fast- moving consumer goods. We aim to provide people the world over with products that are good for them and good for others. Vision Unilever’s Corporate Purpose * Deep roots in local cultures and markets around the world gives Unilever a strong relationship with consumers and are the foundation for future growth. They hope to bring their wealth of knowledge and international expertise to the service of local consumers – a truly multi-local multinational. * Unilever believes that long-term success requires a total commitment to exceptional standards of performance and productivity, to working together effectively, and to a willingness to embrace new ideas and learn continuously. * To succeed also requires, Unilever believes, the highest standards of corporate behavior towards everyone they work with, the communities they touch, and the environment on which they have an impact. This is Unilever’s road to sustainable, profitable growth, creating long-term value for shareholders, our people, and our business partners. Unilever’s Growth Priorities Ambition: To win share and grow volume in every category and country. * Winning with brands & Innovation * Winning with people * Winning in the marketplace * Winning through continuous improvement Consumer Product Market By and large in the consumer product markets that prevail all over, products are defined in terms of the buying behavior of shoppers. Following three are the major categories defined; * Convenience goods * Shopping goods * Specialty goods Convenience goods, usually the edible food items, are known to be purchased often, quickly, and with little comparison or effort. On the other hand shopping goods involve product comparisons on such bases as quality, price, style and suitability like for example if you go out to purchase a television set, you’ll definitely take into account whether you want an LCD or an LED or even Plasma maybe; other than this you would be making a mental analysis in your head as to whether your last reviews about a particular brand say Samsung or Song or LG was good or bad and likewise you would be narrowing down your list of choice. Lastly specialty goods possess unique attributes for which a significant group of buyers is willing to make a special effort; an example maybe of Mercedes or any sports car or any luxury item for that matter. These shopping characteristics, in turn, determine marketing mix emphasis for each product type. For example, in our case of the chosen product category soap which comes underneath the head of convenience good; the often impulsive nature of purchases puts stress on the â€Å"place† element to make sure these products are widely available and highly visible. 1. Product Product: A product is more than something with physical characteristics. In a very narrow sense a product is set of tangible physical assembled in an identifiable form. From the perspective of a marketing manager a new product can be anything management believes to be new, usually categorized as a major innovation, a minor innovation, or a modification. Major Innovation – this entails any new product that the company develops & introduces; having no prior existence in the market by any company Minor Innovation –  this entails a product which the company previously did not make but others in the market did. Modification – is an adjustment in the tangible features that may include color, packaging, size; product improvements etc. All facts and figures considered mostly when new products find their way on shelves is through modifications. Unilever’s Products Unilever’s products image building features includes: †¢Color: For the sake of variety they have full colored products. Like LUX, Dove, Lifebuoy are available in different colors. †¢Quality: Unilever maintains the high standards of quality of its products for the entire target market, which creates a strong image in the consumer’s mind. †¢Warranty: It is the policy of the company that it replaces the products damaged due to manufacturing or quality fault whenever claimed. 2.1. LUX In 1954 local production of this remarkable successful toilet soap began. Lux happens to be the largest Unilever brand globally, with its glamorous association with film stars providing a common link across the world. History of Lux: Lux soap was first launched in the UK in 1899. The name â€Å"LUX† was chosen as the Latin word for â€Å"light†. Lux was introduced as bathroom soap in the US in 1925 and in the UK in 1928 as a brand extension of LUX soap flakes. Formula given by Research and Development departments in foreign countries: LUX is produced in Pakistan from imported raw materials. Sodium soap, glycerol and different extracts according to flavors, coming from Unilever plants. †¢Almond Oil: An excellent skin softener and moisturizer. Almond oil is great for all skin types but especially beneficial for dry or irritated skin. †¢Cocoa Butter: Cocoa Butter is absorbed quickly into the skin to soften, lubricated, moisten and nutrients the skin. Works great to prevent and treat scars, stretch marks, and damage skin. †¢Colorants: Unilever uses a combination of micas, oxides, spices, and clays to achieve colors in their products. †¢Distilled Water: Unilever always uses distilled water for safety and purity. †¢Fragrance Oil: Fragrance oils are added in small enough quantities to not be an irritant for most people. Yet, they add enough to give a light scent which, in your favorite fragrance, you will have a hard time resisting the urge to sniff  your hand (again and again!). †¢Glycerin: Glycerin draws moisture to the skin keeping it soft. †¢Sodium hydroxides: This is the chemical used to make soap. Without this chemical, there is no soap, period. It causes a chemical reaction called specifications. Once specification is complete, the finished product is soap – and there is n o lye in the finished product. †¢Monodie Tahiti: A moisturizing and naturally fragrant oil, which quickly penetrates the skin acting as a natural barrier helping prevent dehydration (and wrinkles) of the skin. It is a wonderfully, naturally scented oil excellent for all skin types. †¢Olive Oil: Moisturizing oil used in soaps – Castile soaps are generally 100% olive oil. It softens skin while attracting moisture to your skin. It’s a mild soap which keeps your skin soft, supple and younger looking. †¢Vitamin E: A natural skin antioxidant, promoting healthy tissue Color: LUX is offered in Pakistan in five different flavors which are: †¢LUX Peach & Cream †¢LUX Strawberry & Cream †¢LUX Purple Lotus & Cream †¢LUX Aqua Sparkle †¢LUX Nature Pure Sizes: LUX in three different sizes, 80gm, 115gm and 155gm.With five different fragrances, three different sizes, international standard and high quality design, as a product, LUX has been highly successful over the years. Target Market: †¢Urban and suburban †¢Upper class people †¢Middle class people †¢Financially well-off who can afford to buy LUX. 2.2. LIFEBUOY The brand has long legendary status in the country. Lifebuoy aims to provide affordable and accessible hygiene solutions that enable people to lead a life free from hygiene related worries, everywhere, regardless of the boundaries of nationality, religion and socio-economic status. History of Lifebuoy: Lifebuoy is one of Unilever’s oldest brands. Lifebuoy Royal Disinfectant Soap was launched in 1894 as an affordable new product in the UK, to support people in their mission for better personal hygiene. Soon after launch, Lifebuoy soap travelled across the world, reaching countries such as Pakistan, where even today it is still the market-leading brand. Lifebuoy on a Mission According to the World Health Organization, diarrhea is the single largest cause of death, killing 2.2 million people every year. In Pakistan, a large number of children are also affected by this fatal disease every year. It’s been estimated that if everyone washed their hands properly at key times during the day, up to half of all childhood deaths from diarrhea could be avoided. Health and Hygiene education is the core Lifebuoy’s plans. The Way Forward For the past few years, major changes have been made to the classic Lifebuoy soap bar to ensure that it provides improved hygiene protection and a more enjoyable healthy washing experience for its billions of consumers. †¢Lifebuoy soap’s classic hard red brick shape has been replaced with a new signature Lifebuoy shape. The new shape makes the bar easier to grip and use †¢Lifebuoy soap’s characteristic medicated, carbolic smell has been replaced with a more enjoyable and contemporary ‘health’ fragrance FRAGRANCE These four variants help you protect your family from the 10 infection causing germs and stay one step ahead of them. †¢Lifebuoy Nature: A soap bar color is Green color. Green is the color of nature and life. Green symbolizes secure, natural relaxed, self-respect and well being. It’s anti-acne with neem and lemon. †¢Lifebuoy Total PROTECT Bar Soap: It’s in Red color. It is warmest of all color. Red is the color most chosen by extroverts. Active kids need unbeatable, long-lasting protection from germs. Lifebuoy Total protect Bar Soap is lab-proven to keep your family protected  from 10 infection causing germs. †¢Lifebuoy Care pack is of Blue color in which soap bar color is blue. It commands respect and authority. †¢Lifebuoy cool fresh PRODUCT: Product involved some elements which are Variety, Quality, shape & Brand Name. †¢Quality: Lifebuoy’s quality is very popular among the people. Lifebuoy has continued to change as per consumer needs. Since the soap has undergone numerous product quality improvements to offer best hygiene results. †¢Shape: Lifebuoy soap’s classic hard red brick shape has been replaced with a new signature Lifebuoy shape. The new shape makes the bar easier to grip and to use. Target Market: †¢All households who can afford buying soap †¢Children 2.3. Dove In a world of hype and stereotypes, the Dove brand provides a refreshing alternative for women who recognize that beauty isn’t simply about how you look. The Dove brand’s mission is to make more women feel beautiful every day by widening the definition of beauty and inspiring them to take great care of them. History of Dove Unilever acquired a French patent for a radically new product; a personal cleansing bar that was not soap. Rather, this new bar contained a pH-neutral cleanser and a moisturizing component. Dove Bar was born and launched in the US in 1957. †¢It promised women that it wouldn’t dry their face the way that soap did. Women tried it. And it didn’t. Thus began a very trusting relationship between Dove and its users. Shape: The shape of the bar is a perfect shape to fit into the palm of your hand. It’s oval and curved, like the back of a spoon, and is a nice fat bar of soap, not a teeny little slim bar. On both big sides of the soap is the Dove title and logo of the bird, just like on the box. Dove Bar Ingredients: Stearic Acid †¢Uses: Used as a hardener in soap. According to DCI, it also gives liquid soap a pearly appearance. †¢About This Ingredient: According to DCI and Cosmetics Info it safe by the FDA and CIR (Cosmetic Ingredient Review) expert panel. Stearic acid is a constituent in some vegetable oils. Sodium Tallowate †¢Uses: Used for cleansing. †¢About This Ingredient: Sodium tallowate is a salt of Tallow (according to Cosmetic Cop’s Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients it is a substance extracted from the fatty deposits of animals, especially from suet (the fat of cattle and sheep). It clogs pores, cause blackheads, and increase the incidence of eczema for individuals with sensitive skin. Sodium Palmitate †¢Uses: Used for cleansing and creating lather. †¢About This Ingredient: Sodium Palmitate is a salt of Palmitic Acid (according to Cosmetic Cop’s Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients. Palmitic Acid can be drying to the skin).This ingredient cleanses your skin, best for oily skins. Lauric Acid †¢Uses: According to Cosmetic Info it is a surfactant and cleansing agent. †¢About This Ingredient: Lauric Acid occurs naturally in some vegetable oils like palm oil. Water †¢Uses: Typically used in soap as a solvent for dissolving the oxidizer. †¢About This Ingredient: A solvent is always needed to dissolve the oxidizer. It can be water, milk, or any other liquid containing water. Water is used as a means of dissolving the oxidizer (the thing that combines with the oils to make soap). Sodium Stearate †¢Uses: The Stearate salts are generally used for their lubricating properties. They also help to keep emulsions from separating into their oil and liquid components, according to Cosmetic Info. †¢About This Ingredient: According to DCI, this ingredient is about 98% Stearic Acid. Cocamidopropyl Betaine †¢Uses: Used as a surfactant, according to Cosmetic Info. †¢About This Ingredient: This is generally regarded as one of the more gentle surfactants. This ingredient cleanses your skin. Sodium Cocoate †¢Uses: Used as a surfactant. †¢About This Ingredient: This is a gentle surfactant.This ingredient cleanses your skin. Sodium Palm Kernelate †¢Uses: Used as a surfactant. †¢About This Ingredient: This is a gentle surfactant.This ingredient cleanses your skin. Sodium Chloride †¢Uses: Used as a thickening agent. †¢About This Ingredient: Sodium Chloride is the same as ordinary table salt. Tetrasodium EDTA †¢Uses: Used as a preservative and chelating agent. †¢About This Ingredient: No known toxicity to the skin. Tetrasodium Etidronate †¢Uses: Used as a preservative and chelating agent (DCI lists this as a synonym for Tetrasodium EDTA. †¢About This Ingredient: No known toxicity to the skin. Maltol †¢Uses: Used as a flavoring agent. †¢About This Ingredient: It occurs naturally in some types of plants. It does have a fragrance. It used as a fragrance. Titanium Dioxide †¢Uses: Used as a whitening agent. †¢About This Ingredient: Titanium Dioxide is thought to have no negative side effects when used externally. PACKAGING DOVE †¢Dove soap comes in little cardboard box. The box is 8.5 cm long, 3.3 cm wide and 6 cm high. The color of the box is the typical Dove colors of the blue ‘Dove’ on a white background with the little simple gold outline of a dove over the Dove title. Beneath the words ‘Dove Cream Bar’ is the other familiar picture of a little gold droplet causing some ripples with the fraction ‘1/4’ in it. This is to show that the Dove products wit with this symbol are a quarter moisturizer them. †¢The front and back of the box both have the main title and  ¼ moisturizer bit on them. The remaining 4 sides are covered with lots of ‘blurb’. This includes ingredients, barcode, and quantity. Dove is available in 75g pack & 135g pack. 2. PLACEMENT/DISTRIBUTION Dire attention needs to be devoted to the question of ‘place’ – especially as to where to make available the product and in terms of how to get that product there; otherwise successful product decisions that have been taken will be lost. No doubt these decisions are to a very large extent influenced by the type of product that is marketed and the environment in which it is marketed, the company policies & resources and not to forget consumer needs – the ultimate buyer. These place decisions then pave way for pricing & promotion decisions to be undertaken. At the basic level, the first thing that the marketing managers need to identify is whether or not to use intermediaries; and if the answer to the question is yes then further decisions need to be taken in regards of type & organization of them i.e. wholesalers or retailers. Distribution channels once established are often hard & costly to change. 3.4. LUX Unilever Pakistan Ltd. has a huge distribution channel for LUX all over the country as its sales reach more than 10 million pieces a year as per the recent increase in demand for all of its products that were originally targeted towards urban and suburban middle & upper middleclass. Warehouses = 6/ one in each division. The company does not use its own fleet of transport for distributing its product; therefore, it has outsourced its distribution process to various third party distributors, exclusively dedicated to Unilever Pakistan Ltd. These distributors then supply the product all over Pakistan to a huge number of retailers. 3.5. Lifebuoy The strategy that Lifebuoy follows is like that in every small or big shop customer will be able to find out the product. Its distribution network directly covers about 50,000villages, reaching about 250 million consumers. It basically targets Rural, semi-urban and urban people. Rural: 72% of Pakistan’s population is in the rural areas; hence about 50% of the soaps are sold in the rural markets. Lifebuoy’s variants like Lifebuoy care,  Lifebuoy total, lifebuoy active are specially positioned for the rural market. Semi-urban: For the semi-urban segment, Lifebuoy nature & Lifebuoy fresh is positioned. Urban: All varieties are found here. 3.6. DOVE It uses one distribution channel to provide its various products to retailers. Placement and distribution of DOVE is more popular in Metropolitan cities although demand is rising now. The general trade comprises grocery stores, chemists, wholesale, and general stores. 3. PRICING STRATEGIES One of the main components of marketing mix is ‘Price’ or pricing strategy incorporated by a company for a particular product. Unilever’s pricing strategy for its soap items is quite conventional based on the country (Pakistan) it is operating in. as explained in detail in the product, place and promotional parts of this report, the market is segmented into different categories based on purchasing capacity. Thus different items in category of soaps cater to the demands and needs of a particular targeted segment. The current prices for different SKUs of Lux, Lifebuoy and dove are as follows: LUX LUX luxury bar 155g Rs. 50 LUX 115g Rs. 40 LUX 80g Rs. 28 Lifebuoy Lifebuoy Jumbo Pack 155g Rs. 38 Lifebuoy 115g Rs. 32 Lifebuoy 75g Rs.24 Dove Dove white beauty bar 75g Rs. 55 Dove beauty cream bar 135g Rs.85 4.7. LUX Lux is a soap associated with beauty more or less. The target market is middle, lower middle and upper middle class. This constitutes another big chunk of population. The prices suggest the Lux is neither too cheap nor  excessively expensive. The impression that Lux gives is of a soap that is of better quality and appeals to the female populations in general. The strategy is neither skimming nor penetrative; it’s a hybrid of both as it is for any product which lies in between high and low end of product prices. Lux is a well known brand with high awareness among consumers. The value-based-pricing approach is the most suitable tag for Lux’s pricing and persona in the market. 4.8. Lifebuoy As clear from the price listings above, lifebuoy is a low-end soap of Unilever. The main focus has been to target the lesser-earning and rural population of the country. Given that huge chunk of the population falls in the low earning category, this is a big target market that needs addressing. This segment of population is very elastic in terms of demand, so a cheaper soap like Lifebuoy has high demand. Lifebuoy, for its economic price, is also used as the public toiletry item in public toilets and schools or collages or hospitals. Unilever’s strategy for Lifebuoy is penetrative in nature. As the aim is quantity maximization through lower prices. Its logical as quantity demanded will increase if the prices are kept lower for the targeted market segment. The pricing objective is to maximize quantity. As number of units sold increase, the cost of producing will decrease automatically. So it can be said the Lifebuoy is produced with cost-plus pricing method. 4.9. DOVE Dove is a prestigious brand of Unilever. Quality is the focus and target market is the upper middle and upper class of the society. Dove’s pricing suggests soap not intended for the economic buyer but for customers who believe in high quality as compared to quantity. The packing, the look the fragrance all give the indication of a quality product. The strategists believe in quality leadership as the core objective for pricing of Dove. high price gives an indication to the customer that this is the best product to have been offered in the soap category by the company. The objective is also profit margin maximization through skimmed pricing that is Unilever aims to focus on the cream of the customers who are not price sensitive and are willing to pay higher to get better quality. 4. PROMOTION Even when you have come up with the right kind of product; with the required quality attributes at the right price and through the correct distribution channels have placed it at the right spot; there is still one thing that remains; how will your intended customer know that you exist? It’s the same like if you come up with a brilliant business idea altogether and you cook up its whole feasibility without really reaping anything out of it; unless you spread the word and someone out there suddenly feels the same vibes that yes this will work and you may as a result perhaps find investment that you needed. So the element that essentially is required is promotion! and it makes a significant part of a company’s marketing mix. Promotion therefore caters to the need identified of informing people about your product in general and that it presents a better solution to whatever perceived problem or crave that they might have. Now this task has over the decades become extremely tedious for marketing managers since every day we are bombarded with different companies trying to sell their products through various modes of promotion may it be direct like selling or indirect like advertisement, publicity or sales promotion. Now it is the job of the manager at hand to identify how to be the â€Å"one† who stands out; the one to whom you would actually listen to and absorb rather than just letting it slip from one ear to the next; this task requires upmost efforts & painstaking brainstorming and idea generation & not to mention some creative efforts on the part of the marketing team on the whole. A simple example to note the efficacy of such measures is if you’d contrast the advertisement of perhaps Surf Excel and say Nirma; on most grounds we have reason to bet our money on surf excel that it has better chances of retaining in the minds of customers when they go for a purchase. Each detail no matter how minute – matters; in case of television advertisements, which channel you are going to use for airing your commercial; the reach; which season like if you are Qarshi; you’d want your commercial to air more in summers and maybe in the holy month of Ramazan as well, which time slot i.e. morning, afternoon, evening, night; whether you want your commercial to run first during the ad break or you want it in-between; the frequency – everything matters. Same goes for print media including newspapers and magazines, radio etc. Print media in terms of which newspaper or magazine? Which page? How many words? Bottom of the page or top of the page? Or maybe you’d want the whole page to yourself.  Radio in terms of which frequency to air through, at what time? How many times? And so forth; billboards & hoardings are the same story. Promotion can be seen in respect of communication. The company tends to be the sender; the mode of communication can be termed as the channel and the audience of course is the ultimate consumer; the underlying assumption is to get the message across. Since communication requires effort, expense, and time, most messages are sent with the expectation that they will generate a feedback and obviously the expectance is skewed towards the positivity whereby which the company would experience a rise in sales share & profits; therefore deciding on the promotional budget & promotion mix is imperative. Unilever Promotion For promotion; we have evaluated the indirect measures that include advertisement, sales promotion & publicity. The following outlines the key traits of each; * The aim of advertising is to inform; to persuade & to remind. * Sales promotions is usually to retailer where they are encouraged to carry higher inventory levels and stocking of related items; build brand loyalty and of course the idea is to offset competitors promotions. Sales promotions can also be targeted to customers so as to increase their current purchases or to divert customers for competitors to one’s own brand. * Publicity entails being newsworthy and believable and it includes events such as anniversary celebrations & sponsorships. 5.10. LUX LUX is positioned to be beauty soap entailed to â€Å"bringing out the star in you†. Since childhood, I along with my group members remember LUX being advertised on television screens with female models, may it be from TV or film industry; the underlying concept had always been of beauty and over the years it has sticked to that philosophy; by introducing new product variants in terms of fragrance, color; use of milk proteins, rose extract and what not. LUX has used female models time and again in its commercial each time it brought a new product improvement in terms of fruit extracts, skin moisturizing minerals etc. Some of the models that were prominent include Reema featuring a new white LUX with double moisturizing; Iraj Manzoor with  the green LUX having sea minerals. In both of these ads the message was of LUX not being just soap but a total skin care system; as you may remember by the lines â€Å"sirf soap nae, mukaamal skincare†. And then there were commercials that featured Iman Ali; tag line â€Å"mujh mai star jagaaye†; Reema with silk protein extracts; sonya jahan with new lux white commercial; â€Å"khoobsorate ka raaz ab app kai pass.† And of course Katrina Kaif with purple lotus and the tagline was to moisturize your skin with beauty oils. For its 50th anniversary(Publicity), LUX featured top models headed by Barbara Sharif in its commercial whereby which the tag was â€Å"salha saal se chala aa raha hai, LUX aur khoobsorate ka safar †¦ ab app manain hamaray sath †¦ LUX kai sath khubsoorte kai 50 saal †¦ kyunkai hum laye hain khas app kai liya LUX special edition †¦ Special edition mai dhundain 50 yrs coupon and jeetya saal bhar kai liya free lux† So in short the campaign introduced a special edition LUX bar which had a coupon that would entail you to free LUX supply for the whole year; talk about big! but I guess being a multinational company you have that leve rage to do so. As a promotional campaign (Publicity), LUX also introduced LUX style awards for the first time in 2002; which was no doubt the first of its kind in our country. And at one stance which we believe is memorable; to promote this – LUX came up with a special Black limited edition; and the commercial was aired by the name of vision factory directed by Asim Raza who evidently did an excellent job at shooting the whole thing; the main leads were Iman Ali & Shaan and the commercial picked pace with the intimidating lines â€Å" wakt aa gaya hai app se milnay ka †¦ humain join kerain at the lux style awards† and subsequently the invitation process was the LUX special edition wrapper to be sent to such and such address. LUX also featured in its ads â€Å"who will be the next LUX girl?† Sms and win exciting prizes. Recent promotional activities(Sales promotion) include the LUX gold coin scheme; and for that particular reason they came up with a new commercial featuring Humaima Malik, the now extremely popular Mahira Khan, Reema & ofcourse Meera. The commercial opens with the lines â€Å"lux kai ander chupee hain app ki kismet †¦ 4 beauties nai bajhe hain special wishes lux bars mai †¦ hazar sonay kai sikay †¦ khas app kai liya†; so this is where the four television models have been incorporated into the whole scheme. For publicity LUX also featured Ali Zafar who sang the song â€Å"dakha jo teri ankhun mai† & the video had Amina  Haq, Meera & Reema as playing the supporting roles alongside him. 5.11. Lifebuoy Lifebuoy is a brand with a rich history; infact even now; lifebuoy brings with it the nostalgic feeling of school days where one used to find â€Å"red colored† bars in washrooms & other rest rooms across the country. Although it wasn’t a particular brand of soap which had a great fragrance to its name; still the positioning had been so strong; that the memory of it remains evident in the minds of people on the whole. Today however, Lifebuoy has come a long way from being targeted to perhaps the poor labor class (lowest income class) to middle income bracket consumers thereby changing its earlier positioned strategy to a hygienic soap whereby which families can protect themselves from multiple ailments. Initial commercial that we as a group recall is that of a football ground in which the kid falls; and later the close was on â€Å"Lifebuoy hai jahan, tandrustee hai wahan †¦ Lifebuoy†. After that it’s noticeable that Lifebuoy undertook some drastic changes in its commercials; uplifting the image that it had built for so long to where now we see it as being positioned as â€Å"advance lifebuoy† that is supposedly catering to 10 infection causing bacteria; punch line â€Å"advance jaraseem†¦advance hifazat†¦.10 infections walay jaraseem se bachayega†¦aik hifazat†¦care†¦Lifebuoy†. Previously there had been commercials that featured Lifebouy as more powerful than ordinary soap in terms that it gave you better protection even hours after you bathed; furthermore active 4 was there with a blue variant incorporating â€Å"healthy ho ga Pakistan†. Then of course there had been the â€Å"Germbusters – Lifebuoy koe dar nahe†- a 5 to 6 minute graphic showing children & germs fighting against each other; singers were Ali Azmat of Junoon & Ahmed Butt of EP; which was later incorporated into a short film by asad u l haq â€Å"lifebuoy khud badlo apni dunya campaign – koe dar nahee†. Most recent campaign includes â€Å"Lifebuoy total care – Healthy ho ga Pakistan †¦ Panch ka pahara† with Wasim Akram. In this with the partnership of Wasim Akram & IT, Lifebuoy has launched its school programme in Pakistan to embed the habit of hand washing at 5 key occasions of the day in an effort to build a healthy Pakistan and they have reported figures as high as 1000 schools in 2010 with a student strength of 250,000. Lifebuoy on the independence day of Pakistan as a publicity drive  came up with Haroons video of the very famous patriotic song Dil Se on the grounds of â€Å"bari quom, bari hifazat †¦ Lifebuoy† 5.12. Dove Where LUX has by and large used female models in its advertisements to promote the concept on beauty; Dove which was launched as a mild soap; goes on to portray a different meaning to the word beauty. It widens the meaning of beauty; giving women a reason to take greater care of themselves; one of its advertisements had emphasized â€Å"since when did our definition of beauty became so distorted† and â€Å"beauty is in each one of us, that’s why women trust their skin to Dove†. Its exquisite logo of dove symbolizes purity & softness and the packaging, product, colors variations all compliment this fact and the general feel of the product for women specifically becomes nothing short of being pampered. Over the years, it has stayed true to its tag-line â€Å"one quarter moisturizing cream to one quarter cleansing cream† in its advertisement. In contrast to Lifebuoy & LUX, Dove is the least promoted brand and we believe there is room to work for better market appeal towards it. Some other Remarks regarding Sales Promotion The shop that was visited; eds in Defence – the manager there told that as an incentive overall Unilever in its sales promotion hands over Rs.250, 000/month to them ; now imagine this is only one shop that we are talking about – Consider how many corner or small departmental stores are there in Defence, and then not to mention the bigger ones like Alfatah, Pot Pourri etc and then we should not forget that there are other areas in Lahore and to top it all Unilever is a brand present across cities; so all in all what can be concluded is that Unilever on the whole for its products spends huge sum of money so as to ensure that their products are available, they occupy a better display and they are within reach of consumers.

Black Betty by William Huddie Essay

In 1939 the Musicraft Recording Label released a record which included the track, â€Å"Black Betty† by William Huddie Leadbetter better known as â€Å"Lead Belly. † â€Å"Black Betty† had been said to be originated as far back as the 18th century or the early 1930’s. Lead Belly was the first one to ever commercially record it however, giving him most of the credit for the song. Lead Belly was an iconic American folk and blues musician, notable for his strong vocals, twelve-string guitar, and the songbook of folk standards he introduced. It was recorded acapella with just Lead Belly singing and clapping on the 4th beat in the 12 bar blues style song. The form is kind of AABCDEAA, where each verse begins and ends with â€Å"Whoa, Black Betty (Bam-Ba-Lam). † At the end of each line Lead Belly also repeats the phrase â€Å"Bam-Ba-Lam. † Although this song did gain some popularity in the early 1940’s because of Lead Belly, it really gained the world’s attention in 1977 when a band by the name of Ram Jam recorded it. Ram Jam was an east coast band formed in the mid 70’s. Its members consisted of Bill Bartlett (guitar), Howie Blauvelt (bass), Peter Charles (drums), Myke Scavone (lead vocals, guitar), and Jimmy Santoro (guitar). The song was released on their self-titled debut album Ram Jam in 1977. It reached the #7 position in the UK singles chart in September 1977. The single also reached #18 on the singles chart in the US. The album reached #34 in the Billboard Pop Albums chart in the US. Even though â€Å"Black Betty† shot Ram Jam to stardom overnight, it also brought along much controversy because of its lyrical meanings. Since this song has been said to have been originated back in the 18th century, the lyrics’ meaning has changed numerous amount of times. The origin and meaning of the lyrics are subject to debate. Some sources claim the song is derived from an 18th century marching cadence about a flint-lock rifle with a black head-stock; the â€Å"bam-ba-lam† lyric referring to the sound of the gunfire. Soldiers in the field were said to be â€Å"hugging Black Betty†. In this interpretation, the rifle was superseded by its â€Å"child†, a rifle known as a â€Å"Brown Bess†. Other sources claim the term was a contemporary reference for a prostitute, a prison bullwhip, heroin or the â€Å"paddywagon†. Lead Belly was said to have been incarcerated a number of times so the second meaning rather than the interpretation about the flint lock rifle seems more accurate in his case. A more in depth look at the lyrics could possibly say that the song is about a black woman who lives in Alabama by herself. She was young and made a couple wrong decisions like drinking, drugs, and having a one-night stand with somebody. This caused her to conceive a child that she wasn’t ready for. She wasn’t ready for the responsibilities of being a mother. Her child was out of control because of all the drinking and drugs she had done prior to having it. It was hard to be a single black woman and a mother in the south so the easiest thing she could do was to sell her body as a prostitute. The man in the song talks about how whenever he needs her she will be ready waiting for him. This is the kind of interpretation that gave Ram Jam much criticism and controversy. Members of the NAACP and other groups such as them were very angry saying the song degrades black women. Ram Jam just always said it’s not leaning towards race, it’s basically just having a good time with girl, whether a prostitute or not, and taking drugs such as speed which would go along with the line â€Å"She really gets me high. † Analyzing the musical aspect of the song is much easier than the lyrical because I is pretty straight forward. The poetic devices in this song are kind of repeating because the song isn’t that long. â€Å"Black Betty† has an AA, BB, CC rhyme scheme. The stanza is â€Å"whoa Black Betty (Bam-ba-Lam)† which is repeated 10x’s throughout the song (lines 1, 2, 8, 10, 15, 16, 17, 18, 23, & 24). The song is really just three verses so there is a lot of pure instrumental with miniature solos by all the instruments. The instruments used were, 3 guitars, a bass, and drums. The drummer keeps the beat throughout the first 35 seconds of the song with the hi-hat cymbal by hitting on all four beats by itself for the first 10 seconds but for the rest of the 35 seconds the guitars and bass come in to play the bridge. The crash cymbal then comes in with guitars and bass stopping and lyrics are sung and the crash cymbal is hit on beats 2 and 4, the back beat, and the hi-hat now hits on beats 1 and 3. This back beat is used widely through rock, hard rock, and especially by all forms of metal. Although it was used efore this song came out, â€Å"Black Betty† definitely highlighted the use of the backbeat. During this first verse, and the other 2 verses also, it is just the drummer and the singer with the guitars and bass coming in and just playing between every 2nd and 3rd beat. Once the verse is over however the tempo speeds up and the showcase of guitars begins. Once the second verse begins, it goes back to the drums and singer but once this second verse ends, the tempo speeds to double time beginning with a drum solo into guitar solos for a solid 1:35. Once that 2:50 part hits the song takes a turn towards an easy groove feel with the tempo going back to the way it was in the beginning. At 3:05 however the tempos speeds up a little bit and plays the bridge that it had played before the first verse was sung. At 3:30, the third and final verse is sung just like the other two with the drummer playing that same crash cymbal on beats 2 and 4 and the hi-hat on 1 and 3. Once the third verse is done, they play about 10 seconds of an outro and the song is over. Although lyrically the song is pretty simple, I believe if you can perfect a simple song, it will make it great and with the guitar, bass, and drums that Ram Jam had put into this song to accompany the lyrics, it is a great song. You can obviously see that they were influenced by Lead Belly, but also by early rock bands such as Lynyrd Skynyrd, Eagles, Kansas, and ZZ Top because it’s that southern rock sound and feel that those bands made famous. Since Ram Jam released â€Å"Black Betty† it not only put their name on the map but also rocketed that song to tons of movies and TV shows. It will go down as one of the best rock songs of all time.

Similarities Between Two Different Tragedies Essay

It is easy to notice a similarity on the surface of two things that look alike, but when two stories are completely different in their content, it is not easy to detect a similarity. For instance, after we read for the first time â€Å"The Necklace† by Guy De Maupassant and â€Å"A Good Man Is Hard to Find† by Mary Flannery O’Connor, we cannot connect these two tragedies together. Both were written in a different time by different authors, and they end in a different way. However, if we study deeply both stories, we can find their similarities even though their contexts are different. Although â€Å"The Necklace† and â€Å"A Good Man Is Hard to Find† are different tragedies, both of them focus on their main characters that suffer from pride, are manipulative,†¦show more content†¦In spite of all the differences between these characters, we can see that both of them suffer from pride. Mathilde wanted to be more important than anybody like th e grandmother in the other story. Mathilde wanted to look as important as she believed she was even if she did not have money. She was sure that she born to be rich. Mathilde only thought about her pain and never thought about what her husband wanted. Moreover, in the story â€Å"The Necklace† we cannot see that Mathilde when she was at the party thought if her husband was tired or was enjoying the party. She was just happy being there, and it was the only thing that she cared. We perceive the same with the grandmother in the other story â€Å"A Good Man Is Hard to Find† because the grandmother was sure that she was important, and probably she came from an important family. We can see it when she told her grandchildren that the little Negro child did not have what they have. Also, the grandmother only cared about herself. She did not care if the family wanted to go to Florida. She only thought about wanting to go to Tennessee and visiting her friends. 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