Applying Branding Techniques Essay Example for Free

Applying Branding Techniques Essay Introduction The Brand Techniques simulation is based on cosmetic company’s building of a new brand. Ca’Shara is a United States based cosmetic manufacturer and marketer of skin care, hair care, and make-up. Ca’Shara has an established brand presence and known for quality products. The recent consumer interest in natural products has made Ca’Shara management decide to cater to this segment of the cosmetic market. The company has decided on a 5,000 year old health care system from India called Ayurveda. As the newly appointed Brand Manager, I will be responsible for building the new brand Three executives gave their expert advice in the decision making process throughout the simulation exercise. They were Tina Trotter, Head of Sales; Monique Knight, Brand Consultant; and Jim Reding, Country Manager. Perceptual Map The simulation give the psychographic profile of the Ayurvedic customer as Caucasian to African American, age 18-35 with an income of $50,000 or higher. The consumer survey shows the customer base largely holistic and classy with a combined 55%. Meaning they like the natural base products and exclusive products. The principles of Ayurveda are explained as the Three Doshas. This is important to understand because it shows the three skin types the new brand will target. This will be dry, oily, and irritable. The brand position choice made was high on both holistic and classy and titled Enduring Secrets from the East. This was incorrect. The correct choice was high holistic and low classy. Correct title is Perfect balance, mind and body. The reason for the choice was because of the psychographic percentages only contained a slim difference in weighted value. I didn’t realize this choice meant the brand would need to carve out a new niche instead of competing against another company’s products. The choice made meant the perception of the product would be set as a lofty, unreachable goad of  perfect in every way alleviating all concerns and possible disadvantages. Brand Name, Logo, Slogan Two choices were made correctly using the focus group information. The brand name chosen was Natural Balance because it aligned with the brand positioning. Logo number 2 was chosen because of the market survey’s information. The logos green color and curves match the preferences of the focus groups. The shape gives the feel of feminine soft. The slogan of A Return to Nature was chose, but was not the best choice as it was similar to a competitor’s slogan. This choice doesn’t allow the brand to stand alone and differentiate itself in the market. It could dilute the brands identity. According to Cron.com the choosing of a name, logo, and slogan are nearly as important as the products sold. â€Å"If you choose your name and logo well, they will stay in your customers minds and remind them of the value your company offers. In fact, a well-chosen name and logo can help you to stand out amount the competition. Your customers will instantly think of your memorable business name and logo whenever they are in the market for your products or services.† For this very reason, the slogan that is similar to another like product is a grave error. Brand Associations- The Final Look Now we are down to choosing the brand associations. Who will promote and what events or causes will be align our brand with? The focus groups chose Maria Switzer as the spokesperson. They also pointed to two functions of interest, Partner with GreenEco and providing grants to women’s trust funds. These choices used $27,300 of the allotted $34,000. Total cost of these choices is $327,000 and under budget. It makes sense for a product that is built around natural ingredients to be associated with an environmental group like GreenEco. It also shows the company’s long term commitment to the environment. The choice of providing grants to women’s trust funds is a choice that gives back to the community in a broad spectrum. The customer base can see where they may see benefit locally for the dollars they’ve spent. The choice of Maria Switzer was that of a strong, independent female with her own sense of style. The public’s view of longevity is associated with this individual’s unique persona. Beyond the Simulation The simulation was good about applying the principles of brand positioning, but there are more ways to make your product stand out among similar brands. One additional aspect is to show ownership. The simulation had a spokesperson picked, but customers like to be able to identify an owner. This is true for large and small company’s ability to stand out from the competition. Knowing the face behind the product is important to keeping the consumer engaged. Per the SBA, â€Å"Businesses really thrive when the energy of the owner is there.† A good example was Steve Jobs involvement with Microsoft. Small businesses can equally benefit from the consumer having a face behind the product or service. It lets people know the owner is involved and active with the business. Another way to have stood out was not only the shape of the container, but to have the container recyclable, biodegradable, or refillable would have been a good aspect to have. This would further appeal to the profile of being environmentally friendly and support the GreenEco cause the brand is supporting. The brand in the simulation, Ayurveda, immediately had a sense of well-being and soothing associated with the brand. Not only is it not irritating to the individual’s skin, but the environment too. The brand was immediately associated with everything â€Å"green† in today’s society. Service vs. Tangible product Had the simulation used a service instead of a tangible product application there would have been no real difference. A brand is in the minds of the consumer. It is setting or understanding their perception of the product or service offered. Conclusion The simulation was an excellent tool in learning and applying the branding techniques. It was only after wrong decisions were made and explained, that I understood why they were incorrect. At that point they seem obviously wrong. Making sure to use the differences of a product or service is the key to finding a niche and making a product stand out among the masses. References Chron, retrieved March 9, 2014 from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/choose-company-name-logo-2348.html SBA retrieved March 9, 2014 from http://www.sba.gov/community/blogs/10-tips-help-you-build-and-grow-stand-out-small-business-brand

The Things They Carried :: essays research papers

In the novel The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien the author tells about his experiences in the Vietnam war by telling various war stories. The quote, "It has been said of war that it is a world where the past has a strong grip on the present, where machines seemed sometimes to have more will power than me, where nice boys (girls) were attracted to them, where bodies ruptured and burned and stand, where the evil thing trying to kill you could look disconnecting human and where except in your imagination it was impossible to be heroic." relates to each of his stories. The first part of the quote matches with the first story, The Things They Carried. The story told about the items that each soldier took with them to the war. The quote says that the past has a strong grip on the present. The items that the soldiers have with them remind them of there past. Sometimes the soldiers have to let go of something they have because of certain conditions. For example Jimmy Cross had a good luck from his girlfriend Martha, it was a pebble that was from the Jersey shoreline. She sent it to him because it reminded her of how they are "together but separate". Jimmy took this everywhere during the war and kept it in his mouth. When one of his friends got killed during action he got rid of the pebble because he thought it was a distraction. The second part of the quote, which says, "Where machines seemed sometimes to have more will power than me" Relates to the story "The Man I Killed". In this story the author talks about the man he killed. He starts out by describing the dead person then he starts to regret it. The quote states than in war a machine, which could be a gun, sometimes has more power than a person does. The author noticed this after he killed the enemy soldier, he noticed that it was the gun that killed the person and not him. This made him feel better after a while, but never forgot about the person he killed. The war story named "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong" relates to the third part of the quote, which says "where nice boys (girls) were attracted to them". The story was about a girl that was changed dramatically by the Vietnam War.

Laboratory Report

DISCUSSION Microorganism are organism that are too small and cannot be seen with naked eyes. The phrase of ubiquity of microorganism refers to the concept that microorganism are everywhere in our daily life surrounding. In our everyday common life ,microbes are virtually ubiquitous. They are in the air we breath,the foods we eat and as well as the skin of our fingers. Aseptic transfer is the transference of bacteria or other microbial cultures fromone container to another while maintaining purity of the culture. Pure cultures–consistof only one type of bacteria ideally the descendants from a single bacterial cell.Because microbes are present everywhere – in the air, the work area, clothes, bodies,etc. , – it is important to follow the rules for aseptic transfer at all times. This is the onlyway of controlling Contamination–Maintaining purity of culture is essential in microbiology if the biologist is to beable to identify bacteria, test for antibiotic sens itivity, or maintain stock cultures. Oftenin nature a pure culture is impossible to come by because species live together. Thescientist is left working with mixed cultures.Pure cultures can be derived from mixedcultures through isolation of cultures and this also requires that sterile (aseptic)techniques to be used. Normally transference is done from colonies. A colony consists of usuallyseveral million cells that are assumed to be the descendants from one cell. Inoculations from one media to another, therefore, is usually done by removal of a fewmillion cells from one colony into a new environment. This must be done with theintegrity of all colonies remaining intact. Through the use of sterile techniques, this canbe accomplished successfully.There are a number of tools that are used for inoculation procedures. Inoculating loops are used when transferring members of a broth culture to another broth, platedmedia or an agar slant. Inoculating needles-are used when inoculating a broth culturefrom a colony on plated media or when making a stab in an agar deep or agar slantfrom broth or solid media. Forceps -are used to place sterile disks containing sometesting agent in a broth culture or on a solid media culture. Pipets-are used when transferring liquids into other liquids or onto solid media.Flaming-is used to incinerate any microbes left on loops and needles. Alcohol flaming-is used to sterilize forceps. When flaming inoculating loops and needles, careshould be taken avoid burning the plastic handle at the end of each. The metal of theloop or needle should glow red hot and then be allowed to cool before dipping it into any cultures – if the metal is too hot it will kill the organisms that are to be used for inoculation. Alcohol flaming for the forceps is done by dipping the forceps into a smallamount of alcohol and then burning the alcohol off.The forceps should be dipped andburned three times. Care should be taken to avoid alcohol running up toward the hand. The flame will follow the alcohol and burns will result. Pipets normally used in lab are prepackaged, sterile, disposable pipets. Sometimes glass pipets are used and these are stored in cans. The glass pipets arediscarded into a pipet jar filled with disinfectant. Disposable pipets are deposited inbiohazard bags. It is important that pipettors are always used and pipetting by mouth isprohibited.

Porphyria’s Lover Browning’s Portrait of a Madman Essay

Porphyria’s Lover : Browning’s Portrait of a Madman Robert Browning’s Porphyria’s Lover contains the methodical ramblings of a lunatic; it is a madman’s monologue that reveals the dark side of human nature. Power and passion coalesce to form the strangulation of the beautiful and innocent Porphyria, and at the same time strangle the reader’s ability to comprehend what is occurring and why it is occurring. The murder’s monologue depicts a heinous crime. The simple fact that the monologue is issued from the murderer himself creates a sense of distrust. There is no doubt that the man is disturbed, but the level of his lunacy remains uncertain. In one short poem, Browning provides an intense glimpse into the mind of a homicidal maniac,†¦show more content†¦Harold states that the masculine form of her name is Porphyry, a representative in the school of Neoplatonism (20). He concludes that, Porphyria’s lover fanatically acts in accordance with a Neoplatonic view of the world which carries h im . . . into madness. This Neoplatonic thought allows him to believe he has the ability to free himself from physical limitations through the dichotomy of his conscious self in the first half of the poem and through his physical behavior in the latter part (21). Harold suggests the poem’s title is directly correlated to the actions and thoughts of Porphyria’ s lover. Browning’s original title for the poem, Madhouse Cells (Harold 20), does not conjure up the multiplicity of meanings that Porphyria’s Lover is capable of. This fact, in itself, is further evidence that the poem is testing the minds of the readers as well as illustrating the insanity of the narrator. Browning’s change in the title is superb because it compounds the complexity of interpreting the poem. Madhouse Cells is too direct, it instantly calls attention to the (in)sanity of the narrator. The mood of the poem is established in the opening lines. The rain set early in tonight, and a sullen wind was soon awake (1-2). A storm is setting in. This implies a calm before Porphyria has even entered, but also foreshadows a storm of emotions and actions to follow. Harold states, a storm setting . . . contrasts the mental state of