Sherlock Holmes Can be Classified as a Modern Day Hero.

Who is La Malinche Professor Ramos Blog

Who is La Malinche Who is La Malinche? La Malinche, also known as   Malintzin, Malinali, or Doà ±a Marina, was a Native American woman. She was born in the late 1400s. Her birth name was Malinali and was born into a noble family in the province of Paynala, at Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz. La Malinche’s father died when she was very young. Her mother married a younger man and had his son thus, she was a stepdaughter. Even if she was the oldest, the inheritance was to go to the boy instead of her. According to the article, Malintzin/La Malinche/Doà ±a Marina: re- reading the myth of the treacherous translator, Marina was given away from her mother to a group of Indians from Xicalango. The group of Xilcalango Indians gave her away to the cacique, â€Å"leader†, of the village of Tabasco. The cacique of Tabasco offered Cortà ©s food, gold, stones, and twenty women, including La Malinche, in exchange for their â€Å"cooperation† with the conquistadors (63). Hernan Cortà ©s was a Spanish conquistador who led the expedition that resulted the fall of the Aztec Empire.   La Malinche was able to speak two languages; Nahuatl and Mayan. Nahuatl was the language she spoke in her hometown. When she became property of the cacique of Tabasco, she learned how to speak Mayan. When she was given to the conquistador Cortà ©s from the cacique of Tabasco, she began to work as an interpreter with Geronimo de Aguilar. Geronimo de Aguilar was a priest and Cortà ©s’ interpreter who spoke Mayan. La Malinche would translate from Nahuatl to Mayan then, the priest would translate Mayan to Spanish. The Spanish baptized La Malinche, changing her religion to Catholicism, and was given a Spanish name, Marina. Cortà ©s used the priest and La Malinche as his interpreters until La Malinche learned Spanish and she became Hernan Cortà ©s’ only interpreter (63). According to the article, The Cholula Massacre, by Christopher Minster,Ph.D., La Malinche became friends with a wife of a high- ranking Cholulan soldier and she warned her   to leave before they attack the Spanish. The woman suggested La Malinche to marry her son after they destroy the Spanish. La Malinche agreed and fled with her to buy time. La Malinche turned her in to Cortà ©s and interrogated her. Cortà ©s was then ready to take action. He gathered all the noblemen of the city of Cholula in a courtyard of the city. In his speech, which was translated by La Malinche, he accused them of treachery. Hernan Cortà ©s ordered his army to attack the unarmed Cholulans. Outside the city of Cholula, the Tlaxcala Indians, (Cortà ©s’ allies) also attacked. Thousands of Cholulans were killed.   According to Christopher Minster, Ph.D., â€Å"many modern Mexicans see Malinche as a great traitor who betrayed her native cultures to the bloodthirsty Spanish invaders.† According to the article, Biography of Malinali, after conquering the empire of Tenochtitlan, Cortà ©s needed La Malinche more than ever. They developed a relationship and she gave birth to his illegitimate son. Cortà ©s named him Martin, after his father. He was known as one of the first mixed, native and European, child to be born. She lived in a house built by Hernan Cortà ©s in the town, Coyoacn. La Malinche and Cortà ©s went on an expedition in Honduras. They left Martin with Cortà ©s’ cousin, Juan Altamirano. After Cortà ©s’ wife came to Mexico from Spain, Cortà ©s encouraged La Malinche to marry one of his Spanish captains named Juan Jaramillo. She never lived with her son and Cortà ©s wanted their son to stay with Altamirano since that was the only home Martin knew. Cortà ©s later took Martin to live with him in Spain. Their son, Martin, was later legitimized by the Pope Clement VII. According to the article, La Malinche: The Shifting Legacy of a Transcultural Icon, La Malinche   played a huge role in the conquest of Mexico. Bernal Diaz del Castillo, a soldier during the conquest of Mexico under Hernan Cortà ©s’ command, wrote a compilation of his memories known as, Historia Verdadera de la Conquista de la Nueva Espaà ±a. Bernal Diaz is one of the first early colonial writers to portray a woman as an important figure in history in Spains conquest. Bernal Diaz referred to her as Doà ±a Marina, meaning Lady Marina. According to Bernal Diaz del Castillo, â€Å"sin ir Doà ±a Marina no podà ­amos entender la lengua de la Nueva Espaà ±a y Mà ©xico†. (Without Doà ±a Marina we would not understand the â€Å"tongue† of New Spain and Mexico). According to the book, La Malinche in Mexican Literature: From History to Myth, Cortà ©s only mentioned La Malinche twice in his letters and once by name (26).   He referred to her as â€Å"Marinaâ⠂¬  and not â€Å"Doà ±a Marina† as Bernal Diaz del Castillo referred to her. Diaz del Castillo referred to her as â€Å"Doà ±a Marina† out of respect for her as Cortà ©s’ interpreter. Cortà ©s didn’t give much credit to La Malinche because he wanted to take sole credit for the Conquest. He did not give much credit to his soldiers either. Cortà ©s was also referred to â€Å"Malinche† by the Indians. It meant, â€Å"the captain of marina† (27). She always accompanied him to all the meetings with ambassadors and chiefs, they were both called â€Å"Malinche.† In the article, After 500 years, Cortess girlfriend is not forgiven, by Clifford Krauss, Krauss says that if the government made the house into a museum it would be insulting. Rina Lazo, a muralist who lives at La Malinche’s residence, said, â€Å"For Mexico to make this house a museum would be like the people of Hiroshima creating a monument for the man who dropped the atomic bomb.† In 1982, a statue of La Malinche, Hernan Cortà ©s, and their son, was placed in the plaza of Coyoacn. It was built as a tribute to mixed Native and Spanish descendants. Many people were upset and began to protest to have it taken down. the protesters won, and they had the statue moved to the national park of Xicotà ©ncatl. The park is small and hard to find. It was placed there, for it to be forgotten.                                                                            Cypess, Sandra Messinger. La Malinche in Mexican Literature: from History to Myth. University of Texas, 1991. Dà ­az del Castillo, Bernal. Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva Espaà ±a.   Linkgua, 2007. Godayol, Pilar. â€Å"Malintzin/La Malinche/ Doà ±a Marina: Re-Reading the Myth of the Treacherous Translator.† Journal of Iberian Latin American Studies, vol. 18, no. 1, Apr. 2012, pp.61-76. EBSCOhost, http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4sid=79cb1f65-61de-41ec-ad99-a0ea574e9df7%40sdc-v-sessmgr04. Krauss, Clifford. â€Å"After 500 Years, Cortes’s Girlfriend Is Not Forgiven.† New York Times, vol. 146, no. 50743, 26 Mar. 1997, p. A4. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=truedb=a9hAN=9704161424site=ehost-live. Minster, Christopher. Biography of Malinali. ThoughtCo, Jul. 5, 2018, https://www.thoughtco.com/biography-of-malinche-2136516. Minster, Christopher. The Cholula Massacre. ThoughtCo, Jun. 14, 2018, https://www.thoughtco.com/the-cholula-massacre-2136527 Tate, Julee. â€Å"La Malinche: The Shifting Legacy of a Transcultural Icon.† Latin Americanist, vol. 61, no. 1, Mar. 2017, pp. 81–92. EBSCOhost, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/tla.12102.                                              IMAGE SOURCE https://lucypopescu.wordpress.com/2009/08/02/malinchismo/ https://aubreyroseheth.tumblr.com/ http://queaprendemoshoy.com/la-malinche-interprete-de-la-ambicion-de-cortes/

East European and Russian Foreign Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

East European and Russian Foreign Policy - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that in recent years the relations between EU and Russia have been more baffling than we could possibly imagine. Europe has lost its strategic loadstar. Having absorbed 27 countries, Europe is in the state of a dilemma regarding expansion or regarding the issue of dealing with Russia. Russia too realized that its renewed government style was not in a very happy term or relationship with EU which it did not expect and so the relations after EU Enlargement have been more or less a confusing state of affairs. After the formation of European Union, things have changed drastically for the people and governments near them. Russia is no exception. We all know that Soviet bloc was split in 1991 and soviet era republics became independent. Not to mention the fact that some countries which have the Russian flair in its growth and development have suddenly become free and have joined EU. These East European Countries have led to core formation of Euro pean Union. Thus it was soon understood that Russia has lost some of its key allies in the process and that it finds itself in isolation both in terms of geographic and political platforms. Another fact is that these East European countries have displeasure with what the Soviet Union has treated them.   The ideologies were different and there was resentment in these countries over the rule of Soviet Union. Also, the eastern bloc was not too happy with the way military section was withdrawn from those places. Factually speaking as the times moved the ideological differences grew so high that though they had same set of language and culture, they were in fact poles part in government If we talk about relations with Europe then we can say there were issues which actually have affected the relationship between them. The enlargement of NATO, the wars in the Balkan region and more importantly the agenda of the EU were the main issues. Apart from these the internal issues of Russia have become a significant factor of relations between them. In this paper we look at the issue of Russia and EU relations and we will be considering some core issues like EU enlargement and relationship levels among them by considering the security, human rights, political and economic factors which affect both of them May 2004 was historic month of the European Union History when as many as 10 countries joined EU and this included 3 of previous Soviet bloc nations and similarly in 2007 two eastern European nations joined the league, thus the major part of Europe with the exception Russia was part of the league and this was main issue among their relations. The reason for a low relation level with Russia was the different ideologies of the states. Post 1990’s soviet transition government has different perception levels when compared the ideology followed by EU. One thing we need to understand is that EU is Russia’s main partner when it comes to trade and commerce and so let’s look at the impact of this enlargement in terms of economic perspectives of both the countries.We know that Russia is a country, where the contribution of production to the domestic market is fairly high. At the same time, in some EU member states production output directed to domestic market is shrinking drastically. Apparently, these countries chose to be export-driven economies and are successfully trying to integrate into international division of labor by penetrating new markets with competitive goods and concurrently ceding domestic markets to more competitive foreign products. Undoubtedly, they are more dependent on the world economy than Russia.If we look at the economic consequences of the result on enlargement of EU with respect to the relations of EU-Russia we can say that it has two sides of the coin, one which talks from Russian point of view and other form European view. Analysts of Russian view focused on negative implications from custom tariff hikes for separate commodities. They talked about problems associated with goods movement through the newly joined

Chinese history (east asian studies) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Chinese history (east asian studies) - Essay Example Leaders in China remain worried about this incident, since the possibility of a popular uprising of a similar kind worries them. This could also lead to a schism in the leadership that would be disastrous for the unity of the nation. Shirk points out the parallel in history that worries the Chinese leadership, the breakup of the Soviet Union, which was the result of widespread discontent. Shirk points to the support of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). In the absence of this support, the possibility of a similar breakup looms large, that worries the Chinese government, which seeks to prevent it through maintaining an authoritarian regime. 3. The evolution of the Chinese foreign policy is something that has caught the eye of various political thinkers and foreign policy analysts. The change from a passive approach to one that actively engages in the political affairs of the world in an active manner signals a change of approach that coincides with the entry of China as a supe rpower in the political arena. It is a change from the erstwhile policy of China that was aimed at attaining the status of a superpower without causing any damage to its internal situation of peace. This shall however, according to analysts around the world, cause a certain kind of conflict between the new and the old power, by which is meant the United States of America and China.

Chocolate business plan Essay Example for Free

Chocolate business plan Essay Introduction The market leader of the chocolate industry in India, Cadbury, is a British subsidiary of the American multinational confectionary, food and beverages conglomerate â€Å"Mondelez International†. Cadbury, is the second largest confectionary company in the world, close on the heels of Mars, Inc. In India, Cadbury owns a market share of 66 %, significantly ahead of the other multinational company operating the same space for many years, Nestle India, as well as other national, international and regional brands like Amul and Ferrero. Cadbury India began its operations in India in 1948, and has been a trusted and favored brand for decades in India. The market share has decreased from 70-80% in view of entry of other international chocolate companies in the Indian market, however it is still significantly large. Cadbury figures in the Brand Trust Report, 2011 in the Top 100 Most Trusted Brands in India. While Cadbury sells products in several categories such as candy, gum, beverages and chocolate confectionary, this report is aimed at studying the marketing strategy employed by Cadbury India in view of its chocolate confectionary business. Some of the products in this category include the highly popular Dairy Milk, Dairy Milk Silk, Bournville, Temptations, 5 Star, Dairy Milk Shots, Celebrations, Perk and Toblerone. In order to analyze the marketing strategy for Cadbury, this report begins with a SWOT analysis of the company. Environmental Analysis Political Food Safety Act 2006: Detailed and exacting regulations, for standards of production as well as imported chocolates, exist in India. Opportunity. Cadbury is better equipped to follow standards in production than smaller regional or local brands. Strength. Expand into the rural areas before local or regional companies focus on the rural market. Import Tax Rates on Chocolates: A tariff rate of 30% is levied on chocolates. Opportunity. Strength. Demand for premium chocolates at affordable prices can be encashed before foreign entrants can grow their roots within the Indian industry by introducing and aggressively marketing domestically manufactured premium chocolates. Economic Per Capita Spending Patterns: The biggest consumption category in India is Food. Spending in this amounts to almost 21% of the Gross Domestic Production. People, on average, spend 31% of their budget monthly, on food. 70% of the food spending is on agri-products, which incorporates candies and confectionary including chocolates. Two-thirds of this spending is on processed products. Domestic spending on food is expected to grow at a compounded 3 annual growth rate of 4% and billed to reach approximately 320 billion US dollars in value within the next 7 years. USD 841 million is spent on chocolates and confectionary in India. Opportunity. In households across income groups, a large share of money spent goes towards processed agricultural products including chocolates and other confectionary items. This can be encashed by developing effective channels to reach out and sell to lower and lower middle income groups. Strength. Socio-Cultural Social and cultural acceptability of products: There is an increasing acceptance of chocolates as an equivalent of traditional sweets in urban areas. Chocolates are, however, still seen as a luxury food item in rural areas. Opportunity. Chocolates are increasingly being seen as an equivalent or substitute for traditional sweets in terms of the convenience it offers when used for gifting on occasions. Strength. Cadbury is already working on this approach to sell to urban consumers. Rural consumers can also be reached out to and offered chocolates as a new gift item replacing sweets leading to increased sales. Technological Constantly improving technology in chocolate making leads to better tasting products as well as more convenient storage. Opportunity. Strength. Cadbury has the financial capability to invest in RD and has already produced products that are better suited to Indian tastes and storage conditions that other foreign entrants into the industry are not yet as well adapted to. Natural factors. Climate for Cocoa Production: Cocoa, used to produce chocolates can only be grown in regions 15 degrees to the north or south of the equator. Cocoa, originally a crop native to the Amazon basin, can only be grown in the southern states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. It is not a commonly grown crop. Threat. Lack or scarcity of domestic cocoa producers can affect production costs of chocolates within the country. Strength. Cadbury has encouraged farmers in Kerala to produce cocoa since the 1970s and is now in the process of promoting Cocoa as an inter-crop plant for coconut growing farmers. Successful pursuance of this connect with the farmers would help Cadbury procure raw material at lower prices within the country. Consumer behavior Age composition: 66% of the population is below the age of 35. Opportunity. It implies that a huge part of the population can be encouraged to take up consumption of chocolates more frequently and will be met with less resistance than that put up by older consumers with already set eating habits. Strength. 4 Competition Traditional Sweets: Very widely available and traditional choice, but inconsistent in hygiene levels and taste. Threat. Build on image of chocolates being a better and more hygienic choice, which adheres to food safety standards set out by the Govt. Build on image that chocolates are a more sophisticated choice for gifting carrying greater meaning than ‘mithai’ from neighbourhood sweet shops. Strength. Confectionary items like candies, cakes and icecream: Candies are easily available and appeal to children who have traditionally been the target consumers for chocolates. Threat. Cadbury can emphasize more strongly that chocolates are not meant only for children but for adults as well who may not prefer to eat candies. Cadbury chocolate can be offered as an experience, that is not replicated by eating candies and conectionary items. Strength. Entry of several foreign players: As India is seen to have a rapidly growing chocolate consuming country, with people willing to spend not only on inexpensive smaller packs of chocolates, but also premium chocolates as well, foreign players have started foraying into the market with the hope of establishing a presence in the premium sector at least. Threat. Cadbury can increase its foothold in the premium sector of chocolate industry by launching and promoting premium chocolate brands with higher cocoa content which could be priced a bit lower than the foreign brands. In fact, Cadbury is already in the process of implementing such a strategy through the introduction of Bournville and Toblerone. Strength. Suppliers Global network: Half of the cocoa sourced for chocolate making by Cadbury is from sources around the globe, including countries like Ghana, for its famous brand Bournville. Opportunity. Cadbury can source the majority of its cocoa from farmers in India through contract farming, while importing from foreign countries specifically for certain brands only. This will help reduce loss due to global fluctuations in cocoa bean prices and also reduce transport or shipment costs. It will also help create an even more positive image in the eyes of the Indian population. Strength. Dealer network: Cadbury has CSR activities directed at the farmers who are producing cocoa on contract for Cadbury in the state of Kerala. Opportunity. Cadbury is now in the process of extending these activities to farmers in 3 more southern Indian states. This will help cement positive relations between the cocoa growers and the brand, which may put it at an advantage when compared to new foreign entrants in the country like Ferrero or Mars, Inc. Strength. 5 Advertising environment Use of role models: Trustworthy role models in the media, when used as Brand Ambassadors, give a much needed push to the further acceptance of a product. Opportunity. Cadbury has been able to utilize this by roping in celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan, thus emphasizing the idea that even adults can have chocolates, since even a person of Amitabh Bachchan’s stature has not shied away from having them. Cadbury also has the financial power to rope in more high profile celebrities for the same. Strength. Availability of media and ad agencies: Several media channels like TV, Radio, newspapers are available for Cadbury to advertise on. Opportunity. Cadbury has been advertising its chocolates heavily throughout, to keep the brand on top of the mind recall. There have been innumerable ads by Cadbury that have long stayed on people’s minds and even evoked nostalgia, indicating a deep connect of the brand with the audience. Strength. Segmentation Cadbury segmented the consumer based on age. Till the 1980s, chocolates were seen as a luxury item which were eaten only on special occasions or used to reward children with. Despite being the market leader already at this time, Cadbury decided to reshuffle their marketing strategy and position chocolates as a snack and an everyday item of consumption rather than a special treat. In order to do this, the first step was to segment the consumers. Geographic or occupation based segmentation would have proven less relevant in helping raise revenues generated from chocolate sales. The segmentation was done on the basis of age. The existing segment of choice for Cadbury had been children up to the age of 14 who had been driving the consumption of chocolates until the 90s. The other segment that the consumers could be grouped into was the adult population. Targeting The decision made to target a segment is based on gauging the segment attractiveness of the segment. During the 90s, with a rise in the population of the 15-35 year olds, combined with a surge in income and spending power due to the simultaneous opening up of the economy, made the adult segment an attractive one and since then, it has been targeted by Cadbury. Being the market leader already, switching to this target consumer group was not a difficult move for them, in terms of channel attractiveness of the segment. The existing channels which served the consumers until the 90s, such as kirana stores, need no resource intensive special adaptations to serve the youth consumer group as well. Alongside this, competitive attractiveness of the youth segment was also high since no other chocolate company had targeted this consumer group so far. Although this meant 6 Cadbury needed to put in extra marketing effort to change the social acceptance of chocolates in this group, it also translated into a first mover advantage for them. Positioning Positioning is the decision of how the brand wants to be perceived as by the target consumer group vis-a-vis competitors. Cadbury has positioned itself to cater to specific needs and attributes that the target consumer group looks for. Cadbury’s objective was to engage the customers of the adult age group. In the early 90s, Cadbury had the leading share in the market but the volume of sales in terms of per capita consumption was very low compared to western countries. This was also because consumption of chocolate by children was strictly governed by adults and hence increasing per capita consumption within the children consumer group was not a feasible option. In order to widen the net of consumers, Cadbury had to increase the social acceptance of chocolates in the adults age group. This was done through the means of extensive and successively huge ad campaigns which eventually lowered the attitudinal barrier that existed. Cadbury had wanted to and has successfully moved from the perception of chocolate being a children’s product to a celebratory/gifting product, and more recently an indulgence product (For instance Cadbury Silk). In 1992, Cadbury launched a series of aggressive ad campaigns starting with ‘Real Taste of Life† which showcased adults eating the chocolates on their own and not in a parent role or buying it as a reward or a way to say sorry to loved ones. This included the famous ad â€Å"Kuch khaas hai zindagi mein† which showed adults enjoying the taste of chocolates on their own. Later on, Cadbury launched a campaign for Perk which said â€Å"Thodi si pet pooja† which emphasized the use of the chocolate as an any time snack to satisfy hunger, which was a marked shift from the earlier perception of chocolates. Later, to promote Cadbury chocolates as an alternative to traditional desserts, the â€Å"kuch meetha ho jaaye† campaign sought to change perceptions once again, this time including the entire family consisting of elderly grandparents also in the ad to show acceptance of the Cadbury chocolates as dessert. By tying chocolates to Indian customs, and festivals, like Celebrations especially for Raksha Bandhan and Diwali, Cadbury has come a long way from the â€Å"Real Taste of Life† campaign, and â€Å"Indianized† itself in order to entrench itself within the minds of the adult population in India. Marketing Mix – 4 Ps Product/Service Product There are four types of products by Cadbury India, and this report is focused on the Chocolates category. These aim to satisfy the hunger need as well as relaxation and convenience need (easily available snacking option). In order to satisfy these needs, the 7 product is available very easily, at least in the urban markets and in various sizes. Cadbury chocolates are branded so as to represent some emotional core values like family values, and togetherness, but at the same time, they are also branded as a fresh, satisfying, convenient product. Place Cadbury has 6 company-owned manufacturing facilities: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Thane Induri (Pune) Malanpur (Gwalior) Bangalore Baddi (Himachal Pradesh) Hyderabad There are 4 sales offices, one each in New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. The corporate office is in Mumbai. In terms of distribution, Cadbury chocolate products are sold directly to wholesalers and retailers. The network comprises roughly 2100 distributors and 4,50,000 retailers. The chocolates are sold through Kirana stores, gift stores, medical stores, canteens, paan shops, bakeries and so on. Price The generally established price point for chocolates in India is Rs 5 and Cadbury has 4 products at this point including Dairy milk, 5 star, gems and perk. This price point accounts for half of chocolate sales in India. At the same time, Cadbury sells multiple differently sized packs on a range of prices, going up to higher, premium priced products as well such as Bournville. In this way, Cadbury has a hold on various price points available to various groups of consumers based on their appetite for spending. Promotion Cadbury promotes its products through various media channels. It uses mainly television ads with strongly featured taglines that get associated with the products easily. There is some amount of seasonality in the market in the way that demand ideally goes up during festive season due to gifting needs and Cadbury launches special ad campaigns around those times to encash on this increased demand. National level competitors like Amul have been unable to match up to the scale of promotions undertaken by Cadbury. Regional players hardly advertise on a big scale through campaigns. However, its MNC competitor Nestle has its own promotional ads and campaigns that seek to rival Cadbury’s and sometimes directly challenge the Cadbury ads. 8 Recommendations 1. In view of the recent entry of foreign players in the market, though Cadbury does not face the threat of losing a significant amount of its existing customers, for instance, those who buy Dairy Milk or Perk, there is a possibility of losing out on potential customers who are interested in premium chocolates. Since this is a rapidly growing industry, and being the established market leader, Cadbury should focus on its premium chocolate brands in a big way through more visible ad campaigns and promote their products based on the brand equity they have built through the years. 2. While leveraging the lower cost of Cadbury premium chocolates vis-a-vis foreign chocolates, Cadbury must take care to ensure it does not go the Tata Nano way, as lower prices in the premium segment may be perceived as lower quality in the product delivered as well. 3. As it has already managed to successfully position chocolates as a snack for children’s as well as adults’ consumption, it can now focus on activating the elderly consumer segment which is typically more resistant to chocolates compared to traditional sweets and feel guilty on indulging in chocolates even if not restricted by health reasons. 4. Cadbury can now change the positioning of certain specific products or introduce new products to cater to â€Å"instant energy† giving needs similar to Mars bars abroad. 5. Recently, a 20-calorie chocolate has been developed in the UK which is now being sold at Michelin starred restaurants. Cadbury can also direct some of its RD endeavors towards developing a similar product which would give the company a distinct edge over competitors and help tap into a new markets and increase their consumer width. 9 NATIONAL BRAND 10 Introduction Amul is an Indian dairy Co-operative based out of Anand in Gujarat. The co-operative started off as the Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers Union in December 1946. The Co-operative was set up by the milk producers of the Kaira district of Gujarat who felt cheated by the unfair trade practices. The co-operative collected processed and marketed milk and was co-owned by the milk producing farmers of the district. The brand Amul was used by the Kaira District Co-operative to market its brand of milk products. By the 1970s the Co-operative model had become highly successful and spawned similar Co-operative in other district s of Gujarat. In order to combine together and expand their market while not competing with each other, the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF), an apex marketing body of these district co-operatives was set-up in 1973. The brand name of Amul which was held by the Kaira Union was transferred to GCCF. Today, the GCCF is the largest food product marketing organisation of India. The co-operatives collect around 10 million litres of milk per day from around 3 million milk producer members of the Co-operative. Its current turnover is around Rs. 140. 0 billion. Amul started producing and marketing chocolates in 1970. It currently markets 6 different chocolate brands namely Congtas, Fundoo, Chocozo, Bindaaz, Rejoice, Almond Bar, Fruits and Nut and Amul Cooking Chocolate. Current market share of Amul chocolates is just 4% as compared to market leader that is 66%. The main reason behind such low market share is lack of promotion and more focus on dairy products. Environmental Analysis Strengths ? ? ? Raw material (milk) security: Major raw materials for the production of chocolates are Cocoa, milk and sugar. Milk supply is secured for the company which protects it from any volatility in prices. High brand awareness: Amul through its concerted marketing over the last 5 decades has created a brand that is synonymous with good quality. The brand has also become a symbol of successful Indian entrepreneurship that has positively impacted the lives of millions of small farmers, hence there is a sense of patriotism and pride associated with the brand as well. Strong distribution network: Amul has been marketing and supplying milk through a pan India distribution network which supplies milk and milk products to independent retailers but also to its own milk parlours. 11 Weakness: ? ? ? Low market share: Amul chocolates have a low market share in the Indian chocolate industry. The brand, though having a strong recall value, is not primarily associated with chocolates. The market leader in the chocolate industry in India is Cadbury with 70% market share followed by Nestle at 20% market share. Co-operative structure of Amul: Due to the Co-operative nature of GCMMF, there is limited capital infusion in the company. As a result there is a limited scope for aggressive product launches or diversification. Volatility in Cocoa prices: Unlike the major chocolate producing companies in the world, Amul does not own a cocoa plantation. The prices of cocoa are volatile in nature as they are dependent on the international demand supply dynamics. Not having a cocoa plantation of its own exposed the company to volatility in prices of this raw material. Opportunities: ? Huge untapped market: The per capita consumption of chocolate in India has increase from 40 gm per person in 2005 to around 110 gm per person currently. Though this is impressive growth in itself it is still much lower than the per capita chocolate consumption, in countries like Ireland or Belgium which have a chocolate consumption per person of more than 11 kilograms or even USA or Australia which have chocolate consumption per person of around 5 kilograms. There is thus a huge untapped market for growth in the chocolate industry in India. Corresponding Strength: Since Amul has a strong â€Å"Brand awareness†, people would be willing to buy new products launched under its brand name. Amul can launcha variety of new chocolate products for youth and kids. ? Gifting: Gift hampers consisting of chocolates has been a successful marketing strategy by companies like Cadbury. Amul too has the ‘Rejoice’ brand especially for this purpose however there is scope to launch or aggressively advertise this. Corresponding Strength: Since, Amul is a strong brand name and has a strong distribution network, It can very well advertise the gift packs like rejoice and can introduce new brands catering to the same need. ? Advertising: Amul need to advertise and carry out lot of promotional activities to inform the consumers that still exist and can provide them with what they want. It’s been years that Amul’s chocolate advertisement has been telecasted on India’s major television channels. Sales promotions like discounts and free samples can also help them to increase the Brand awareness and attract customers to switch brand from competitors. Big brands use a celebrity as a Brand Ambassador for its product. 12 For example Amitabh Bachchan for Cadbury Rani Mukherjee for Nestle, Amul can also use a brand ambassador for the promotion of its chocolates. Corresponding Strength: Amul has a huge turnover of around Rs 140 billion and is a financially strong company and has enough funds to carry out the needed advertising campaign and promotions. By spending a small percentage of revenue on advertising campaigns Amul can increase its market share to a large extent. ? Low rural penetration of chocolates: There is significant awareness of the Amul brand even in rural India. The company can leverage these launch cheaper brands targeted at the rural segment which has till now stayed away from chocolate consumption. Corresponding Strength: Amul has been marketing and supplying milk through a pan India distribution network. It has a strong distribution network in rural areas. Amul can leverage this strength and can launch cheaper products in rural market. Threats: ? Strong competition from foreign multi nationals: There is significant potential in the Indian chocolate industry which has been attracting international competition. Companies like Cadbury have been launching premium swiss chocolate brands. Also other premium chocolate brands like Ferrero Rocher are making their presence felt in India. Corresponding Weakness: Since â€Å"Amul† is mostly related to its milk products and has not made its presence felt strongly in the chocolate industry, its still far behind its competitors like Cadburys which is a very aggressive player in the chocolate industry. Amul faces tough competition and to handle the same it needs enormous marketing and advertising campaign and introduction of new chocolate products under its brand name. ? Low brand loyalty in chocolate industry: Chocolates are impulse purchases and compete with categories of soft drinks, snacks and other beverages. Although people may like a particular type of chocolate (dark, milk, white, etc. ) there is not a significant brand loyalty. Hence this presents a threat to established players in the market. Corresponding Weakness: Since Amul has significantly low popularity in chocolate industry and also people are picky while selecting a chocolate, there is not a single chocolate brand product under its brand which enjoys strong loyalty from consumer side. Also, people like to try different kinds of chocolates and are not necessarily inclined towards a single chocolate product. Since, Amul does not offer a large variety of chocolates; therefore it is at a weaker position in the chocolate industry. 13 Segmentation Geographic segmentation: Chocolate consumption is concentrated in urban areas of the country. Chocolate consumption in rural areas of the country may be considered negligible. Chocolates are still considered as a luxury product by the population and are hence consumed by the middle and the upper classes of society which reside in the towns, cities and metropolitan centres of the country. Amul chocolates are thus marketed in these areas of the country. Demographic segmentation: Amul chocolates are mostly segmented its consumers into various age groups like the children, adolescent and youth segments of the society. Since, chocolates are particularly liked by children and middle aged and older generations refrain from eating it citing health concerns due to high sugar content of chocolates. Targeting The brands of Amul chocolates like Fundooz, Bindaaz, Congrats etc. have been named to be attractive to the younger generation who use these words in their daily lexicon. There has been a strategy by the company to provide a young, dynamic and fun loving character to its chocolate through such branding. Amul chocolates also markets two brand namely Amul Cooking Chocolate which is targeted towards the homemakers and professional cooks and chefs. Positioning Positioning is the decision of how the brand wants to be perceived as by the target consumer group vis-a-vis competitors. Amul has positioned itself as an affordable, â€Å"value for money† chocolate. Since, it has mostly targeted kids and youth, it is still considered as a snack unlike cadbury’s product like Celebrations which is considered as gifting option. Amul has not positioned itself as an alternative to sweets or has not developed its product to actually cater to an emotional need. It is simply a chocolate available at a lower price. Marketing Mix. Product Amul has a very low range of products in its chocolate business. There are only 8 chocolate brands that Amul offers as of now in the market and these are Congrats, Fundoo, Chocozo, 14 Bindaaz, Rejoice, Almond Bar, Fruits and Nut and Amul Cooking Chocolate. The problem is that there is no clear differentiation between the products that it offers. For example Cadburys is catering to a different need corresponding to its individual Chocolate product. ? ? ? ? ? Product Dairy Milk Dairy Milk Shots Bournville 5 Star Perk Need Milk Chocolate (Basic taste and style). Small balls of chocolate (Circular unlike chocolate bars) Dark Chocolate Sweeter in taste with honey as an ingredient Crispier with wafer inside However, Amul completely ignores such kind of differentiation between its products and hence their product can be easily substituted by their own products apart from the competitor’s product. Another important factor is packaging because majority of the consumers is kids and youngsters who like attractive packaging. Most kids buy chocolates not just because they like chocolates but also because of the attractive wrappers. Packaging used by Amul stands low on appearance parameter. Also, it lacks a common theme or â€Å"top of the mind† recall point. For example, Cadburys is strongly associated with blue wrapper and more than brown it’s the colour blue that we associate with a chocolate. As compared to this, Amul’s packaging is weak and lacks lustre. Amul needs to make changes to its product (chocolates) like introduction of more flavours and attractive packaging because the wrappers Amul uses is not at all attractive compared to those used by Cadbury and Nestle. This would keep them in competition with competitors like Cadbury and Nestle. 15 Pricing Second P of marketing that is Price is often confused with blindly lowering the prices of different products and completely relying on this strategy to increase sales. However it is of extreme importance to divide the target group on the basis of their price sensitivity and purchase power. Every customer segment has different price expectation from the product. To maximize the returns, it is important to identify the right price level for each segment and then progressively moving through them. Amul has launched various chocolate products to cater to different segments of population. Pricing must take into account the competitive and legal environment of the industry. Majority of people in India live in villages and have low disposable income. With such a heavy competition in the chocolate market, Price plays a very important role. Amul pricing strategy has been â€Å"Value for Money†. Amul’s believes in giving value for money to its customers and it has always followed that principle. Its products are of high quality and available at affordable prices. For example, Cadbury’s â€Å"Fruit n Nut† is priced at Rs 35 per 42 gm pouch whereas Amul’s Fruit and Nut is sold at just Rs 25 per 40 gm. Amul offers same quality at a price 30% lower than its competitor. Amul has not launched any premium (high price) product in its chocolate business. Place Place in marketing is considered as the channels of distribution through which products move from the manufacturer to the consumers. The channels of distribution mean intermediaries or middlemen who act as a link between the manufacturer and the consumers. Factors that need to be considered when choosing the place are the characteristics of the product, characteristics of the buyers, control and competitors channels. Since chocolate is an edible product, Amul should adopt an intensive distribution strategy wherein they will manufacture products and make it available at various shopping malls, food joints, local stores, Chocolate parlours etc. Corresponding to its strong distribution channels, Amul currently has very low visibility. It needs to increase the visibility through offering discount to retailers along with buybacks to convince them to store the Amul Chocolates. Since Amul is a â€Å"value for money† brand it can be placed anywhere from small kirana shops to big malls. Amul has a big brand name because of its dairy products. They can easily use it to increase the awareness of its chocolates using various distribution channels. 16 Promotion Promotion refers to exchange of information between an organization and the consumer of its products. Consumers here include Customers, shareholders, employees, government and other parties related to the products like trade union and media. The aim of promotion is to inform the consumers, differentiate from other products and to persuade them to buy. There are many techniques of promotion like Advertising, Sales promotions, Direct Marketing Personal selling. Amul has been criticised for lack of promotion. Amul has a strong brand name because of its dairy product leadership. Amul must advertise its chocolates using media like newspaper, television and internet to inform the public about the quality the price of its product. Amul has totally shifted its focus from chocolates towards milk and other milk products and have totally ignored chocolates. Using the mediums like Television and newspaper the company needs to remind the public that they are back with improved products at an affordable price. 17 Recommendations 1. Amul needs to introduce new varieties of chocolates and improve its existing ones. 2. They should introduce milk chocolates like Nestle’s Milky Bar, Chocolates with fruits and nuts like Cadbury has its Fruit and Nuts, Mint chocolates like Nestle’s After Eight etc.

Essay --

Thomas Clontz 1st Period 1/14/14 The Hot Zone Summary I acknowledge this is the final copy of my own original work and all resources have been cited appropriately. The novel, â€Å"The Hot Zone†, by Richard Preston, is an extraordinary tale about a virus called the Ebola virus. The author interviews a number of different people that all had encounters with the virus and records their stories. He is very interested by what they tell him and throughout the novel he is always seeking to find more information about it. There were many different encounters in this book but in my summary I am going to explain the ones that interested me the most. The story begins with a man by the name of Charles Monet. He is in Kenya working on a sugar plantation. One of his friends and him decide to take a trip to Mount Elgon and visit the Kitum Cave. A couple of days after he returns from his trip he becomes very ill. He experiences headaches and backaches for several days before spiking a fever and violently vomiting for a long time. His eyes change to a bloodshot red color and he loses all expressions from his face. His personality also dramatically changed. Doctors try to treat him but with no success so he was put on a plane to go to the Nairobi Hospital. During the flight he gets so sick that he throws up huge amounts of red puke with black specks in it. He begins to bleed from his nose and eventually from almost every opening in his body. By the time he reaches the hospital he â€Å"crashes† and falls to the floor in a pool of his virus infected blood. Another aspect of the story is associated with Major Nancy Jaax. She is a member of USAMRIID or United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. USAMRIID does research on different w... ...animal was sedated before it could hurt her. On Friday, December 7, the last monkey was finally put down. After this the decon team arrives. They seal off the building and heat these special crystals that kill everything that is living. Also, the team learns that Milton Frantig, the employee who had fallen ill, had recovered from what seemed to be the flu. Ending this story the author, Richard Preston travels to Africa on his own to see the Kitum Cave and other sites that were mentioned throughout the novel. Finally, the author visits the monkey house in Reston which is now abandoned. This novel was an incredible journey of a virus from its origin and to what it became as it was passed from host to host. I learned how a virus can adapt and form different strands which can cause it to become more deadly. This was an extraordinary story and incredibly informative.

The Challenges of the Baby Boom Generation

Renee Hollered The Challenges Of The Baby Boom Generation They are aging, and they are currently distressed from ailments and diseases that the generous before never really had to suffer through. Oddly enough, they are living longer despite these problems. Their healthcare is better than it has been before, but they are paying dearly for it. For some in this generation, getting good and thorough medical care can be a challenge.For a few, It Is almost Impossible without resorting to Medicare. This generation is facing a new challenge. To either retire early, and not have enough benefits and income to help them in their senior years, or to stay In their current jobs and not see retirement until they are well into their ass or even perhaps their ass This generation is the Baby Boomers. They were born between 1946 and 1964. They arrived after a brutal world war, the rise of nuclear power, of racial Identity and equality, and the start of the Love Generation.They are now getting older and want to retire and find that most cannot afford to end their careers gracefully. Some prefer to stay in the workforce. Even after retirement. Employers want these individuals to retire to free up space for newer and younger employees. A younger employee Is less of a risk health-wise than an older employee, Most Baby Boomers find that staying in the workforce reinvigorates them and keeps them feeling young and vital. Burr, M. T. (2006) â€Å"Almost 40% of utility workers will become eligible for runtime In the next five years.Assuming only nominal growth. By 2010 the industry will need to hire 10,000 new skilled workers each year. † (p. ) Finding younger workers in the utility field within the last 1 5 to 20 years, been relatively easy. Apprenticing with an older mentor meant the younger individual got to learn a new trade and thus, passed on the responsibility that their older mentor previously held. This also meant the younger initiate received health benefits trot the comp any they are now working tort, and the new trade the young Journeyman inherited, progressed from there. 2001) explains, â€Å"About half of the people between ages 50 and 59 who made the decision to delay retirement and remain in the work force reported that they were in excellent or very good health. But, over time, their state of health has declined. † (p. L) Diabetes, cardiac vascular disease and high blood pressure has been diagnosed more frequently in the baby boom generation, than any other before. One reason is because of easy access to food; food that is not healthy, e. G. Fast food.This may also have to do with living fiscally disabled because of perhaps living on worker's come, Social Security or both. For these people, able to afford good health care as well as good nutrition can be a challenge. It is getting harder for some cash strapped Baby Boomers to find affordable health care that will be there when they need it. In some cases, they will probably have to do w ithout. This author has seen first hand, some of his friends that he grew up with, going through some of the same things that he is going through as well, like health issues, financial issues, personal issues, etcetera.Many of them will go without health care insurance because they think they are still healthy enough to carry on without it. Some could go on Medicare, but to do it meaner a filling out paperwork and waiting weeks to finally see a doctor. The hope is that with rent challenges faced with getting good and affordable medical care, that our president will see what needs to be done, and not let the house of representatives dictate what will be the future of health care in the United States.Our president, whether some like him or not, will have the final say; the Baby Boomers could quite possibly, be a big influence in this area. Despite their health problems, the Baby Boomers will probably live as long as their parent's and grandparent's did because of the kind of medical c are they are receiving today as opposed to medical care 50 or so ears ago. More are taking up Jobs that tend to make them happy as well as give them the benefits they need. Some employers are not offering the same kind of benefits that the Baby Boomers have seen in the past.They are offering less in the way of full coverage benefits, and are opting to offer benefits where the aging employee has to pay more out-of-pocket for their own care. When retirement comes around, some opt to stay in their current Job longer. That offsets the Job pool and makes it harder for younger applicants to find good employment. According to Morris, T. J. (201 1), â€Å"Even Hough boomers are starting to reach the magic age of 65, a large number either cannot retire or simply don't want to. † (A Challenge For Baby Boomers, Para. ) Most cannot retire because they need the health care benefits their employer offers, so turn-around tends to be lower in this age range. Most types of companies like util ity and infrastructure maintenance companies are not seeing the vast labor pool of younger employees and younger applicants coming in like they did 15 to 20 years ago. Most of industry, than their counter-parts did previously. Burr, M. T. (2006) â€Å"l worry about the laity of the labor pool,† says Howard Hinkler, director of human resources strategy for Southern Co. In Atlanta. I'm not only concerned about the number of employees we'll need to hire, but about their readiness to take on the kinds of technical Jobs we need done. † (p. L) In other words, it will be harder to find a younger person today who wants to take up being a plumber, carpenter or lineman as opposed to 30 to 40 years ago. Those in the Baby Boom generation are staying on longer in their Jobs to fill these vacancies in this particular Job niche, and thus, the medical benefits for them ill have to adjust accordingly. The main concern here, is that getting the younger generation to apprentice in these k inds of Jobs, e. G. Lumber, carpenter, lineman, electrician, etcetera, is getting harder to have them want to expend their energies into labor intensive careers, and careers that could go back many generations. Burr, M. T. (2006) adds, â€Å"During the sass, utilities across the country focused on reducing their operating costs in an effort to become more efficient and competitive in an increasingly deregulated industry. Utilities minimized their Rockford growth by promoting people from within the organization, allowing attrition to make the staff leaner, applying labor-saving technologies, and outsourcing non-core functions where it made sense. (p. L) In essence, the Baby Boomers will probably be the last to do these kinds of Jobs, the only other way to replace individuals who did this work is to outsource to perhaps, overseas workers. Many jobs within the United States are already outsourced to other countries, and the thought of outsourcing Jobs within our infrastructure may be an uneasy prospect; nonetheless, it will have to be done if we want to keep the kind of lifestyle we have grown accustomed to. The Baby Boomer generation still has many challenges to face. The future for them is still uncertain.Their health is not up to the standards like it was 20 years hence, but they are living longer, and have the will to fight for receiving proper and affordable healthcare. Some say that the Baby Boomers tend to despise their parent's, and fear their children. This individual, the author, would say that the Baby Boom generation is not through yet. There is still a such work to be done in this country and the boomers want to be there when it happens. The challenge to the next generations would be to find those individuals who will take on what those before them excelled at and to keep those traditions alive and vital.This may be for naught since today's young generations do not, or will not, see what's coming around the bend for the next 50 years. They are young and will not bother with those concerns for now. Hopefully at some point, they will realize that what the generations before them had to come to terms with; that they will understand why the Baby Boomers did what they did, and will make their own determinations which will help get them into the next stage of their lives.