The Scarlet Letter :: essays research papers

In his criticism of The Scarlet Letter, Harry Levin discusses the severity of the sins that are committed by Hester Prynne, Reverend Dimmesdale, and Roger Chilingworth. Although all three main characters have sinned in the novel, the ruthlessness of their sins is easily identifiable.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Harry Levin takes it upon himself to 'rank'; the three sinners in The Scarlet Letter based upon their sins, and the circumstances that surround them. The least severe sinner is Hester Prynne, followed by Reverend Dimmesdale, and the most severe sinner in Levin's mind is Roger Chilingworth. For Hester, Levin states that her affair with Dimmesdale is 'pardonable'; (Levin, 10) because the lull in her relationship with Chilingworth was natural, and there was nothing that she could do about it. Her partner in sin, Reverend Dimmesdale, is stated to be 'an unwilling hypocrite, who purges himself by means of open confession.'; (Levin, 11) He also has seemingly been forced into his role, but cannot publicly repent like Hester does by wearing a scarlet letter, or wearing a black veil. Levin continues by saying that 'by Hawthorne's standard'; the Reverend has been more sinful than she has. (Levin, 11) Although it is not discussed in the criticism, the point that Levin makes can be proven in the story when Mr. Dimmesdale is returning from the meeting with Hester in the woods. Dimmesdale is described as being so full of energy, that he decides that he wants to commit 4 sins. Although they are not very severe, the basic premise is that maybe he really is more evil than he appears. Finally, the crudest sinner in The Scarlet Letter is Roger Chilingworth. Levin describes him in his criticism as follows: 'Chilingworth, who's assumed name betrays his frigid nature, plays the role of the secret sharer, prying into his wife's illicit affair, spying upon her lover unawares, and pulling the strings of the psychological romance.'; (Levin, 11) Basically, this means that no matter how the reader perceives it, Chilingworth is definitely the most evil character in the story. Levin is also quick to say that although Dimmesdale and Hester can atone for their sins, Chilingworth cannot. Harry Levin is correct in his criticisms of the sinners in the novel The Scarlet Letter. Hester Prynne is easily the least brutal sinner of all. In the novel, when Hester meets with Chilingworth in the jail, the reader sees that she did not commit her sin without reason.

Jessica Rodriguez Essay -- English Literature

Moton and Paradise Historical Accuracy in Equiano’s Novel Olaudah Equiano’s autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself, has become a very important piece of literature. Equiano established a new type of literature with this novel. It was the first autobiography/slave narrative ever written. Many other slaves, such as Fredrick Douglass, followed his example in writing autobiographies or slave narratives. Equiano not only gives detailed descriptions of his homeland, of which we still know little about, he also gives a powerful account of the Middle Passage. Despite these captivating accounts, many critics have come to question the authenticity of Equiano’s history. Many do not believe that he was the man he claimed to be. Although there is some evidence to suggest this, there is not enough to discredit Equiano’s accounts. Equiano’s autobiography offers a powerful and truthful account of the author’s history, and his experiences with the slave trade and the Middle Passage. Despite the critics’ accusations, Equiano’s novel is historically accurate. Olaudah Equiano was born in the southern part of Nigeria known as Isseke (or Essaka) in the year 1745. Equiano provides much information on their customs and rituals. He explains in detail the dress, religion, dance, and customs of the Igbo people. One recurring topic is cleanliness. Equiano states â€Å". . . our cleanliness on all occasions is extreme. . .† (9). After his kidnapping, he is astonished at the lack of cleanliness he encounters. He also describes how important dance is in his culture. Equiano claims, â€Å"we are almost a nation of dancers, musicians, and poets. Thus e... ...e to witness the fruits of his hard labor, but he did not quit fighting for what he believed in until the very end. Olaudah Equiano is a historically accurate novel worthy of being treated as a viable piece of literature. Works Cited Carretta, Vincent. â€Å"Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa? New Light on an Eighteenth-century Question of Identity†, Slavery and Abolition, 20, 3 (December 1999), 96-105 Costanzo, Angelo. Surprising Narrative: Olaudah Equiano and the Beginnings of Black Biography. New York: Greenwood P, 1987. Equiano, Olaudah. Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Written by Himself. New York. Modern Library. 1789. Slattery, Katherine. â€Å"The Igbo People – Origins and History.† November 1999. Queen’s University of Belfast. April 2005. http://www.qub.ac.uk/en/imperial/nigeria/origins.htm.

Cochlear Implants and the Internet :: Health Disability

On-line communities are something I have never participated in. I have always felt (due to personal observations of friends using chat rooms and listening to other’s renditions of their experiences) these communities can, and most often do, consume inordinate amounts of time and spare time is a rare commodity for me. Beyond the time consumption, from my observations of chat rooms, there are rarely any well-thought-out responses to the topic of discussion. In fact, often there are inane and childish retorts that just stir up the emotions of those involved and tend to sidetrack the majority as they rally against the perpetrator. On the other hand, I assume there are places where professionals can have relevant and introspective discussions, but I had never viewed, participated in or even read archived logs of such discourse. I imagine these â€Å"professional† discussions could be highly beneficial interactions for problem solving, as well as being supportive while offering constructive criticism. Since my specialty is education of the deaf and hard-of-hearing (D/HH), I have been exposed to the highly emotionally charged debates on the issue of cochlear implants (CI). I was interested in finding out how easy (or difficult) it would be for hearing parents with deaf children to receive balanced and unbiased information on cochlear implants. Could they acquire the knowledge they would need in order to make informed decisions on behalf of their children on the World Wide Web? For those unfamiliar with CIs, the simplest explanation is to think of it as a high powered hearing aid which is surgically implanted in the recipient’s head (actually the inner ear) and feeds electrical impulses directly to the brain. It does not take away or alter a person’s deafness. When the processor is on, the implant stimulates hearing. When it is turned off, the hearing is gone. Maybe a short description of the process would be appropriate to insert here before continuing. First a recess is drilled in the temporal bone of the skull (behind the ear) and a magnetic disk is placed in this well. Connected to this disk is a wire—actually a bundle of wires depending on the CI’s number of channels or frequencies.

Save the Girl Child

In older days the birth of a girl child was considered as auspicious. As per an Indian proverb, â€Å"A home without a daughter is like a body without soul†. The birth of a daughter in the house was compared with the advent of Goddess Laxmi, the Goddess of wealth and Goddess Saraswati, the Goddess of Kno People generally ask this question that girl child is a curse & blessing . But I think it as a stupid question. How can a girl be a curse. A girl is always blessing. Girl is a devi. Woman are the pillars of society. How can they be a curse.Girl is a mother who take can her children in every part of l That's because there are only 927 girls for every 1,000 boys under the age of 6. And most of these 927 girls are taken out of school early so that they can help in the fields or work as child labour to support the family. Isn’t it time that we put an end to this barbaric discrimination and gave gi These days gender imbalance is becoming a grave problem especially in India. Girls are either aborted from mother’s womb or killed after birth. This gives rise to crimes like rape and killing.Nearly half of India’s children are girls. However, the girl child is considered a lesser child in our society. Irrespective of class, caste and economic conditions, she is discriminated against and neglected at all the levels. This result in the denial of basic services required for her surviv Daughter is the knot that ties the family together†. â€Å"A baby girl.. one of the most beautiful miracles in life, one of the greatest joys we can ever know,& one of the reasons why there is a extra sunshine, laughter and happiness in our life today.† In many traditional cultures, fathers and moth Tears of a girl child- How can we make a difference? This story is older than the time, a girl still die, killer still commit the crime. Why there is a smile in the face of a family when a boy is born and not when a girl is born? I don’t see a reason why everyone wants a boy and The role of women is vital to all spheres and facets of life.Thus investment on a girl child is a smarter way to the overall development of a family. Education is one of the many vital fields  where girl children remains a victim of disparity and is neglected as compared to the other sex. But it is p Girl Child in India By Rajni Seth Ads by Google UNICEF India – Donate Now DonateToUnicef. org/Donation 9,00,000 children die every year Your Rs. 750 a month can save lives Embryo Adoption -Donation www. EmbryosAlive. com Embryos in Cryostorage? Adoptors Are Waiting- Donors Choose Are You a Fresher? NIIT. com/IT-Training Join Placement Oriented 4 Month IT Course Designed for Fresh Grads A world of the girl child is full of love, warmth and concern.She is the procreator and the mother of tomorrow. She is the one who shapes the destiny of civilization and imparts values and virtues to the future. Unfortunately this beautiful world is gloomy and filled with despair. The color of innocence is ironically transforming into color of suppression. This beautiful creation of God has become the gravest concern today. Her world is filled with despair and she is left alone on a barren land searching for a warm touch, mother's love and father's lullaby.Traditions and rituals are outlining the survival of the girl child in India. Even though the country has made remarkable growth in various fields, it is tragically representing the lowest sex ratio. Patriarchal norms, low status of women and son idolism are the primary reasons that cause bias against girl child in India. The shocking decline of girl-boy ratio has alarmed future of India. The Census report indicates a highly skewed gender ratio that fell from 976 girls born every 1000 boys to 927 girls every 1000 boys in 2001.In various parts of the country like Rajasthan, Haryana and Rajasthan the ratio has even declined to 800:1000. Not only female feticide and infanticide, a series of other discrepancy like lack of girl education, lack of nutrition, early marriage and absence of basic necessities are also attached to the gravest concern of humanity. Lack of education holds the girl child to a low standard of living and provides inability to expose her skills and knowledge. Educating a girl is education a whole family†¦

Fashion and Zara Store

Colour case This case contains colour exhibits which will be affected by the user’s screen and printer resolution. Therefore, to ensure optimum colour quality multiple copies must be ordered directly from ecch. This colour case cannot be supplied as a permission master in either paper format or as a sealed pdf file. However, please contact ecch to check availability of a black and white version which can be supplied for reproduction. ecch the case for learning ecch UK Registered Office: Cranfield University, Wharley End Beds MK43 0JR, UK t+44 (0)1234 750903 f+44 (0)1234 751125 e [email  protected] om w www. ecch. com ecch USA Registered Office: Babson College, Babson Park Wellesley MA 02457, USA t+1 781 239 5884 f+1 781 239 5885 e [email  protected] com w www. ecch. com Responsive, High Speed, Affordable Fashion This case was prepared by Sophie Linguri under the supervision of Professor Nirmalya Kumar as a basis for classroom discussion rather than to illustrate either eff ective or ineffective handling of a management situation. Copyright  © 2005 London Business School. All rights reserved.No part of this case study may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without written permission of London Business School. London Business School reference CS-05-037 ecch the case for learning Distributed by ecch, UK and USA www. ecch. com All rights reserved Printed in UK and USA North America t +1 781 239 5884 f +1 781 239 5885 e [email  protected] com 305-308-1 LBS-CS-05-037 Rest of the world t +44 (0)1234 750903 f +44 (0)1234 751125 e [email  protected] om – 2 -305-308-1 LBS-CS-05-037 Zara: Responsive, High-Speed, Affordable Fashion In 1975, the first Zara store was opened in La Coruna, in Northwest Spain. By 2005, Zara? ’s 723 stores had a selling area of 811,100 m2 and occupied ? â€Å"privileged locations of major cities? † in 56 countries. With sales of ?â‚ ¬3. 8 billion in financial year 2004, Zara had become Spain? ’s best-known fashion brand and the flagship brand of ? â‚ ¬5. 7 billion holding group Inditex. Inditex? ’s stock market listing in 2001 had turned Amancio Ortega, its founder and a self-made man, into the world? s 23 richest man, with a personal fortune that Forbes magazine estimated at $12. 6 billion. Zara strived to deliver fashion apparel, often knock-offs of famous designers, at reasonable costs to young, fashion-conscious city-dwellers. Zara used in- house designers to present new items of clothing to customers twice a week, in response to sales and fashion trends. Thus the merchandise of any particular store was fresh and limited. To produce at such short notice required that Zara maintain a vertically integrated supply chain that distributed the clothes through a single state-of-the-art distribution centre.Unlike its competitors, 70- 80% of Zara garments wer e manufactured in Europe. In 2005, Pablo Isla was appointed the new Inditex chief executive. With plans to double the number of its stores by 2009, the rapid pace of growth was necessitating changes. First, Zara had opened a second distribution centre to increase capacity. Second, expanding into more distant markets meant that the number of items carried had increased to 12,000. Would Zara? ’s business model be able to scale up? Or would the resulting complexity compromise its speed advantage?Would Pablo Isla be able to maintain the focus that Zara had established? – 3 -305-308-1 LBS-CS-05-037 THE RETAIL APPAREL INDUSTRY AND COMPETITORS The apparel industry was one of the most globalised industries, with 23. 6 million workers in over 20 countries. As labour costs in Western European countries had risen, labour-intensive manufacturing operations had become increasingly outsourced to less developed countries. Hourly wages in the textile industry could be as low as 60 cen ts in India and China, compared with $2 in North Africa, $3 in Eastern Europe, $8. 50 in Spain, and around $15. 0 in Italy. The 1974 Multi-Fibre Arrangement, which placed import quotas on garments and textiles from developing countries to the industrialised world, had expired on 1 January 2005 for all members of the World Trade Organization. This was amplifying the relocation of textile and garment manufacture to countries with lower labour costs, especially China. For example, in 2004, 400 Spanish textile groups went out of business, due to competition from Asia, resulting in the loss of 15,000 jobs. The Spanish textile guild predicted a loss of another 72,000 jobs by 2009. The apparel retail channels had consolidated during the 1990s, with a few large players dominating most major markets. Competitors included department stores, mass merchandisers (e. g. discounters and supermarkets) and specialty stores. Department stores were usually national players, like Marks & Spencer in the United Kingdom or Federated in the USA. Typically, they had lost market share in recent years. Mass merchandisers such as Target, Tesco and Wal-Mart had increasingly added private label clothes to their mix over the years to become major players.There were many successful specialty chains like Benetton, C&A, Hennes & Mauritz (referred to as H&M), The Limited, Mango and Next. The traditional apparel industry model worked on long lead times (see Exhibit 1). The industry average was around nine months, around six months for design and three months for manufacturing. As a result, 45-60% of production was committed in the six-month pre-season period, with 80-100% committed by the start of the season. Only the remaining 0-20% was generally manufactured in-season in response to sales patterns.Excess inventory was marked down at the end of the season, and typically accounted for 30-40% of sales. Despite their best efforts, Zara? ’s closest competitors, H&M and Gap, still took around five months to produce new clothing lines. H&M Swedish clothing chain H&M was founded in 1947. By 2005, it had close to 32,000 employees, just under 1,100 stores in 20 countries. In 2005, it planned to open 155 new stores in Europe and the US. Its 2004 sales were ? â‚ ¬6 billion, which yielded a profit of 1. 24 billion. With close to 30% of its sales, Germany was H&M? s largest market, while the US generated only Iman for H&M Germany – 4 -305-308-1 LBS-CS-05-037 6. 4% of its 2004 sales. It manufactured 60% of its clothes in Asia. H&M? ’s business concept was to offer fashion and quality at the best price. In order to offer the latest fashion, H&M had its own buying and design department. It claimed to achieve the best price by: Few middlemen Buying in large volumes Having a broad, in-depth knowledge of design, fashion, and textiles Buying the right products from the right market Being cost conscious at every stage Having efficient distribution H&M? ’s c lothing lines in men? ’s wear, women? ’s wear and children? ’s wear, as well as its cosmetics range, targeted cost-conscious shoppers. Within H&M women? ’s wear were different sub-brands: Hennes (women aged 25-35), L. O. G. G. (casual sportswear), Impuls (young women? ’s trends), BiB (plus-size line), Woman (classic), Clothes (current trends), MAMA (maternity) and Rocky (youth fashion). There were also different sub-brands within the men? ’s and children? ’s lines.H&M stores generally had a somewhat chaotic, marketplace feel, with clothes packed tightly onto racks, frequent markdowns, and queues at the cash register. H&M devoted 5% of its revenues to advertising. Its high-profile ad campaigns featured celebrities, such as Claudia Schiffer, Johnny Depp, Naomi Campbell and Jerry Hall, wearing its low-cost clothes. Dedicated collections by star designers Karl Lagerfeld and Stella McCartney in 2004-5 continued to create buzz among its cus tomers. The Gap Gap opened its first store in San Francisco in 1969, where it sold mainly Levis jeans.In 1991, Gap announced its decision to sell only private label brands. With around 3,000 stores and 152,000 employees worldwide, Gap positioned itself as a provider of high quality, basic items, such as jeans, khakis and t-shirts. In addition to Old Navy and Banana Republic, Gap? ’s chains included GapBody, GapKids, and babyGap. Its 2004 sales were around ? â‚ ¬12. 5 billion, with a profit of $1. 4 billion. Nearly all of Gap? ’s products were manufactured outside the US, with 18% of its collection made in China. Gap? ’s stores were spacious, with stock well spaced Madonna for Gap and neatly presented.There was an emphasis on service, with a call button in fitting rooms for customers requiring assistance with clothing sizes. Television advertisements featured hip music and dance sequences, with appearances by celebrities such as Madonna, Lenny Kravitz, Sarah J essica Parker and Joss Stone. – 5 -305-308-1 LBS-CS-05-037 INDITEX HISTORY Spanish entrepreneur Amancio Ortega Gaona started a firm manufacturing lingerie and nightwear in 1963, after quitting his job as a runner for a shirtmaker in La Coruna. He founded Confecciones GOA in 1972, and opened the first Zara store in 1975, to sell stock after a customer cancelled a large order.Ortega founded the Inditex group in 1985. After floating 26% of its shares on the Madrid stock exchange in 2001, he remained its majority shareholder, with 61% of the company? ’s shares. Ortega retained a low profile, rarely making public appearances (apart from during the run-up to the IPO in 2000), and had never given an interview. Jose Maria Castellano Rios joined Inditex in 1985 and became its Chief Executive in 1997. Castellano had previously been IT manager of Aegon Espana SA, and had a doctorate in economics and business studies. In 2005, Inditex developed a five-year plan, which included a b oard restructure.As part of the restructure, Pablo Isla Alvarez de Tejera was appointed as Chief Executive in May 2005. Isla came from the Franco-Spanish tobacco group Altadis, where he had been co-chairman. Isla was chosen for his experience in international distribution. Ortega stayed on as the group? ’s Chairman, and Castellano remained the Deputy Chairman. Portfolio of Stores Besides Zara, which was targeted at trendy city youngsters, Inditex grew its portfolio of apparel chains throughout the 1990s. Each chain was targeted at a specific segment (see Exhibit 2): Massimo Dutti ? – Young businessmen Pull & Bear – Elegant male clothing Berksha ? – Elegant fashion for young women Brettos ? – Trendy young suburban women Oysho ? – Lingerie Stradivarius ? – Youthful fashion Kiddy? ’s Class ? – Trendy children In 2003, Inditex opened a home furnishings chain called Zara Home. By 2005, Zara made up close to 70% of Indit ex sales and led the group? ’s international expansion (see Exhibit 3). While, as a group, Inditex had about twice the number of stores as H&M, Zara? ’s 700 stores were fewer in number than H&M? ’s. Inditex was aggressively expanding, and planned to increase its 2,000 stores to 4,000 by 2009, in Europe, Asia, and the U.S. (see Exhibit 4). In terms of profits, Inditex was performing well compared with its main competitor, H&M (see Exhibit 5 and Exhibit 6). Aamancio Ortega Gaona Inditex Chairman – 6 – 305-308-1 LBS-CS-05-037 THE ZARA STORE 91% of Zara stores were company-owned; the rest were franchises or joint ventures. Customers entering a Zara store on Regent Street in London, Rue Rivoli in Paris, Fifth Avenue in New York or Avenidas das Americas in Rio de Janeiro generally found themselves in the same environment: a predominantly white, modern and spacious store, well-lit and walled with mirror.The latest fashions hung from the store racks around them. A long line of people typically waited at the cash registers to pay for their purchases: a few select items. Shop Window of Zara, New York In comparison with other clothing retailers, who spent 3-4% of sales on advertising, Zara spent just 0. 3%. The little it did spend went to reinforce its identity as a clothing retailer that was low-cost but high fashion (see Exhibit 7). Instead Zara concentrated on creating compelling store windows and to the design of its shops, which had won awards.It relied on its shop windows, which were dramatically lit and used neutral backgrounds, to communicate its brand image. The shop windows of Zara stores were changed regularly, according to display designs sent by headquarters, and were critical for Zara to remain visible and entice customers. Store locations were carefully researched to determine that there was a sufficiently large customer base for Zara2, and as such were generally busy, prestigious, city centre shopping streets. Zara was a fashion imitator.It focussed its attention on understanding what fashion items its customers wanted and then delivering them, rather than on promoting predicted season? ’s trends via fashion shows and similar channels of influence, that the fashion industry traditionally used. Its 200 in-house designers were trend-spotters who kept their finger on the fashion pulse, and translated trends into styles that were universally accessible. At Zara headquarters in La Coruna, store specialists (who were responsible for a number of stores in a region) worked closely with designers to develop styles that would work for different arkets. Collections were renewed every year, with an average of 11,000 styles produced annually, compared with the more typical collections of 2,000-4,000 produced annually by rivals H&M and Gap. Production and distribution of new clothing pieces was favoured over replenishing existing items, contributing to the perception of scarcity cultivated in Zara stores. Customers returned frequently to stores, to browse new items. The global average of 17 visits per customer per year for Zara was considerably higher than the three visits to its competitors. Visitors were also more likely to purchase, as one senior executive explained: Zara? ’s objective is not that consumers buy a lot but that they buy often and will find something new every time they enter the store. 4 – 7 -305-308-1 LBS-CS-05-037 Comments by Luis Blanc, and Inditex director, illustrated how Zara stores fostered an environment of immediacy: We want our customers to understand that if they like something, they must buy it now, because it won? ’t be in the shops the following week. It is all about creating a climate of scarcity and opportunity. Affordable prices helped to encourage purchases, and Zara? ’s offering was often referred to as clothing to be worn six to ten times. Zara? ’s pricing differed across country markets. It set prices accordin g to individual market conditions, rather than using cost plus margin as its basis (which was the formula used by most of its competitors). In Spain, Zara products were low-cost, while in the US, Japan and Mexico, they were priced as a luxury fashion item. Prices in France were somewhat higher than in Spain, since the average French consumer was willing to pay more for fashion than most other European consumers.For example, in 2003, the price of jeans in Zara stores in France was $34. 58 compared with $24. 87 in Spain and $54 in Japan. 6 Until 2002, Zara had used one price tag listing the price in different currencies, to simplify tagging of items. In 2002, however, it implemented a system of local pricing, using a bar code reader that printed the correct local price for items. Compared with its competitors, Zara generally priced its products somewhat higher than C&A and H&M, but below Gap, Next and Kookai. For example, a similar shirt cost $26 at Zara, compared with a price of $29 at Gap and $9 at H&M. Store Management Store managers were encouraged to run their store like a small business. Salespeople were well trained, and Zara promoted its people from within as much as possible. Store managers? ’ remuneration was partially dependent on the accuracy of their sales forecasts and sales growth. 8 Each evening a handheld PDA displayed the newest designs sent by headquarters, which were available for order. Order deadlines were twice weekly, and were issued via the handhelds. Store managers who failed to order by the deadline received replenishment items only.Store managers regularly spoke with store specialists, who also received real time sales data from stores, to discuss which items were selling well or if customers had requested Zara Store, Barcelona specific items. This information was then fed back to the design process. 9 Deliveries arrived at stores twice per week from Zara headquarters, a few days after the order was made, and contained both rep lenishment items as well as – 8 -305-308-1 LBS-CS-05-037 new products. Headquarters also sometimes included products that had not been ordered, which stores expected to receive.If demand of an item exceeded supply, some stores did not receive the product they had ordered. Zara also tested some of its products in limited numbers in its test stores, before introducing them on a wider scale. Failure rates of Zara? ’s new products were reported to be just 1%, considerably lower than the industry average of 10%. 10 Technology was a key part of enabling communications and information flow. While information technology was fundamental to its business, its IT infrastructure was relatively simple (even dated by some standards), which meant that Zara? s IT expenditure was significantly lower than its rivals (as much as five to ten times lower). 11 Deputy Chairman Jose Maria Castellano explained the key role played by technology: Technology in this company is important and will b e more important in the future. The technology we use is mainly information technology and [enables] the communication between the shop managers and the design team here in headquarters. 12 THE ZARA SUPPLY CHAIN Around 50% of Zara? ’s garments were sourced from third parties. Unlike its competitors, Zara? s outsourced production came for the most part from Europe (60%), with just 27% coming from Asia, and another 10% from the rest of the world. The products sourced from Asia were basic collection items or wardrobe ? â€Å"staples,? † with minimum fashion content, such as T-shirts, lingerie and woollens, and where there was a clear cost advantage. Formal contracts were kept to a minimum, and Zara was generally a preferred customer due to its order volume and stability. 13 Externally manufactured items were shipped to Zara? ’s distribution centre. Zara intended to source more of the collection from Asia in the future, as commented by Castellano: ? In the next few years, we will source more basic items from China and Vietnam, but the high value added fashion items will continue to be made closer to home.? †14 The other 50% of Zara? ’s garments, those that were more fashion-dependent, were manufactured in-house, in more than 20 Zara factories located in nearby Arteixo. 15 For its in-house manufacturing, it purchased fabric from Comditel, a subsidiary of Inditex. Half of this fabric was purchased grey (undyed) to enable Zara to respond to changes in colour trends during the season. Dye was purchased from Fibracolor, in which Inditex held a stake.A team of 200 young, talented yet unknown designers were hired (often recent graduates of top design schools) to create designs, based on the latest fashions from the catwalk and other fashion hotspots, which were easily translatable to the mass market. 16 Working alongside the market specialists and production planners, designers for each of Zara? ’s collections (Woman, Man, Child) kept in-touch with market developments, to create around 40,000 new designs per year, of which around one-quarter were manufactured. 17 The design and – 9 -305-308-1 LBS-CS-05-037 production working environment was consistent with Zara? s flat hierarchical structure, in which prima donnas were not tolerated. 18 Illustration: Fast Fashion Computers were used to guide the cutting tools, using patterns made from selected designs. Zara tried to keep its offering of any style simple, usually in three sizes and three colours only. The labour intensive sewing of the garments was outsourced to around 500 local subcontractors, who used seamstresses in cooperatives. Zara was usually their sole client, and they worked without any written contracts. Zara paid these subcontrators a flat fee per type of garment, (e. g. , ? 5 for a pair of trousers and ? â‚ ¬15 per jacket) and they were expected to operate on short lead times and fast turnaround. Subcontractors picked up the prepared fab ric pieces from Zara, and returned them to the 500,000 m2 distribution centre. 19 At the Zara distribution centre, optical reading devices were used to sort and distribute over 60,000 items per hour. The garments were then picked up and transported by truck to different destinations all over Europe (which made up about 75% of deliveries). Products for more distant destinations were transported by air (about 25%).Throughout the process, garments were tracked using bar codes. Shipments tended to have almost zero flaws, with 98. 9% accuracy and under 0. 5% shrinkage. 20 Since Zara? ’s garments were produced in-house, it was able to make a new line from start to finish in just three weeks (see Exhibit 8). This varied somewhat depending on the type of garment: new garments took about five weeks from design to store delivery, while revamped existing items could take as little as two weeks. As a result Zara could be responsive to fashion items that were selling well during the seaso n, and to discontinue those that were not.By constantly refreshing the collection, and manufacturing items in high-intensity, Zara was a master of picking up up-to-the- minute trends and churning them out to stores around the world in a matter of weeks. ?†¢After Madonna? ’s first concert date in Spain during a recent tour, her outfit was copied by Zara designers. By the time she performed her last concert in Spain, some members of the audience were wearing the same outfit. ?†¢In 2003, when the Crown Prince of Spain announced his engagement to Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano, she wore a white trouser-suit for the occasion (pictured left).In just a few weeks, the same white trouser-suit was hanging from Zara? ’s clothes racks all over Europe, where it was snatched up by the ranks Crown Prince Felipe of Spain and Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano of the fashion-conscious. – 10 -305-308-1 LBS-CS-05-037 short-runs, Zara was able to prevent the accumulation of non-saleable inventories. It was estimated that Zara committed just 15-25% of production before the season began, 50 to 60% at the start of the season, and the remainder manufactured in-season. Percentage of Zara sales consisting of markdowns was 15-20%. In some cases, stores ran out of stock.However, this was not viewed as a negative since it contributed to customers? ’ perception of the uniqueness of their purchase: ? â€Å"Customers are actually satisfied to see items out of stock as they are then confident that there is little chance that many other customers will wear the same dress.? †21 Castellano explained the rationale for this departure from industry norms: We don? ’t want to compete in the bottom end of the market. We offer fashion with a high design content. If I tried to source my collections in Asia, I would not be able to get them quickly enough to our stores.By manufacturing close to home, I can scrap collections when they are not selling. And without this ra pid response, I would not be able to extract a good relation between quality, price and fashion which is what our customers have come to expect. 22 A study in 2000 estimated that Zara managed to generate 14. 7% operating margins as a percentage of sales, compared with 10. 6% for Gap and 12. 3% for H&M. Additionally, the same study put Zara? ’s inventory turnover at 10. 67 outpacing Gap at 7. 18 and H&M at 6. 84. 23 THE FUTURE Following Zara? ’s success, competitors sought to reduce their own lead times.The competitive advantage achieved by Zara? ’s vertical integration appeared to be eroding. With its highly centralised structure and its rapid growth, Zara was producing around 12,000 different items per year by 2005. As it opened stores in increasingly distant markets, would Zara be able to retain its flexibility in adjusting production to accommodate differences in local trends? Would the increase in complexity result in a need to create regional production fac ilities? How would this affect the advantage Zara gained from its centralization?Might Chinese clothing manufacturers prove to be a competitive threat to Zara, with their high capacity and continuous improvements in quality? Castellano discounted this threat: ? â€Å"Being a Zara or Gap is not just about designing fashionable clothes and manufacturing them cheaply. You must also make the transition to being a retailer. It is a big step from manufacturing to distribution. There is also the question of managing the location and presentation of stores, training staff and so on.? †24 The Zara model seemed to work better in markets where customers had an appetite for fashion (such as France, Italy, Japan and the UK).However, in countries such as France and Italy, Zara had received bad press for copying – 11 -305-308-1 LBS-CS-05-037 designs from couture labels, and the French Fashion Federation had called for limited access by reporters to fashion shows to minimize imitation by copycatters. In other markets, where consumers were less fashion-focussed (e. g. Germany and the U. S. A. ) Zara seemed somewhat less successful. Would Zara be better served in the long run by increasing penetration in these fashion- sensitive markets, or by extending its global reach through increased presence in more markets? – 12 -305-308-1 LBS-CS-05-037Exhibit 1: Traditional Season for a High Street Store Adapted from Dutta, 200425 – 13 – 305-308-1 LBS-CS-05-037 Exhibit 2: Inditex Stores and Sales Sales, by Division (2004-5) Zara Home Kiddy? ’s Class Pull & Bear 6. 7% Massimo Dutti 8. 5% Bershka 9. 1% Zara 67. 4% Stradivarius 4. 3% 1. 3% Oysho Source: Handelsbank, 2005 Source: Financial Times, 2005 Percentage of Stores (2005) 0. 7% 2. 1% Zara Home Kiddy? ’s Class 3% Oysho 5% Stradivarius 10% Pull & Bear 16% 6% Zara 31% Dutti 15% Bershka 14% – 14 – 305-308-1 LBS-CS-05-037 Exhibit 3: Number of Zara Stores by Country (31 March 20 05) Russia Slovenia2 2Hungary Czech Rep.Lithuania1 Asia Pacific = 21 Japan14 Malaysia3 Europe = 576 3 Sweden Denmark Finland Iceland 2 2 1 1 4Romania 3Estonia 1Latvia1 Singapore Hong Kong Mexico Venezuela Brazil Argentina Chile Uruguay El Salvador Panama Dominican Rep. 1 Spain244 Portugal41 France83 Greece30 UK34 Belgium17 Germany34 Italy23 Eire4 Turkey11 Cyprus3 Holland6 Switzerland 6 Poland7 Austria6 Malta1 Andorra1 Luxembourg 2 3USA16 1Canada12 Americas = 98 Middle East & Africa = 40 Saudi Arabia Israel UAE Kuwait Lebanon Jordan Qatar Bahrain Morocco 13 13 4 4 2 1 1 1 1 34 8 13 5 5 2 1 1Adapted from Inditex, 2005 Exhibit 4: Inditex Store Formats ZaraKiddy? sPull & Bear Class – 15 -305-308-1 LBS-CS-05-037 MassimoBershkaStradivariusOyshoZara Home Dutti 2004 2003 2004 2003 2004 2003 2004 2003 2004 2003 2004 2003 2004 2003 2004 2003 No of stores723626 Turnover* 3,820 3,220 129103371350 121 90 379 288 22 18. 0 56 19 12. 8 13. 4 30. 5 31 2. 11. 96. 76. 3 61% 80% 44% 16% 32729730 2 481 389 516 75 60 83 41. 9 40. 9 35. 7 8. 58. 59. 1 50% 56% 52% 253227191104 395 242 162 72 57 394 16 33. 8 15. 4 16. 6 31. 5 8. 64. 33. 51. 3 46% 43%5% 52% 766226 45 40 11 2 0. 3 (0. 5) 35. 1 12. 7 8. 5 10. 70. 2 7%2%– Operating Income* % international sales 648 476 65. 8 63. 5 67. 470 % of Inditex ROCE 38% 33% in millions of Euros, rounded off. Source: Inditex press dossier, 2005 – 16 -305-308-1 LBS-CS-05-037 Exhibit 5: Key Indicators of Gap, H&M and Inditex (Financial Years 2003 & 2004) GapiH&MInditex 29 29 30 30 31 31 Reporting Date Sales (millions ? â‚ ¬) Gross Profit (millions ? â‚ ¬) Operating Profit (millions ? â‚ ¬) Profit (millions ? â‚ ¬) Profit after tax (millions ? â‚ ¬) Total Assets (millions ? â‚ ¬) Inventories (millions ? â‚ ¬) January 2005ii January 2004iii November 2004iv November 2003v JanuaryJanuary 20052004 12,47012,6966,0295,3305,6704,599 4,8924,7803,4492,9943,0342,306 1,5981,5221,1981,019925627 1,4351,3491,2361,062886613 88 2826817706628446 ,7038,5793,1592,8474,2093,510 1,3901,365577558514486 Stores Employees 152,000150,00031,70128,40947,04639,760 Countries 56 20185648 2,9943,0221,0689452,2441,922 Total square3,3993,3931,364vin/a metres (thousands) 1,175988 Source: Inditex, H&M and Gap, 2005 i Gap Inc? ’s stores include Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic. Gap? ’s sales were ? â‚ ¬5. 6 million, with 1643 stores, and 1. 43 million square metres. ii Exchange Rate of 29 January 2005 is used for all currency calculations: 0. 76660 USD = 1? â‚ ¬ iii Exchange Rate of 29 January 2004 is used for all currency calculations 0. 80080 USD = ? 1 iv Exchange Rate of 30 November 2004 is used for all currency calculations 0. 11230 SEK = 1? â‚ ¬ v Exchange Rate of 30 November 2003 is used for all currency calculations 0. 11050 SEK = 1? â‚ ¬ vi Estimated (Adapted from Datamonitor, 2005). Exhibit 6: Iniditex vs. H&M (1998-2004) Sales, Inditex vs H&M (Millions, ? â‚ ¬) – 17 – Indit ex H&M 305-308-1 LBS-CS-05-037 Number of Stores, Inditex vs H&M (1999-2004) 7,000 6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 0 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 22244 66029 5670 1922 55,058 5330 1558 11284 682771 99451068 IInditex H&M 44599 1080 613 44,196 3,980 3,250 922 8844 33,255 1,614 2,035 3,508 2,615 ,631 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 NNumber of Countries, Inditex vs H&M (1999-2004) 60 50 40 30 20 10 556 11998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 44 14 448 330 12 339 33 1414 118 220 IInditex H&M 0 0 11999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 AAdapted from Inditex and H&M, 2005 – 18 -305-308-1 LBS-CS-05-037 Exhibit 7: A Zara advertisement The Cheap Frock coat (119) White shirt (25) ZARA Black necktie (65) HACKETT Woollen Trousers (45) and Black boots (55), both ZARA The Expensive Black cashmere frock coat (950) White tuxedo shirt (190) Black necktie (86) and Woollen Trousers (380) both RALPH LAUREN Black boots (500) are by UNGARO 19 -305-308-1 LBS-CS-05-037 Exhibit 8: Zara Season Adapted from Dutta, 200 4 Endnotes – 20 -305-308-1 LBS-CS-05-037 1 Crawford, L. (2005) ? â€Å"Inditex sizes up Europe in expansion drive,? † Financial Times, 1 February 2005, p. 30. 2 Ferdows, K. J. , A. D. Machuca and M. Lewis (2003) ? â€Å"Zara,? † CIBER Case Collection, Indiana University. 3 D? ’Andrea, G. and D. Arnold (2003) ? â€Å"Zara,? † Harvard Business School Case 9-503-050, p. 7. 4 ? â€Å"Zara, la deferlante de la mode espagnole,? † Interview with Stephane Labelle, MD of Zara France, Enjeux-Les Echos, February 1996. 5 Crawford, L. (2000) ? Inside Track: Putting on the style with rapid response,? † Financial Times, 26 February 2000. 6 D? ’Andrea, G. and D. Arnold (2003) ? â€Å"Zara,? † Harvard Business School Case 9-503-050, p. 19. 7 D? ’Andrea, G. and D. Arnold (2003) ? â€Å"Zara,? † Harvard Business School Case 9-503-050, p. 18 8 Ferdows, K. J. , K. M. Lewis and J. A. D. Machuca (2003) ? â€Å"Zara,? † Supp ly Chain Forum 4(2): 62. 9 Ferdows, K. J. , A. D. Machuca and M. Lewis (2003) ? â€Å"Zara,? † CIBER Case Collection, Indiana University, p. 6. 10 Ghemawat, P. and J. L. Nueno (2003) ? â€Å"Zara: Fast Fashion,? † Harvard Business School Case 9-703-497, p. 10. 11 ? The Future of Fast Fashion,? † The Economist, 18 June 2005, p. 63. 12 ? â€Å"Zara: A Retailer? ’s Dream,? † from http://www. fashionunited. co. uk/news/archive/inditex1. htm 13 Ferdows, K. J. , A. D. Machuca and M. Lewis (2003) ? â€Å"Zara,? † CIBER Case Collection, Indiana University, p. 7. 14 Crawford, L. (2005) ? â€Å"Inditex sizes up Europe in expansion drive,? † Financial Times, 1 February 2005, p. 30. 15 Fraiman, N. , M. Singh, L. Arrington and C. Paris (2002) ? â€Å"Zara,? † Columbia Business School Case, p. 5. 16 Ghemawat, P. and J. L. Nueno (2003) ? â€Å"Zara: Fast Fashion,? † Harvard Business School Case 9-703-497, p. 0. 17 Fraiman, N. , M. Singh , L. Arrington and C. Paris (2002) ? â€Å"Zara,? † Columbia Business School Case, p. 5. 18 Ferdows, K. J. , A. D. Machuca and M. Lewis (2003) ? â€Å"Zara,? † CIBER Case Collection, Indiana University, p. 6. 19 Fraiman, N. , M. Singh, L. Arrington and C. Paris (2002) ? â€Å"Zara,? † Columbia Business School Case, p. 6. 20 Ferdows, K. J. , A. D. Machuca and M. Lewis (2003) ? â€Å"Zara,? † CIBER Case Collection, Indiana University, p. 8. 21 Interview with Anthony Pralle, Senior Vice President of Boston Consulting Group, Madrid, 13 July 1999, as quoted in Harle, N. , M. Pich and L.Van der Heyden (2002) ? â€Å"Marks & Spencer and Zara: Process Competition in the Textile Apparel Industry,? † INSEAD Case 602- 010-1. 22 Crawford, L. ?â€Å"Inditex sizes up Europe in expansion drive: Rapid design, manufacture and distribution keep pressure on rivals,? † Financial Times, 1 February 2005. 23 D? ’Andrea, G. and D. Arnold (2003) ? â€Å"Zara ,? † Harvard Business School Case 9-503-050. 24 Crawford, L. (2005) ? â€Å"Inditex sizes up Europe in expansion drive,? † Financial Times, 1 February 2005, p. 30. 25 Dutta, D. (2004) ? â€Å"Brand Watch: Zara,? † Images Fashion Forum Presentation, New Delhi, 12 February 2004.

Compare the theme of outsiders in Frankenstein Essay

      D, so he wanted to join the terrorist group to seek revenge. In this respect Daz is similar to the monster, they are both willing to commit heinous crimes for vengeance. ‘ Del that’s my brovver thay catch im raiding wiv Dred. Top him don’t thay. ‘ This quote shows how Daz’s brother was killing in a raid with Dred. After the night in the Blue Moon where he saved Zoe and her friends, Daz finds himself an outcast from two societies. He was still physically a ‘chippy’, which means he is not allowed in Silverdale; however, he helped out the enemy ‘subbies’ which make him not an accepted chippy. After Daz and Zoe they contact each other through letters and finally when they meet, the reader recognise that Daz does not want to be a ‘chippy. ‘ Throughout this novel we are constantly reminded of this forbidden love. ‘ I seen this Subby girl, our mam. Forget her, Daz. Not easy, our mam. Not easy. ‘ Daz is given a negative response from his mum, when he explains that he has met Zoe. However, once Daz meets Zoe he realises he does not want to be an outsider any longer, Daz’s priorities and views of ‘subbies’ change. Like Victor, Daz is very determined; he takes a lot of risks for Zoe and to make his life better. It appears to the reader that Zoe has the perfect life, money, nice houses, cars and good facilities. However it becomes evermore clear that Zoe feels trapped and unhappy. Zoe is an outsider because after she meets Daz, Silverdale citizens see her as a ‘chippy lover. ‘ ‘That’s why we have fences and lights and guards†¦ some kids get fed up being cooped up†¦ a suburbs a pretty nice place†¦ but any place with a fence around’ll get to you, eventually. ‘ This quote shows the reader how a Subby teenager can become fed up with the enclosed lifestyle. Zoe feels this because she is brainwashed into believing her existence is happy and enjoyable. Similar to Daz, when the two forbidden lovers meet her priorities changes. Zoe the loyal and hard working daughter rebels against her parent’s old fashioned and single minded views. Unlike Daz, Zoe is an outsider by choice. Her easiest option could have been to lead a normal life as a young, well-educated Silverdale resident. Nevertheless, Zoe decides to leave the suburb and live in the city, choosing to become an outsider from two societies. Zoe chooses to be an outsider and is similar to Victor; she sees that defending things that are important to her holds great risks. ‘†¦ For the first time I contemplated the enormity of the step I had just taken†¦ ‘ This quote shows how Zoe realises that she has left her Subby life to live in the city; this is the first physical sign of her becoming an outsider. In Daz 4 Zoe Zoe’s Grandmother is not an obvious outsider. To begin with Grandma is not a visible outsider, although later we go on to find she is the founder of the illegitimate organisation. She is very similar to Robert Walton as they are both outsiders in their thoughts and views, however they are not outcasts. Grandma was part of an underground outfit called F. A. I. R, which stands for Fraternal Alliance for Integration through Reunification. Resembling Victor, Robert Walton and Zoe, she is an outsider through choice and these views influence Zoe. Daz 4 Zoe and Frankenstein both discuss outsiders in society, and how people can be born outcasts and how others chose to be secluded from society because of their ambitions, beliefs or interests. We read how Daz and the Monster we forced into seclusion, isolated from society. Also how Zoe, Victor, Grandma and Robert Walton choose to live their lives dangerously and even unhappily because of their thoughts. The nineteenth century literature and the contemporary novel are relevant to today’s society. In the present culture we have different castes, religions, races even different accents, Daz 4 Zoe shows an extreme version of abused power and prejudice. Due to advances in medical science in the present day limbs can be sewn on, body parts reshaped new skin tissue be formed. Frankenstein again shows excessive power, since the novel was written we have had cloning and artificial body parts The two novels both are severe results of social issues we have today. I feel the moral of the two novels combined is that with no action, modern society could find themselves in these difficult situations. 1 Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Mary Shelley section. Download this essay Print Save Not the one? Search for

A Killer Marketing Plan Essay

If you are the founder of a new startup or an existing business it’s highly recommended that you develop a roadmap that will get you from where you are today to where you want to be tomorrow, six months from now, or a year or longer down the road. The roadmap is a guide to help you overcome roadblocks, prevent costly mistakes and eliminate time-consuming detours that can prevent you from attaining your goals, and reaching your ultimate destination. We typically refer to this roadmap as a marketing plan. A marketing plan should be a formal written document, not recalled from memory or something scribbled on a napkin. To take your business to the next level requires preparing a written marketing action plan. There are 12 recognized marketing planning models in use today. The Top 5 most popular marketing planning models include: * 7 P’s Marketing Matrix – The seven elements of the marketing mix: Product, Price, Place, Promotion, People, Process and Physical evidence , form the core tactical components (see below) of the marketing plan. * Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning – This three stage process involves analysing which distinct customer groups exist and which segment the product best suits before implementing the communications strategy tailored for the chosen target group. * SOSTAC ® – This acronym stands for Situation, Objectives, Strategy, Tactics, Actions and Control and is a very popular classic marketing planning framework for creating marketing plans. SOSTAC is more comprehensive and borrows elements of several of the other popular marketing planning models. * Ansoff’s Growth Strategy Matrix – Ansoff’s Growth Strategy Matrix identifies alternative growth strategies by looking at present and potential products in current and future markets. The four growth strategies include: market penetration, market development, product development and diversification. * Porter’s Five Forces – In a blog post dated November 21, 2011, I covered Michael E. Porter’s Five Forces marketing planning model. The Five Forces are Rivalry, Supplier Power, Threat of Substitutes, Buyer Power and Barriers to Entry and are used to analyse the industry context in which the organisation operates. Porter’s Five Forces are required reading in any graduate course on Marketing or Strategic Planning. For my money, the SOSTAC ® marketing planning model is the model I use the most when developing marketing plans. First, let’s begin by defining what SOSTAC is: What is SOSTAC ®? SOSTAC ® is a marketing planning model, originally developed in the 1990s to help with marketing planning by PR Smith, who together with Dave Chaffey co-authored Emarketing Excellence. SOSTAC ® stands for: * Situation – where are we now? * Objectives – where do we want to be? * Strategy – how do we get there? * Tactics – how exactly do we get there? * Action – what is our plan? * Control – did we get there? SOSTAC has been used to develop marketing plans for a broad range of industries. Here’s how SOSTAC is used to summarise the main issues to consider within a digital marketing strategy: You can see it gives a logical order for tackling your plan (with iterations) and a great way to summarise the main elements of each. Why is SOSTAC ® useful? SOSTAC ® has become very popular since it’s simple, easy to remember and covers all the main issues which you need in a marketing plan or business plan. Tips for using SOSTAC ®Ã‚  Here are some tips on how to use SOSTAC ® based on Chaffey’s experience applying the model in companies and in academia. 1. Use SOSTAC ® to review your process – Before looking at how you apply SOSTAC ® at each step to create a marketing plan, use it to review your planning process and how you manage your marketing. Ask yourself what you and your organisation are good at. Maybe you spend too much or too little time reviewing the situation. Perhaps you’re not so good at setting SMART objectives, or developing strategies to support them or the control stage of assessing how effective your strategies and tactics are and adjusting them? 2. Get the balance right across SOSTAC ® – Oftentimes, there is too much time spent on analysis within a plan and not enough on setting the strategies. So as a rule of  thumb, this is how your balance of content could look: Situation Analysis (20%), Objectives (5%), Strategy (45%) and Tactics (30%) = 100% 3. Summarise your Situation in a SWOT Analysis – To give focus to your situation analysis it is recommended that you utilize this form of SWOT analysis. This helps integrate SWOT with strategy. I also recommend that you read my blog post dated November 29, 2011 on how to prepare a SWOT analysis to plan for the future of your company. 4. Make your goals SMART and link them to your analytics/control process – Since digital marketing is so measurable, it makes sense to be specific as possible about your goals by developing a funnel conversion model. You should also setup specific goals in Google Analytics. But it’s worth thinking about the full range of goals indicated by the 5Ss. 5. Integrate the different elements of your SWOT Analysis – Oftentimes in a plan or report there isn’t good flow relating sections. To help this I recommend summarising your entire SOSTAC ® plan within a table. It’s important to note that a marketing plan can be for a product (the iPhone), a series of similar products (e.g. mobile devices) or an all-encompasing plan for a company. General Rules For Creating A Killer Marketing Plan There is no shortage of general rules for developing marketing plans, but if you want to create a killer marketing plan I have found that the following general rules work the best: * Stay focused – Don’t try to â€Å"boil the ocean† by going overboard or overstate the case with too many ideas, products or services. Know what your core business is going to be. Focus on one product or service at a time. * Where Are You Today – You must know where you are today in order to develop a roadmap to where you want to be in the future. * Keep Things Simple – Less is better. Avoid long sentences. Be brief. Avoid geeky tech terminology and acronyms. Use bullet points. Embellish with graphs, charts and images. * Be Realistic – Set realistic and measurable goals. Don’t try to conquer the world. Set goals that you can reasonably accomplish. * Know Your Strengths and Weaknesses – Take an inventory of your individual and management teams strengt hs and weaknesses. * Do Your Homework – Before you do anything do your research. Know your market, your ideal customers, market niches, your competitors, latest trends,  barriers-to-entry, methods of opeation, distribution channels, pricing models, and promotions and advertising methods used in the industry. The Key Steps To Develop A Killer Marketing Plan Using SOSTAC ® For large corporations it is not too unusual to see 100 page marketing plans. For a small startup, a marketing plan should be between 10-15 pages in length including graphs, charts and tables. The Apple iPhone launch marketing strategy provided above is a great example. Before you start preparing your marketing plan make sure that you have completed sufficient market research to determine if your idea, product or service is viable given all that you know about the marketplace you are entering. Situational Analysis – Where are we now? This is where you take inventory of where you are right now. I recommend that you conduct your market research before you prepare your marketing plan. The Situational Analysis should include the following: * Product or Service – Describe the product or service in simple terms. Describe the market need filled or problem your product or service solves. Identify the total value proposition your produce or service offers customers. * Market and Competition – Describe the type, size and geographic location of the market in which your product or service will compete, competitive landscape including the number of competitors, major competitors, direct competitors, market shares, market niches, stage of development and market trends. * Target Customers – Identify the individuals or organizations (â€Å"target market†) and customer segments you are targeting. In some cases, you may have more than one target market. Determine the following: * Who needs your product or service and why? * What is the profile of your ideal customer and what are their attributes? * How many potential customers are there? * How many different customer niches are there? * Is the target market or market niches underserved? * Describe your customers by their shared characteristics for individuals and organizations. * Individuals – Describe them by demographics: age, income, geographic location, and lifestyle. * Organizations – Describe them by number of employees, sales, geographic location,  and industry. * SWOT Analysis – Identify your competitive strengths and weaknesses, business opportunities and potential threats. Arrange your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats into a four-quadrant grid like the one below: The purpose of a SWOT Analysis is to help you build on your business’ strengths, minimize and correct the weaknesses, and take the greatest possible advantage of potential opportunities while formulating a plan to deal with potential threats. Think of a SWOT Analysis as a checkup for your business. Be honest with yourself, if you lack a strong marketing and sales team, list it as a weakness. I also recommend that you read my blog post datedNovember 29, 2011 on how to prepare a SWOT analysis to plan for the future of your company. * Management Team – List the key members of your present management team and very brief description of their business and industry experience and education. If you believe you will need to add key individuals to the management team list their position, title and duties. * Milestones Accomplished – Elaborate on significant milestones that have accomplished to date. Include major new customers, revenues, no of unique visitors, downloads, new patents, major personnel additions and awards. Objectives – Where do you want to be? * Goals and Objectives – Set realistic goals and objectives. Make sure your goals and objectives are measureable and achievable. Measure them against your own efforts and abilities, not your competitors. There are two types of goals and objectives: * Quantitative – Those with specific, measurable results and numbers. * Qualitative – Those that increase value, like improving image or visibility. Strategy – How do we get there? Your marketing strategies answer the big question: HOW do you get from where you are today to where you want to be tomorrow? Be creative and brainstorm with your team. Don’t think in terms of what other organizations or individuals have done, but how you are going to get it done. Your marketing strategies should include the following: * Core Marketing Message – Your core marketing message is a short description of your business, products and services, employees, core values, business philosophy, mission and value proposition you bring to the customer  relationship. Your core message should project what makes you unique and be conveyed in a manner that instantly connects with your ideal customers. * Define Your Brand – Your brand isn’t just your corporate identity like your logo, tag line, motto or its visual associations such as unique design, colors or packaging, but the relationship you have with your customers. Your brand’s value proposition in cludes everything you have promised your customers: quality products, great prices, better selection, great service, more locations, moneyback guarantee, free delivery, etc. * Positioning Statement – How you intend to position your company in the marketplace. Will you compete on the basis of differentiation (e.g. technology leader, quality, durability, broad selection, etc.), target a specific market niche (e.g. Affluent, professionals, SMB’s, management, etc) or compete on the basis of price (e.g. luxury, premium, medium, bargain or low price). Explain why you have chosen this particular market position. * Business Model – According to Peter Drucker, the late Harvard management guru, â€Å"A business model is nothing else than a representation of how an organization makes (or intends to make) money.† But, a business model is far more than this. Mark W. Johnson, the Harvard professor and author of â€Å"Seizing The White Space,† says that a business model consists of three components: 1) It identifies an important job a customer needs to get done and then proposing an offering that fulfills that job better than any alternative the customer can turn to–in short, the customer value proposition (CVP), 2) A pricing model and profit formula that shows quantitatively that you can make a profit delivering on the CVP, and 3) You can identify which company resources and which processes are essential to delivering the CVP. To develop your business model I highly recommend that you read my blog post dated November 5, 2011, January 26, 2012, and February 26, 2012. * Pricing Model – Describe the methodology you will use to set prices for your products and services. Prices should reflect competitive factors, economic conditions, nature of the market and how you intend to position yourself in the marketplace. Pricing should take into account fixed and variable costs associated with each product or service, so that you can generate a sufficient gross profit. Prices and profit margins should be determined by distribution channel. Describe if you will use different price levels depending on quantities ordered and type of customer. * Launch Strategy  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Describe your go-to-market strategy for your product or service. Describe when, the method used to announce your market entry, and how you will manage your market entry during the first 30-to-90 days. * Distribution Strategy – Describe the distribution channels you will utilize to get your product or service to your target market (e.g. direct-to-consumer, ecommerce, retail stores, dealers and distributors, infomercials, mail order catalog, direct mail, email, etc.) and specific reasons you are using each channel. * Sales Strategy – Describe who is actually going to sell your product or service. Will you be using inside sales personnel, inbound or outbound sales personnel, outside sales personnel, manufacturer’s representatives, independent salespeople or network marketing personnel. * Advertising and Promotions Strategy – Determine what media channels you will use to market and promote your products and services to your target market (e.g. print ads, television, radio, direct marketing, ecommerce, social media and events). The types of media channels you will use will depend on your unique requirements, budget constraints, and practices within your industry. * Public Relations Strategy – Describe the methods you will utilize to inform, communicate and educate your public (e.g. customers, media, vendors, academia) about your company and its products and services. * Strategic Alliances – Describe the nature and type of third-party alliances you anticipated will be needed in order to compete effectively in the marketplace. * Word-of-Mouth – Describe how and the methods you will utilize to create word-of-mouth. A few final pointers about developing marketing strategies: * Think strategic first – Too many individuals believe that the marketing tactics — the newsletters, press kits, trade shows, banners, 800-numbers, display advertisements, logos and giveaways — comes before the marketing strategies. Those promotional, publicity and advertising tactics should be contained within a well-orchestrated marketing action plan. But first create your marketing strategy items that will generate leads, build awareness and enhance credibility. * Make the first the last. The executive summary consists of a one-page, top-level summary of the entire marketing plan. It’s placed at the front of the document, but it’s the last thing you’ll write. Its purpose is to convey the gist of the plan to stakeholders,  investors and anyone else who needs to know these facts in a hurry: * The scope of the plan in an outlined paragraph. * The product or service being marketed. * For whom the plan is being prepared. * The time period the plan covers. * The geographic area where the implementation occurs. * The strategic messages and the tactics to get them to the target markets. Tactics – How exactly do we get there This is where you list the specific action steps or programs to achieve each marketing strategy (see above). If you are going to use billboards to advertise your product, indicate the name of the outdoor advertising company, the number of billboards, their geographic locations, cost per billboard and total amount. If you will be conducting focus groups to conduct market research and get feedback about your product, indicate the name of the research firm, dates focus groups will be conducted, cost per focus group and total amount. You should include deadlines and key dates for executing all of your marketing activities. * Media Tactics – If you will invest in different types of media to communicate your core marketing message and product or service offering divide your media into paid, non-paid and non-traditional media. * Paid media: direct mail, newspaper, radio, TV, billboards, direct sales. * Non-paid media – Referred to as public relations because it is exposure through traditional media without paying for advertising in that media. * Non-traditional media: includes everything else — sponsorships, ad specialties,shows/events, electronic media and the Internet. Action – What is our plan? Your business model is the one piece of the marketing plan that puts it all together for you. In a blog post dated February 6. 2012, Floodgate Fund co-founder Ann Muira-Ko says, â€Å"Its the business model that matters the most, rather than the business plan.† According to Miura-Ko, business models do a better job of unearthing assumptions about a company’s users, customers, pricing, demand creation, sales channels, supply chain, and overall logistics – all critical components to building a successful business. A business model answers all the 4 W’s (Who, What, Where and  Why) and the all important How you are going to do it as it relates to the following: * Core marketing message. * Components of your brand identity. * Customer value proposition (CVP). * Industry or market. * Target customers. * Competitive landscape. * Industry life cycles. * Pricing model. * Value chain. * Operations. According to Peter Drucker, the late Harvard management guru said. â€Å"A business model is nothing else than a representation of how an organization makes (or intends to make) money.† But, a business model is far more than this. Mark W. Johnson, the Harvard professor and author of â€Å"Seizing The White Space,† says that a business model consists of three components: 1. It identifies an important job a customer needs to get done and then proposes an offering that fulfills that job better than any alternative the customer can turn to–in short, the customer value proposition (CVP). 2. A pricing model and profit formula that shows quantitatively that you can make a profit delivering on the CVP. 3. identifying which company resources and which processes are essential to delivering the CVP. Use the Business Model Canvas (see below) to guide you in the preparation of your business model provides the answers to the four W’s and the How. The business model canv as is divided into nine grids: * Strategic partners. * Key activities. * Value proposition. * Customer relationship. * Customer segment. * Key resources. * Distribution channels. * Costs. * Revenues. The Business Model Canvas (Click Image To Enlarge) To develop your business model I highly recommend that you read my previous blog posts dated November 5, 2011, January 26, 2012, and February 26, 2012. Control – Did we get there? Establishing a marketing budget allows you to establish quantitative goal and measure actual performance against those goals. Here’s how a marketing budget can help assist you manage, control and measure the return-on-investment (ROI) from the execution of your marketing plan: * Marketing budgets allow you to put a quantitative value to every strategy, tactic or program built into your marketing plan. * Marketing budgets allow you to establish specific budget line items, including sales and related marketing expenses. * Marketing budgets allow you to evaluate and make the best marketing decisions. * Marketing budgets place a cap on every budget line item forcing you to work within those budget constraints. Having a marketing budget in place allows you to evaluate marketing decisions such as advertising in the yellow pages, hiring sales reps or conducting a PR program based on the amount of business a particular initiative generates. Track each initiative and evaluate what worked, what didn’t. Marketing budgets should be established by month, quarter and year so that you can gauge your performance and make adjustments to insure you are within budget. This allows you to determine if you are meeting your stated quantitative goals monthly, quarterly and yearly. Sample Marketing Plan Budget Here’s an excellent of an annual marketing plan budget for a software business: Click Image To Enlarge Apple’s iPhone Launch Marketing Strategy Analysis Example Here’s a great example of the Apple iPhone launch marketing strategy by Borislav Kilprin: Apple’s iPhone Launch Marketing Strategy Analysis View more documents from Borislav Kiprin I often use Steve Jobs’ â€Å"Digital Hub Strategy† (see my blog posts dated August 31, 2011 and January 20, 2012) for inspiration and as a great  example of a grand vision and all-encompasing marketing strategy for a company. On January 9, 2001, Steve Jobs gave a great presentation at MacWorld where he introduced the public to the concept of the Digital Hub, when he said that the PC was not dead, but was evolving. Steve Jobs declared that the Mac would become â€Å"the digital hub for the digital lifestyle,† an emerging digital trend driven by the internet and an explosion in digital devices: digital camera’s, videocam’s, portable music players, PDA’s and DVD video players. Steve’s idea was to use the Mac as a way to add value to those devices by making them more useful by allowing users to share digital files and be able to combine text, images, video and sound to heighten the overal digital experience. Steve Jobs’ 7 Success Principles When you stop and analyze the Digital Hub Strategy you will discover that Steve Jobs’ 7 Success Principles are evident everywhere: * Do what you love. Steve Jobs once told a group of employees, â€Å"People with passion can change the world for the better.† Jobs has followed his heart his entire life and that passion, he says, has made all the difference. It’s very difficult to come up with new, creative, and novel ideas unless you are passionate about moving society forward. * Put a dent in the universe. Passion fuels the rocket, but vision directs the rocket to its ultimate destination. In 1976, when Jobs and Steve Wozniak co-founded Apple, Jobs’ vision was to put a computer in the hands of everyday people. In 1979, Jobs saw an early and crude graphical user interface being demonstrated at the Xerox research facility in Palo Alto, California. He knew immediately that the technology would make computers appealing to â€Å"everyday people.† That tec hnology eventually became The Macintosh, which changed everything about the way we interact with computers. Xerox scientists didn’t realize its potential because their â€Å"vision† was limited to making new copiers. Two people can see the exactly the same thing, but perceive it differently based on their vision. * Kick start your brain. Steve Jobs once said â€Å"Creativity is connecting things.† Connecting things means seeking inspiration from other industries. At various times, Jobs has found inspiration in a phone book, Zen meditation, visiting India, a food processor at Macy’s, or The Four Seasons hotel chain. Jobs doesn’t â€Å"steal† ideas as much as he uses ideas from other industries to inspire his  own creativity. * Sell dreams, not products. To Steve Jobs, people who buy Apple products are not â€Å"consumers.† They are people with hopes, dreams and ambitions. He builds products to help people achieve their dreams. He once said, â€Å"some people think you’ve got to be crazy to buy a Mac, but in that craziness we see gen ius.† How do you see your customers? Help them unleash their inner genius and you’ll win over their hearts and minds. * Say no to 1,000 things. Steve Jobs once said, â€Å"I’m as proud of what we don’t do as I am of what we do.† He is committed to building products with simple, uncluttered design. And that commitment extends beyond products. From the design of the iPod to the iPad, from the packaging of Apple’s products, to the functionality of the Web site, in Apple’s world, innovation means eliminating the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak. * Create insanely great experiences. The Apple store has become the world’s best retailer by introducing simple innovations any business can adopt to create deeper, more emotional connections with their customers. For example, there are no cashiers in an Apple store. There are experts, consultants, even geniuses, but no cashiers. Why? Because Apple is not in the business of moving boxes; they are in the business of enriching lives. Big difference. * Master the message. Steve Jobs is the world’s greatest corporate storyteller, turning product launches into an art form. You can have the most innovative idea in the world, but if you can’t get people excited about it, it doesn’t matter. Apple’s Five Key Pillars For Product Success When you dig down into the roots of the Digital Hub Strategy it is all about the product. I have identified five key elements or pillars of strength that have been important in Apple’s product successes: * Creating products that disrupt existing industry paradigms. * Creating products that Apple engineers themselves would love to use. * Creating products that customers don’t know they need yet. * Creating elegant, simple and minimalist products that â€Å"people will lust for.† * Controlling every aspect of the product, including the design, engineering, intellectual property, components, operating systems, applications software, manufacturing, distribution, customer service, advertising and pricing. The Digital Hub Strategy has endured the test of time and every new product  launched by Apple represents a â€Å"spoke† in the Digital Hub. In essence, the Digital Hub Strategy has not only become Apple’s core business strategy, but also its grand vi sion.