Apple Incorporated and the Power of Its Brands Essay

Apple Incorporated and the Power of Its Brands - Essay Example Its goal is to substantially address the needs of its customers, but not until when it discovered the advantage of creating a need for its product and service offerings. The modern marketing emphasises that marketers are good at creating needs for their offerings (Boone and Kurtz, 2006; Kotler et al., 1999). In fact, Apple is very good at creating needs for its product and service offerings, the very basic foundation of how it tries to achieve its competitive advantage. However, as it continues to grow, Apple Incorporated has become highly recognized with its brands, which brings it at the top of the competition. Porter’s theory of competitive advantage applies to Apple Incorporated and its brands. The power of its brands is very important component of differentiation strategy (Porter, 1998). People simply associate the Apple brand with standard quality, reliability, and many other intrinsic values. This is due to the fact that brands simply emphasise attributes and meanings ( Belch and Belch, 1998). In a highly capitalist world, brands have important value that could be maximised for profit making (Arvidson, 2006). Branding is a specific marketing strategy and as a way to enhance profitability, productivity and efficiency (Moor, 2007). Moor added that branding seeks to develop political message, corporate image, people, and behaviours. It is in these reasons Apple wanted to invest more in reconstructing, refining and enhancing its brands prior to becoming a cut above the other in its industry. As widely observed, the media have always been the integral parts of Apple’s success in achieving a powerful brand in the world. As a result, Apple has become an iconic brand because it came to a point of becoming a cultural icon with corresponding identity value (Holt, 2004). There are many strategies in doing this and they are integral parts of cultural branding principles. In this paper, the proponent tries to incorporate in the analysis how Apple Incorpo rated was able to successfully achieve or create the power of its brands using the media as integral parts of communication, a specific strategy in cultural branding principles (Holt, 2004). The discussion in particular includes media, brand development, and the concept of gratification of needs based on psychological perspective. Media and brand development Media are anything with spaces that have the capacity to allow marketing to take place in them (Moor, 2007). Space is very important for Moor as a specific site to develop relationships between brands and customers. She added that it is a communicative medium or opportunity for marketing to take place. Ads are specific forms of communications placed within a communicative medium (Cook, 2001). For many years, Apple Incorporated is using the media in order to promote its brands. Mac, iPod, iPhone, iPad and iTunes are the most important brands that are established by Apple with the aid of the media. In 2006, Apple’s ad budge t is $338 million, $467 million in 2007, and $486 million in 2008 (Blakely, 2008; DeWitt, 2009). In 2009, Apple spent $501 million for Ad expense (DeWitt, 2009). There seems to be an increase in the budget allocated by Apple for its ads, but it is actually decreasing based on percentage of revenue; 5 percent in 2001 and 1.17 percent in 2009 (DeWitt, 2009). This means that the higher the revenue of Apple has become, the lesser it allocated budget for its promotional activities. This

How do the concepts of networks and the network society contribute to Essay

How do the concepts of networks and the network society contribute to the understanding of the contemporary media landscape Ill - Essay Example In the modern 21st century, we find that this field of information and communication is undergoing a series of changes, arising from various technological innovations, and forming a new setting for the access, subject matter, formatting, and interactive sessions, adding a new dimension to the socio-political world (Huntington, 1997). Under such conditions, various social movements, and revolutionary politics are able to interpose with greater force and in lesser time, within this new interactive space, leading to the convergence of the horizontal communication networks and mass media. This has led to an unparalleled shift in history, where the public sphere is fast moving away from the realms of various institutions, to this new space that mainly comprises of mass self-communication, and communication networking, through the Internet and the wireless networking modes (Klinenberg, 2007). This article will examine this new age communication space, and will study to find out how the con cept of networks and network society, contribute to the overall understanding of the contemporary media landscape. ... , Jan van Dijk first coined the term ‘network society’  in his book De Netwerkmaatschappij   (van Dijk, 2005), and was later used by Manuel Castells in 1996. Castells analyses this new concept of ‘network society’ and conceptualised that such societies formed owing to certain factors: The creation of the innovative Information and Communication Technology (ICT), and the formation of global computer networks that helped in the global integration. The lowering of communication costs as in transnational transports, making it possible for the global migration to take place. The breakdown of the Berlin wall and the subsequent rise in global capitalism; The rise of various new forms of social movements like the human rights, civil rights, women’s rights, environmental rights, etc., (Castells, and Gustavo, 2005). In an interview, Castells defined the term network society as â€Å"a society where the key social structures and activities are organized aro und electronically processed information networks...It's about social networks which process and manage information and are using micro-electronic based technologies" (History; Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley, 2001). Castells further adds that technology is not the only aspect that defines modern societies, but other factors like economy, culture, and politics also form the framework of network societies, while religion and social status, help in shaping these societies. A network that collectively forms the societies, are actually series of links between basic unitary social elements, known as the nodes. When a single link between two unitary elements is established, the formation of a ‘relationship’ takes place, and many such relationships form a complex web, known as network societies. Van Dijk in

Video Games Essay Example for Free

Video Games Essay Whenever I look out from my window at home, nothing but memories come back to me. When the time that me and my friends playing together with many kind of Filipino games like â€Å"Patintero†, â€Å"Langit Lupa†, â€Å"Black123† and many more. I was about 7 years old when I was always want to go outside to play with my friends from morning up to afternoon. My only break was when my Mom calling me saying that â€Å"we’re gonna eat our lunch† so I need to come back home as soon as possible. When I’m with my friends, my life has been always happier than when I am inside of our house. I really loved to be outside and play with my friends because it gives me fulfillment of my childhood life. As I become aware that my street has become barren from children playing outside, those memories soon fade away into silence. The truth of the matter is that video games have affected the children who play them. Although video games have been quite influential on our generation, video games have had a lot of negative effects on the children of today. Children have become obsessed with video games. Since 1980’s, the video game industry has expanded so much in the market, it is only getting larger with the growth of technology. And although these games provide much entertainment, it does not come without a cost. Since the rise of video games, more children have become more obese, more violent and less social.

Cleo 5 to 7 as a New Wave Film Essay -- Movie Film Essays

Cleo 5 to 7 as a New Wave Film Agnes Varda is not only one of the few female directors of new wave cinema; she is also credited as having helped create the genre. Her short film La Point–Courte is considered by some as the first new wave film. Her first full length movie, Cleo 5 to 7 falls within this genre as well. It is the story of a young woman dying of cancer and how she sees the world in the context of time. We follow the singer Cleo as she changes into the woman Flora and as she does so she begins to look at time in a different manner. It is the way time is represented through the camera shots which really make this film part of its new wave genre. The movie begins with a five minute prologue that occurs during the credits in which we receive all the important aspects of the following 90 minute film. We see a fortune teller, or rather a shot of her hands while she turns over the tarot cards that are Cleo’s fortune. This scene uses a multitude of hand shots, contrasting the old woman’s and the young woman’s hands. During the scene there is a jump cut between from the old...

Discuss official statistics with regard to how useful Essay

Depending on whether the sociologist is a positivist or an interpretivist, official statistics may be worthless. Positivists see official statistics as valuable sources of quantitative information that can be used to investigate cause and effect relationships, like Durkheim did when investigating suicide. According to positivists, official statistics are hard, social facts that are separate from an individual, yet affect their behaviour. Most positivists accept the validity and reliability of official statistics. An interpretivist does not take the same view as a positivist. They believe that they are not measurements of facts, and are rather social constructions created by the meanings people attach to behaviour. Police may attach meanings to murder or burglaries and it is the job of a sociologist to understand how those meanings are constructed. Marxists take yet another view. They believe that official statistics are tools created by the bourgeoisie to enforce their ideology onto the proletariat. These tools can be used to mask the true inequalities of society and capitalism. They will take note of Conservative governments switching the methods use to measure unemployment over 30 times, in most cases resulting in a fall in unemployment. Using official statistics is good for the sociologist as they cost very little to use whilst being readily available. Samples are also very large and the census involves the entire population; whilst normally samples this large wouild be outside a sociologist’s budget, statistics can be used to get a large sample without costing the sociologist much. If many official statistics are collected over time, they can be used to establish relationships and trends over time. Effects of legislation and bills can also be measured through these large scale surveys. As statistics such as the census are required to be taken in every EU member state, international comparisons can be made. More often than not, these statistics are the only data available. However, these statistics are often collected for administrative and beaurocratic reasons, not sociological reasons and for this reason, classifications made by governments may not be suitable for sociological reasons. As these are produced by the state, they may be biased to favour a certain government to reflect success of policies. Some data may be avoided and focus on the bad rather than the good, such as talking about social scroungez s instead of talking about the number of non-domiciles. As said before, interpretivists argue that official statistics are not facts, but rather social constructions â€Å"The police create crime† is a view taken by some as it is ultimately up to them to arrest people and make the statistics. If a nice, respectable middle class person is stopped for speeding, the police may not arrest the person and let them off with a warning. If an incident is too small or trivial, it is not worth the effot of arresting someone. Rape cases also go un-reported as women may find it difficult to admit to the shame and humiliation of owning to it to a policeperson. If crime benefits both parties, for example, blackmail or drugs trade, this is unlikely to reported by either party. Official statistics are useful for those who have no objection to their use and sociologists whose budgets maybe limited. They have benefits such as being made readily available, and being cheap and in the public domain, but they can be subject to bias (how to categorise unemployed people changed three times in the eighties, with the number falling each time) and classifications for use with governments may have been objectionalised differently to how a sociologist would do so.

Margaret Atwood s The Handmaid s Tale Essay - 1741 Words

Language is a communication system. It is one of the most unavoidable, as well as underestimated, elements of everyday life and it is questionably the most powerful medium by which humans interconnect with one another. Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale demonstrates how language is able to facilitate power and in turn, dominate a society. In this novel Atwood creates Gilead, an imaginary futuristic society where women are completely stripped of their freedom. Although this type of society utilizes guards and spies to reinforce the regulations, the primary power relies in the government’s control of language. In the Republic of Gilead, Atwood uses an official vocabulary that is much different than the one we use today. This language is specifically designed to serve the needs of the society’s elite and it manages to overlook and distort reality. Not only does Atwood use a warped language, but she also color codes different groups because color is just as much of a language than anything that is said out loud. With the use of this coded language, Gilead creates a system of titles. Throughout this novel, Atwood assigns each group of characters with terms such as Handmaids, Commander, Aunts, Unwomen, as well as color-coding certain groups, and by doing so, she manages to exemplify the power of language and how it shapes and controls a society. The term â€Å"Handmaiden† (or Handmaid) is roughly defined as a personal maid or female servant, particularly to women of a higher rankShow MoreRelatedThe Handmaid s Tale By Margaret Atwood1357 Words   |  6 PagesOxford definition: â€Å"the advocacy of women s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes† (Oxford dictionary). In the novel The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood explores feminism through the themes of women’s bodies as political tools, the dynamics of rape culture and the society of complacency. Margaret Atwood was born in 1939, at the beginning of WWII, growing up in a time of fear. In the autumn of 1984, when she began writing The Handmaid’s Tale, she was living in West Berlin. The BerlinRead MoreThe Handmaid s Tale By Margaret Atwood1249 Words   |  5 PagesDystopian Research Essay: The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood In the words of Erika Gottlieb With control of the past comes domination of the future. A dystopia reflects and discusses major tendencies in contemporary society. The Handmaid s Tale is a dystopian novel written by Margaret Atwood in 1985. The novel follows its protagonist Offred as she lives in a society focused on physical and spiritual oppression of the female identity. Within The Handmaid s Tale it is evident that through the explorationRead MoreThe Handmaid s Tale By Margaret Atwood1060 Words   |  5 Pagesideologies that select groups of people are to be subjugated. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood plays on this idea dramatically: the novel describes the oppression of women in a totalitarian theocracy. Stripped of rights, fertile women become sex objects for the politically elite. These women, called the Handmaids, are forced to cover themselves and exist for the sole purpose of providing children. The Handmaid’s Tale highlights the issue of sexism while also providing a cruel insight into theRead MoreThe Handmaid s Tale By Margaret Atwood1659 Words   |  7 Pagesbook The Handmaid s Tale by Margaret Atwood, the foremost theme is identity, due to the fact that the city where the entire novel takes place in, the city known as the Republic of Gilead, often shortened to Gilead, strips fertile women of their identities. Gilead is a society that demands the women who are able to have offspring be stripped of all the identity and rights. By demeaning these women, they no longer view themselves as an individual, but rather as a group- the group of Handmaids. It isRead MoreThe Handmaid s Tale By Margaret Atwood1237 Words   |  5 Pages The display of a dystopian society is distinctively shown in The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood. Featuring the Republic of Gilead, women are categorized by their differing statuses and readers get an insight into this twisted society through the lenses of the narrator; Offred. Categorized as a handmaid, Offred’s sole purpose in living is to simply and continuously play the role of a child-bearing vessel. That being the case, there is a persistent notion that is relatively brought up by thoseRead MoreThe Handmaid s Tale By Margaret Atwood1548 Words   |  7 PagesIn Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, The theme of gender, sexuality, and desire reigns throughout the novel as it follows the life of Offred and other characters. Attwood begins the novel with Offred, a first person narrator who feels as if she is misplaced when she is describing her sleeping scenery at the decaying school gymnasium. The narrator, Offred, explains how for her job she is assigned to a married Commander’s house where she is obligated to have sex with him on a daily basis, so thatRead MoreThe Handmaid s Tale, By Margaret Atwood1629 Words   |  7 Pages Atwood s novel, The Handmaid s Tale depicts a not too futuristic society of Gilead, a society that overthrows the U.S. Government and institutes a totalitarian regime that seems to persecute women specifically. Told from the main character s point of view, Offred, explains the Gilead regime and its patriarchal views on some women, known as the handmaids, to a purely procreational function. The story is set the present tense in Gilead but frequently shifts to flashbacks in her time at the RedRead MoreThe Handmaid s Tale By Margaret Atwood1540 Words   |  7 Pages Name: Nicole. Zeng Assignment: Summative written essay Date:11 May, 2015. Teacher: Dr. Strong. Handmaid’s Tale The literary masterpiece The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, is a story not unlike a cold fire; hope peeking through the miserable and meaningless world in which the protagonist gets trapped. The society depicts the discrimination towards femininity, blaming women for their low birth rate and taking away the right from the females to be educated ,forbidding them from readingRead MoreThe Handmaid s Tale By Margaret Atwood1256 Words   |  6 Pageshappened to Jews in Germany, slaves during Christopher Columbus’s days, slaves in the early 1900s in America, etc. When people systematically oppress one another, it leads to internal oppression of the oppressed. This is evident in Margaret Atwood’s book, The Handmaid’s Tale. This dystopian fiction book is about a young girl, Offred, who lives in Gilead, a dystopian society. Radical feminists complained about their old lifestyles, so in Gilead laws and rules are much different. For example, men cannotRead More The Handmaid s Tale By Margaret Atwood1667 Words   |  7 Pagesrhetorical devices and figurative language, that he or she is using. The Handmaid’s Tale, which is written by Margaret Atwood, is the novel that the author uses several different devices and techniques to convey her attitude and her points of view by running the story with a narrator Offred, whose social status in the Republic of Gilead is Handmaid and who is belongings of the Commander. Atwood creates her novel The Handmaid’s Tale to be more powerful tones by using imagery to make a visibleness, hyperbole

An Article Review of Wealth Transmission and Inequality...

A 2010 special issue of the peer-reviewed journal Current Anthropology shows a fascinating way in which anthropology can emerge from current debates and quarrels in American culture, even while it looks at traditional hunter-gatherer societies. The special issues stated theme for research is Intergenerational Wealth Transmission and Inequality in Premodern Societies. If the reader is inclined to practice anthropology upon the anthropologists contributing to this journal, then it would have to be noted that this 2010 examination of this issue in premodern societies may come from an increased awareness of the issue within the anthropologists own modern society. Between Bush-era debates and policy shift on the subject of the so-called death tax and Obama-era public protests about the 99 percent, the subject of inherited wealth, and inequality of wealth, is a serious topic for public debate in America itself. It is within this social context that the work in Current Anthropologys 2010 sp ecial issue begs to be understood. The first article in the special issue, Wealth Transmission and Inequality among Hunter-Gatherers, brings together ten separate authors to consider the question which has come foremost in American culture by examining five sample populations in South America, sub-Saharan Africa, southeast Asia, and Melanesia. The work of Smith, Hill, Marlowe et al. in the article must be examined to understand how these anthropologists define their terms, findShow MoreRelatedLand Law Procedures in Kenya16833 Words   |  68 Pagesobjectives of the course is thus to equip one with the knowledge of the various categories of property rights in land and to know a bit about construction of forms and other documents used in the registration system. COURSE DESCRIPTION This course reviews the concept of land as property, the common law and statutory definitions of land, the various property rights and interests, historical foundations of land law in Kenya and the registration systems in Kenya. EVALUATION CATS will be done in the 6thRead MoreOrganisational Theory230255 Words   |  922 PagesHoldt Christensen, Associate Professor, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark McAuley et al.’s book is thought-provoking, witty and highly relevant for understanding contemporary organizational dilemmas. The book engages in an imaginative way with a wealth of organizational concepts and theories as well as provides insightful examples from the practical world of organizations. The authors’ sound scholarship and transparent style of writing set the book apart, making it an ingenious read which invites