Recent Trends in Marketing Management

Recent Trends in Marketing Management The present era is the era of marketing. Marketing Management has taken over all the other functions of business management. The product design which was earlier an exclusive production function is now the primary function of marketing management. Human Resource Management is also been throttled by Internal marketing. Even Strategic Management now implies marketing management. Marketing now has taken the drivers seat in business and the very word marketing now defines the way we live. So marketing is no more a marketers domain but a co-venture of marketers as well as customer. Marketing in the 21st century has experienced a paradigm shift. The new millennium gave a new dimension to marketing by converting the customer-oriented marketing approach of 1990s to customer-driven marketing. Involvement of customers in product design and development, branding packaging and advertising decisions is now what is being practiced. To relate to this idea, we can look back to the Frito lays ad campaign where they invited options from customers for launching new flavors and then again public voting for the final flavor. Another example can be public voting being carried out for the selection of an actress for playing the role of grown-up Aanandi in the famous Ballika Vadhuà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.The guiding philosophy of marketing today is not products for the people but the product by the people as well. The advent of service economy has made customers the co-creators of products, so more and more involvement of customers is being sought. Customers are being involved at every s tage of product development in an attempt to generate loyalty from variety-spoiled customers. Another trend that has up surged recently is Product placements We are now quite used to watching advertisements during movie intervals and in between our favorite shows on the television. An ad exposure during interval may not find sufficient viewers and remote of a TV set gives the viewer full liberty to switch-over the channelà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦..so the new thing that is being tested for effectiveness is the product placement in movies or in popular TV shows. Now we often see our favorite actors and actresses using some brands as a part of their natural lifestyle or hoardings or showrooms of some brands as a backdrop of some important scene. Such product placements are being so naturally embedded in the settings that the viewers sub-conscious registers them strongly in their mind. A very undercover trend is neuro-marketing -marketing to mind. Understanding the complex dynamics of consumer mind is a real challenge of the modern times. The attempts of marketers to know what a consumer wants through varied research methods are now not generating effective insights into consumer minds because the consumer today is smart, intelligent and sophisticated enough not to let anyone extract the unwarranted information and moreover the dynamics of human behaviour are so intricate that in most cases we as consumers dont even know rightly why we buy something. So what the marketers are now doing to get deeper into the consumer psyche is something which is still being debated for its ethical concerns. Various psychological techniques are being used to explore the consumer mind and above that FMRI scans of consumers are also being taken to know what happens in the consumer mind while experiencing a particular service or what appeals to the consumer mind more while watching an advertisement. Many such trends have been catching up recently but the future of marketing lies in technology with which consumers now spend most of their timeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the mobile phones and the internet. Times are fast changing from counting the customer footfalls to the counting of eyeballs. That means how many customers will actually buy the product now depends on how many customers see the products and the advertisements on their mobile phones or through internet. Wireless technology enabled media defines the new age of marketing. All the latest explorations of marketers are oriented towards this relatively new media. Internet is a new way for people to connect, gather information, share, collaborate and build their business or buy their products. Ensuring web-presence has become a pre-requisite for every business be it small or large. New generations belonging to any strata of society now extensively use internet and mobile technology. And the literate sections of senior generations are a lso catching up fast with it. Looking for a mobile phone, booking of travel package, sending flowers and greetings on special occasions, listening and downloading songs, chatting with a distant friend and relativeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦..whatever we want to do and know à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the internet is ready with ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦..So obviously it has become the key driver for marketing systems. The trends that have emerged as an outcome of this big change are mainly fuelled by a buzzword known as Viral Marketing. It refers to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increase in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives through self-replicating viral processes similar to the spread of virus. It can be word-of-mouth delivered or enhanced by the network effects of the Internet. Viral marketing takes the form of Mobile marketing, email-marketing, blogging, Gaming, video marketing and above all social media marketing. Mobile marketing is all about marketing to people through their mobile phones and smart-phone devices. Demand is increasing dramatically for mobile applications and mobile web-browsing due to wider adoption of devices like the iPhone. Video marketing is a very effective tool of internet marketing where in Countless buying emotions and memorable brand moments are possible to be presented through musical, adventurous, motivational or funny video messages. These videos are viewed, liked and forwarded by the viewers hence spreading the message like a viral network. Social networking sites are attracting millions of people of all age groups. Staying connected through Facebook, Twitter, Youtube etc is part of ones daily regimen. No wonder Social Media is the strongest marketing trend which is not just a fad but a trend to stayà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ more and more companies have been posting on various blogs, creating profile on Facebook, tweeting on Twitter, or posting news on Digg.com ,etc and by simply clicking like on such pages we are becoming part of the marketing network . Another related trend is taking the web marketing one step further: it is called Social Appvertising! The leading brands are now starting to create special interactive Facebook applications to maximize consumer involvement. A soft drinks Facial Profiler application finding your twin on Facebookà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Or American Express contest for creating your own ad through a Facebook application. So a lot is to be explored about these trends. With the dynamics of ever changing consumer behaviour, dynamics of marketing will keep on changingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.the changes that are important, inevitable and essence of life..!!!!!!! RAMNEEK KAUR MBA, M.COM, M.PHIL ASSTT. PROFESSOR GURU NANAK INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY, MODEL TOWN, LUDHIANA.

Prospect of Democracy in Burma Essay -- essays research papers fc

The Prospect of Democracy in Burma The prospect for the development of a democratic state in Burma has recently become a remote possibility. Burma’s military leaders have been holding talks with the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD). The dialogue started while Aung San Suu Kyi was still under house arrest. When she was released in 2002, the international community and the people of Burma expected the process to evolve to the next stage – substantive political negotiations. However, the whole process has stalled. Burma’s military remain in control. In justifying the hiatus, the Burmese military leaders engage in various forms of platitudinous rhetoric, carefully designed to obfuscate their totalitarian intent. The theme of this rhetoric is that the country is undergoing a transition toward a multi-party democracy. Burma’s influential intelligence chief, General Khin Nyunt, has warned that â€Å"such a transition cannot be done in haste or in a haphazard manner. The world is full of examples where hasty transition from one system to another led to unrest, instability and even failed states† . However, this linguistic charade is not consistently maintained. Burma’s generals have made disturbing pronouncements that overtly envision a highly compromised, paternalistic democracy. They assert that any democracy in Burma must incorporate ‘Asian values’, and is therefore incompatible with Western models of democracy. The generals have proved recalcitrant in the face of international pressure, and persist with their particularly Burmese variant of democracy. Nyunt recently said that â€Å"The democracy we seek to build may not be identical to the West but it will surely be based on universal principles of liberty, justice and equality†. It is more than likely that Burma’s military rulers are now looking at the Chinese political model as the basis of their new constitution. This rhetoric, centered around various abstractions and elaborations of political vision, is calculated to distract from the decidedly non-democratic Burmese political reality. What has actually been happening is that the country’s top military leader – Senior General Than Shwe – has strengthened his control over both the army and the administrative structure. Ever since the arrest of four members of the former military dictator General Ne Win’s famil... ...ase against the government - without provoking violence - while at the same time cooperating with the generals in a dialogue which recognizes the limitations of its current political potency. Bibliography Evans, George, ‘Human rights in Burma’, Contemporary Review, Oct, 1994, v265, n1545, p178 Jagan, Larry, Burma's opposition slowly rises from ashes http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1885565.stm BBC News. 2002 Jagan, Larry, Junta has little to celebrate http://www.rebound88.net/sp/junta/s14junta-thanshwe.html Bangkok Post, 2002. Jagan, Larry, Deadlock in Burma http://www.himalmag.com/2002/october/burma.htm 2002. Lintner, Bertil, ‘Divide and rule: peace treaties marginalise democracy groups.’ Far Eastern Economic Review, Jan 27, 1994, v157, n4, p20 Linter, Bertil, ‘New camouflage: army maintains tight controls despite election pledge’, Far Eastern Economic Review, May 11, 1989, v144, n19, p32 Maidment, Richard. Goldblatt, David. Mitchell, Jeremy. Governance in the Asia Pacific. Routlage, London, 1998. Seth, Mydans, Burmese General Says Transition to Democracy Will Be Slow. http://www.burmaforumla.org/burmese_general_says_transition_.htm New York Times, 2002.

Analyzing Both Sides of the Conflict Theory Essay

Conflict theory was the first radical criminological theory proposed by the scholars in the 1960s (Barkan, p. 254). It particularly analyzes the role of conflicts in class, gender, and power in the incidences of crimes in a particular society. It tells that these conflicts are the reasons why people commit crimes.   This specific thought opposes the view of the consensus theory which perceives crime as â€Å"any behavior that violates criminal law† (Barkan, p. 14). To compare, Conflict theory believes that a crime is far more complex than the first definition, assuming that people do not share the same values, beliefs, and dispositions. Because of this, the conflict theory becomes one of the theories that are applicable for larger contextual conditions. In fact, the theory encompasses a wide range of areas which makes it divided into sub- categories, such as radical criminology, peacemaking criminology, radical feminism, and left realism. (Greek, 2005). These minorities—the poor, Blacks, Hispanics, to name a few—are being given focus and importance through the theory. Marx and Engels specified that justice is not attainable and is unfairly being administered to the minorities. Through the conflict theory, an explanation on why minorities get involved with crimes is provided. The theory explains that laws against crimes are made not for the interest of everyone but only for themselves. Laws are made to serve the interest of the powerful who knows that their illegal malpractices can only become legal if the laws will be made based on their needs.   This made conflict theory sounds more realistic with consensus theory. It has able to portray the problem with power struggles as a source of crime motives that other theories disregarded or missed to see. However, proponents of the conflict theory also got blinded and missed to see some of the criticisms regarding the conflict. First of all, it is said that the conflict theory is too generalized and assuming with its discussion on the implementation of laws in societies. Laws connected to the prevention of street crimes such as robbery and murder do not necessarily serve the purpose of the powerful and neglects the less powerful minorities. In fact, such kinds of laws are directed to serve the security of everyone, and not just a little percentage of the people. The theory seems to forget that although people are different in some aspects, they still posses the same characteristics and needs. In this particular situation, all people need security for their lives. The laws protecting people’s lives could not be considered as law protecting only the interests of those who are in power; it is also for the benefit of other people. In addition to this criticism, the theory of conflict also shows a weak spot in terms of labeling disparities. There has been inconsistency in the evidence of such gaps tackling how dominant groups use the law to support their personal interests. In this way, the theory, in some ways, lose slightly its credibility. Nevertheless, the greatest strength of the theory is its vast and radical way of exploring the reason behind crimes in societies. These crimes are deeply rooted in the skins of the people who commit them. Although committers of crime are being treated as lowly kind of persons, their condition is being protected by the conflict theory. The theory will simply said that instead of committers, the minorities are victims of a much bigger crime brought about by the powerful groups to them. The theory, instead of prosecuting them, is aiming to reason out their main reason why they have done such crimes. Conflict theory acts like a lawyer who defends a person who has valid reasons behind the crime he committed. The lawyer may lack reliable and consistent evidence to prove the innocence of his client, but still, he believes in the accountability of the person. References Barkan, S.E. (2005). Criminology:   Sociological Understanding.   New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall   Bartos, J.O.   Wehr, P.E. and Paul Wehr. ( 2002). Using Conflict Theory. New York: Cambridge University Press Greek, C.E. Criminological Theory.   November 2005. Retrieved on 4 June 2008. http://www.criminology.fsu.edu/crimtheory/conflict.htm Lenski, G.E. (1966). Power and Privilege: A Theory of Social Stratification. McGraw-Hill.   

Nudism as a Deviant Subculture Essay - 756 Words

Nudism as a Deviant Subculture Katie Heindel SOC 429 October 19, 2010 Nudism as a Deviant Subculture Introduction Nudism is a social and sexual phenomenon in America that has been gaining a significant following since the early 1930’s. This phenomenon was first introduced to American culture by a German immigrant named Kurt Barthel. (Hartman, Fithian and Johnson 1991) Since then, nudism has expanded to all parts of the country. From nude beaches and resorts to nudist camps, many are starting to partake in this liberating way of life. Despite the many followers of the nudist movement, many would classify nudists as a deviant subculture. Fischer (1995) defines a subculture as, ...a large set of people who share a defining trait,†¦show more content†¦In the early 1900s several papers were published that advocated the idea that the human body was not sinful or obscene. The first nudist colonies were opened in Germany around 1903, and grew into popularity during the 1920s. The Germans seemed to be the pioneers of the Naturism movement. In the 1960s Germans vacationing along the Mediterranean coast in France began nudist colonies, and nudist beaches and nudist resorts grew in popularity there. The movement came to North America in 1929 when a German immigrant named Kurt Barthel opened a colony in the United States. In the early days of the movement in America, nudism became associated with family values and alcohol was prohibited from all activities. (Hartman et al. 1991) Despite the attempt to associate high moral standards with the nudism movement it was subjected to harassment and misunderstanding due to the fact that America saw nudism as a sexual and even pornographic activity. Over the past three decades this largely changed. Nudist vacations became more common, and nudism lost some of its social stigma. Nudism became less restrictive as well and clothing optional gatherings became more common. Topless beaches also became popular, and the organized nudist movement made strides in erasing the negative perception of nudism. (Bell and Holliday 2000) References