Thursday, December 26, 2019

The Case for a Plant-Based Diet - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1425 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2019/02/12 Category Health Essay Level High school Tags: Diet Essay Did you like this example? There are countless reasons to stop the raising and slaughter of farmed animals for food, including health, environmental, and humanitarian concerns. My main reasons for not eating meat or dairy products are humanitarian, but in this paper, I will try to make the case for ceasing the raising of farmed animals for the sake of the environment and vulnerable people groups, in our own and in other countries, who raise animals or animal feed to satisfy Americans’ taste for animal flesh. Good! People shrug and say that eating meat is â€Å"natural†, that humans have always done it, and that’s the way it is—and, evidently, that’s the way it should continue to be. Really? Isaac Bashevis Singer said, â€Å"People often say that humans have always eaten animals, as if this is a justification for continuing the practice. According to this logic, we should not try to prevent people from murdering other people, since this has also been done since the earliest of times.† In fact, eating meat the way we now do it is not â€Å"natural† at all. According to Dr. Neil Barnard â€Å"[M]eat-eating probably began by scavenging—eating the leftovers that carnivores had left behind. However, our bodies have never adapted to it.† In talking about humans’ early diet, Barnard explains that we â€Å"had diets very much like other great apes, which is to say a largely plant-based diet †¦. To this day, meat-eaters have a higher incidence of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and other problems.† (The Power of Your Plate) Very good! Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Case for a Plant-Based Diet" essay for you Create order Nature is cruel; industrializing that cruelty is wrong. ( 2018 U.S. Animal Kill Clock) â€Å"No other country raises and slaughters its food animals quite as intensively or brutally as we do. Were the walls of our meat industry to become transparent, literally or even figuratively, we would not long continue to raise, kill, and eat animals the way we do. Tail docking and sow crates and beak clipping would disappear overnight, and the days of slaughtering four hundred head of cattle an hour would promptly come to an end — for who could stand the sight?† (Pollan 333) In 2014, in the U.S. alone, nine billion land animals were killed to produce meat, dairy, and eggs for human consumption. One million animals per hour were slaughtered. Globally, 70 billion were killed. The number of aquatic animals slaughtered annually is in the trillions. (https://awfw.org/factory-farms/; https://awfw.org/factory-farms/) No one wants to think about this stuff, let alone see it: â€Å"Perhaps in the back of our minds we already understand that something terribly wrong is happening. Our sustenance now comes from misery. We know that if someone offers to show us a film on how our meat is produced, it will be a horror film. We perhaps know more than we care to admit, keeping it down in the dark places of our memory disavowed. When we eat factory-farmed meat we live, literally, on tortured flesh. Increasingly, that tortured flesh is becoming our own.† (Foer, 2013) Farmed animals are not the only victims of the industrialized animal slaughter in the U.S. There are not enough agents to inspect the conditions inside slaughterhouses, leaving industry to set rules and standards that most benefit them and their â€Å"bottom line†. Those who do the dangerous, stressful, demeaning work of killing tens of thousands of animals for others to consume are left unprotected. â€Å"Perhaps in the back of our minds we already understand, without all the science Ive discussed, that something terribly wrong is happening. Our sustenance now comes from misery. We know that if someone offers to show us a film on how our meat is produced, it will be a horror film. We perhaps know more than we care to admit, keeping it down in the dark places of our memory disavowed. When we eat factory-farmed meat we live, literally, on tortured flesh. Increasingly, that tortured flesh is becoming our own.† Slaughterhouses are operated in remote or rural areas, far from the eyes of urban populations and those who don’t want to know how they get their meat, and slaughterhouse workers come from the most marginalized and vulnerable populations among us. Most are people of color from low-income communities. (https://www.kbia.org/post/largest-slaughterhouses-mostly-rural-communities#stream/0) Once mostly African-American, many are now Latin-American. Thirty-eight percent are foreign-born, often recruited by the corporations for whom they work. Many are undocumented, knowingly hired by employers to meet high turnover rates. (https://southernspaces.org/2013/low-wage-legacies-race-and-golden-chicken-mississippi-where-contemporary-immigration-meets) Many others are convicted felons, often in â€Å"pre-release† programs, unable to find employment elsewhere. And finally, most are â€Å"at-will† employeesunprotected from being fired. Undocumented workers live in fear of ICE raids or deportation by employers. Under these circumstances, few are willing to report abuse or mistreatment on the job. (Slaughterhouse Workers:The Forgotten Victims of the Meat Industry) Animal production for consumption by the developed world hurts the environment in the undeveloped world. Seventy percent of agricultural land and thirty percent of the global land surface devoted to animal production results in adverse effects on all aspects of environmental well-being. Biodiversity loss is extensive, with one-sixth of global species loss. The social cost to local, indigenous populations is extremely high, with widespread loss of local incomes due to the expansion of soybean production in former rain-forested areas in South America. Relentless deforestation to support the meat production industry has resulted in the irretrievable loss of billions of acres of carbon-rich rainforests, and displacement of indigenous ways of living and disruption of long settled property rights has given rise to widespread poverty and social breakdown. Loss of life-sustaining resources includes the deterioration of water due to run-off from the vast amounts of artificial fertilizers and pesticides used to produce animal feed, the sharp rise in greenhouse gases from methane production of animals, and the waste and pollution generated from cattle housed in highly concentrated numbers, and discharges of ammonia and nitrous oxides connected with intensive cattle feeding. (Francis) Meat-eating hurts the most vulnerable, disproportionately people of color. The U.S. alone grows enough feed for livestock to nourish 800 million human beings in the world who currently do not have enough to eat. The world produces enough food to feed everyone. Of 7.3 billion people in the world, 795 million suffer chronic undernourishment in 2016and almost all of them live in developing countries. It does not have to be this way. Meat-eating is a leading cause of climate change, producer of green gases, the reason for excessive water use, waste production, chemical pollution, enormous land use, rainforest deforestation, pollution of oceans, overfishing, and, as previously mentioned, species extinction. Beef-eaters use 160 times more land resources than plant-eaters. Beef requires 88% of all U.S. land allocated to producing animal-based calories. In contrast, sustainable plant-based diets help people, animals, and the planet. The one acre of land needed to produce 250 pounds of beef could grow 50,000 pounds of tomatoes, 53,000 pounds of potatoes, or 30,000 pounds of carrots. The average person who eats a plant-based diet can save 162,486 gallons a year and cut their carbon footprint in half. if every American stopped eating meat, we could redirect enough grain from the livestock system to feed 1.4 billion people. For growing numbers of people, not eating meat is an ethical choice on behalf of fellow creatures who have no choice and no voice—human and nonhuman alike. It is about not supporting an industry that profits from the suffering of billions of animals and harms the earth and millions of humans in the process. In closing, here is a quote my favorite humanitarian, Dr. Albert Schweitzer: â€Å"We must fight against the spirit of unconscious cruelty with which we treat the animals. Animals suffer as much as we do. True humanity does not allow us to impose such sufferings on them. It is our duty to make the whole world recognize it. Until we extend our circle of compassion to all living things, humanity will not find peace.† Great facts and strong quotes—wonderful job!! Works Cited: 2018 U.S. Animal Kill Clock. 2018. Foer, Jonathan Safran. Eating Animals. New York, Boston, London: Little, Brown Company, 2013 Little, Brown Company. Francis, Taylor . The Challenge of Common Pool Resources. Environment Magazine 29 April 2015. https://www.kbia.org/post/largest-slaughterhouses-mostly-rural-communities#stream/0. n.d. https://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/beef-eaters-plant-eaters-land-resources/. n.d. https://awfw.org/factory-farms/. n.d. https://listverse.com/2015/11/25/10-negative-effects-the-meat-industry-has-on-the-world/. n.d. https://southernspaces.org/2013/low-wage-legacies-race-and-golden-chicken-mississippi-where-contemporary-immigration-meets. n.d. Pollan, Michael. The Omnivores Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals . New York: The Penguin Press, 2006. Slaughterhouse Workers:The Forgotten Victims of the Meat Industry. 6 December 2017. www.livekindly.co/slaughterhouse-workers-victims-meat-industry/.

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

At the T.Rowe Price Trading Desk Assignment Example

Essays on At the T.Rowe Price Trading Desk Assignment The paper "At the T.Rowe Price Trading Desk" is a good example of an assignment on finance and accounting. Greg realized that it was very much difficult to sale the Avantek shares in bulk amount. Avantek used to trade in the OTC market where it had a share price of around $25 from July 26 to august 20 in 1984. But the share price was reduced to $18 in the month of May. Analysts had stated that the company is having some problems in their earnings for a short time period but they liked the shares for a long term basis. Greg first offered Steve to buy 183000 Avantek shares at $245/8(100 shares). But Steve tried to hook the position with Greg and then He offered Michael who is from Goldman. He tried to make a one-shot deal by offering a swap of 183000 shares of Avantek for 320000 shares of Tandem. But Michael lowered the price 23  ½. The shares of Avantek were difficult to execute because the company was unable to increase the earnings in the fourth quarter due to a slowdown in the TV RO market. Although that might be a seasonal slowdown analyst had stated that the valuation of the company might go more down. Thus the shares were risky to buy (Perold, 2003).Tandem shares are also traded in the OTC market and Greg decides that this might be the best approach if he offers a swap contract to Michael. It can help T. Rowe because T. Rowe has already taken a substantial amount of long term position in the shares of Tandem and they want more 320000 shares of Tandem. Thus it is a good deal to offer Avantek shares to Michael and buy Tandem as a package deal.This deal will be helpful for Goldman because Goldman has mentioned that they are aware of a seller of Tandem. Thus if T. Rowe buys the shares then they can get some percent as they are recommending the seller.I would not have accepted the terms offered by Goldman. It is because Michael has offered $23.5/ share for Avantek and $15.25/share for Tandem. In this case, by selling 183000 shares of Avantek we will earn 18300 0*23.5 = $4300500 and by selling 320000 shares we need to pay 320000*16.25 = $5200000.   Thus in this deal, we will not be able to earn a profit. Thus I will not accept this offer.Greg didn’t make any clear mistakes in the sell order. But as he made the offer to Steve before thus it is now a risky situation for Goldman. Michael will not give as good price as he would give if the offer went first to him.The trading cost for this potential package deal would be $5200000 for buying the 320000 shares of Tandem and they will earn $4300500 by selling the 183000 shares of Avantek. Thus the cost of the trading for T. Rowe is $899500.From the case study, it can be said that Goldman Sachs had bid for 100 shares of Avantek for $24 3/8 per share and Goldman was asking $15 3/8 per share for Tandem.   But it cannot be clearly said whether it was involved in any other specific trades during that day.From the given tables it can be seen that Goldman purchased the shares of Avantek at 12: 23 pm when the share price was $24/share. But just before one minute the price was at $24.75/share and after 12:23 pm the share price was also higher than $24/share. Thus it can be said that Goldman Sachs had purchased the shares at the lowest possible price prevailing in the market. Goldman sold the shares of Tandem at 12:22 pm at $15.25/share. Although the price hiked at 12:27 pm at 15.50/share the volume was quite low. Thus it can be said that Goldman also got profit by selling the bulk shares of Tandem at $15.25/share.In this current market structure when the competition is very high then Greg might have done this deal by increasing the price per share of Avantek as the valuation of Dollar has increased from 1984 to 2014. We need to consider the environmental factors; in this current market situation, Greg should consider the future profitability of Tandem before purchasing the shares.

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Grand Wines Wireless Devices For Data Entry

Question: Discuss About The Grand Wines Wireless Devices For Data Entry. Answer: Introduction Grand Wines is an organization that holds a remarkable name in the market and has a lot many sales representatives performing sales operations and services over an extremely large area. The current system that is associated in the management of the company sales involves a number of different issues and problems. The project includes the solution to the problems of the existing system by providing all the sales representatives of the company with the wireless data entry devices which would allow them to provide information from any location and the same will be reflected and updated in the company database. SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) Strengths The company holds a reputable position in the market and has the sponsors to sponsor the entire project and provide funds for the same The skill set that would be required for the project are available with the organization to ensure that the project activities are completed as per the allocated budget and as per the expectations Weaknesses Due to the presence of a large number of employees and associated parties, there shall be resistance to the changes emerging with the project and the same may adversely impact the productivity and efficiency of the internal workforce The project activities are required to be completed in a maximum duration of six months which may cause project risks in terms of the project schedule Opportunities Sales representatives will be able to provide order information in a timely manner which would allow faster processing of the same leading to the increased number of order received and completed The quality of services will also improve which would lead to the improvement of the customer trust The project will add the components of technology and latest innovation in the management of sales which would provide a competitive edge to the organization Threats There may be emergence of a number of security threats associated with the properties of information such as information confidentiality and availability. There will be increased access points for the attackers which would lead to increase in the number of network attacks The reputation of the organization in the market may also get affected in a negative manner with the increase in the occurrences of security attacks and violation of the privacy and security of the customer information (Ommani, 2011) Project Charter Title Grand Wines Wireless Devices for Data Entry. Project Manager Details Name: XYZ Email: xyz@grandwines.com Project Duration The project shall be completed in a maximum duration of six months. High Level Project Budget The allocated budget for the project shall be AUD 60000 and the costs that will be associated with the project are as listed below. Category of Cost Cost (AUD) Tools and Equipment Cost One-time 17500 Development, Integration and Design Cost 10400 Cost of Implementation 12000 Cost of Resources 13000 Marketing and Advertising Cost 7100 Project Objectives To equip all the sales representatives associated with the company with wireless devices for data entry and integrate the devices with the database of the organization as well To integrate the newer system with the existing operations and services in the other fields and departments To accomplish all of the project activities in the estimated schedule of six months To accomplish all of the project activities in the estimated budget of AUD 60000. To achieve enhanced level of customer trust and satisfaction along with the improvement of the organization in the market as well. Project Benefits The current system that is being used at Grand Wines for handling of the sales services and operations include a number of issues such as occurrence of human errors and mistakes while entry of the order in the system, enhanced duration in the processing of the orders, incorrect updates regarding the stocks and inventories, deterioration of the customer trust and many others. The project will not only overcome all the issues that have been stated but will also allow the organization to stay upfront in the technological advancements and innovation. List of Deliverables Project Plan: The deliverable would include the details of the planning phase of the project such as project strategy, project roles and responsibilities, schedule and budget along with the steps to assess and manage the project risks. Design and Development Plan: The deliverable would include the details on the design and development activities for the wireless data entry devices and their implementation and integration with the rest of the systems. Implementation Plan: The deliverable would include the steps to implement the entire system and the details on testing the system and devices as well in terms of their functionality, usability, reliability and security. Marketing Strategy: The deliverable would include the marketing approach and plan along with the marketing platforms that will be covered. Project Closure Report: The deliverable will include the set of activities covered in the project and the documentation of the lessons learned as well (Palmerini, 2014). Project Limits The activities that will not be covered during the project would include the negotiation with the suppliers, distribution tasks and support services. Success of the project will be decided on the basis of the factors such as delivery dates of the deliverables, adherence to the project schedule and budget, list of outstanding issues and conflicts, increase in the number of orders handled by the sales team after the implementation of the project and the time involved in the lifecycle of a single order. The milestones and deliverables associated with the project include the project plan, marketing strategy, implementation plan, design and development plan along with the closure report of the project. The delivery dates of the deliverables are specified in the table below. Name of the Deliverable Date of Delivery Project Plan 17th December 2016 Design and Development Plan 31st January 2017 Marketing Strategy 15th March 2017 Implementation Plan 1st May 2017 Project Closure Report 17th June 2017 List of Assumptions and Constraints The allocated schedule for the project is six months with start and end dates as 17th December 2016 and 17th June 2017 respectively. The allocated budget for the project is AUD 60000. The funds and environment required by the team members will be arranges and made available well in advance. Stakeholder Information Stakeholder Role and Responsibilities Project Sponsor Arrangement of the funds for the project, providing requirements and specifications to the project team Project Manager Project planning, scheduling, selection of team, reviews and inspections, risk management and communication tasks Chief Finance Officer Budgeting of the project System Analyst System design along with the technical and operational feasibility analysis for the project System Developer Development of the system for the implementation of the new sales management system Database Engineer Setting up of the database and its integration with the wireless data entry devices along with the setting up of database credentials Implementation Engineer Management of the changes and implementation planning and execution Test Analyst Test planning and execution Marketing Expert Decision and design of marketing strategy and platforms (Missonier, 2014) Lessons Acquired The project team acquired lessons on the effective project management methodology and its significance in the project success. Also, the team got an opportunity to develop skills in the fields such as project scheduling and budgeting, assessment of the risks in various areas along with the importance of effective communication as well. Communication Plan Purpose of the Plan The purpose of the communication plan is to develop clarity on the communication guidelines and activities during the project timelines. Information of Stakeholders Project Sponsor Project Manager Chief Finance Officer System Analyst System Developer Database Engineer Implementation Engineer Test Analyst Marketing Expert Information Exchange Business Specifications: The specifications will be provided in the form of requirements covering the functional and non-functional set to be handed over by the Project Sponsor. Project Status Report: Daily and weekly status will be provided by the team members and the manager respectively. Project conflicts and disputes: The information will be shared by all the team members during the team meetings. Sales Information: This information would include the order information, order history, inventory details and likewise (Alatalo, 2012). Information Exchange - Frequency Business Specifications: In the initial phase of the project Project Status Report by team members: Daily Project Status Report by Manager: Weekly Project Conflicts and Disputes: On a weekly basis Sales Information: On a daily basis Information Exchange - Location All the project reports will be places at a SharePoint location and the internal communication will take place over emails and phones. Interactions with the sponsor will be accomplished through emails and teleconferencing mediums. Communication Purpose The communication activities will allow the development of clarity among the team members regarding the requirements to be fulfilled and would also allow easier resolution of conflicts and disputes (Zulch, 2014). Communication Mechanism All the internal communication will be done through the use of emails and phones and the interactions between the team members will be done in the meeting rooms. There shall also be informal and one on one discussions between the manager and the team members (Muszynska, 2015). Communication between the sponsor and the rest of the team members would include the use of audio/video conferencing mediums and use of emails as well. Change Management There will be a lot of changes that will be introduced with the execution of the project for the employees as well as for the customers (Tripon, 2011). These changes shall be handled and managed in three broad phases as preparation, management and reinforcement. The preparation phase would include the creation of the change requests that shall be approved and authorized. The next two phases shall include the execution and implementation of the changes. The wireless data entry devices and their operation would be new for the sales representatives and there will also be corresponding changes in the front end for the customers as well. These changes shall be managed by design of a training schedule along with making assistance options available for the end users (Suresh, 2016). Agenda of Project Meetings Project Manager shall send the meeting invitation to all the required members including the agenda in terms of points to cover in the meeting along with dedicated time slot for each point. The meeting invite shall be acknowledged by all the team members by sending an acceptance and rejection as applicable. The rejection must include the reason as well (Rebori, 2016). Minutes of meeting shall be recorded by one of the meeting attendees which shall be decided in a round robin manner. The members shall raise their concerns in a polite manner. There shall be active participation from all the meeting attendees. References Alatalo, U. (2012). Communication Strategy in Projects. Retrieved 15 December 2016, from https://www.dphu.org/uploads/attachements/books/books_5840_0.pdf Missonier, S. (2014). Stakeholder analysis and engagement in projects: From stakeholder relational perspective to stakeholder relational ontology. Retrieved 15 December 2016, from https://fenix.tecnico.ulisboa.pt/downloadFile/845043405428939/12%20Stakeholder%20analysis%20and%20engagement%20in%20projects.pdf Muszynska, K. (2015). Communication Management in Project Teams - Practices and Patterns. Retrieved 15 December 2016, from https://www.toknowpress.net/ISBN/978-961-6914-13-0/papers/ML15-266.pdf Ommani, A. (2011). Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis for farming system businesses management: Case of wheat farmers of Shadervan District, Shoushtar Township, Iran. Retrieved 15 December 2016, from https://www.academicjournals.org/article/article1380639652_Ommani.pdf Palmerini, E. (2014). Regulating Emerging Robotic Technologies in Europe: Robotics facing Law and Ethics. Retrieved 15 December 2016, from https://www.robolaw.eu/RoboLaw_files/documents/robolaw_d6.2_guidelinesregulatingrobotics_20140922.pdf Rajablu, M. (2015). Managing for Stakeholders: The Role of Stakeholder-Based Management in Project Success. Retrieved 15 December 2016, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271138669_Managing_for_Stakeholders_The_Role_of_Stakeholder-Based_Management_in_Project_Success Rebori, M. (2016). How to organize and run effective meeting. Retrieved 15 December 2016, from https://www.unce.unr.edu/publications/files/cd/other/fs9729.pdf Suresh, H. (2016). Change Management Must for todays Organization. Retrieved 15 December 2016, from https://www.providersedge.com/ehdocs/transformation_articles/Change_Management_-_A_Must_for_Today-s_Organization.pdf Tripon, C. (2011). Change Management and Organization Development. Retrieved 15 December 2016, from https://www.apubb.ro/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/OD_Suport_de_curs_masterat.pdf Zulch, B. (2014). Communication: The Foundation of Project Management. Retrieved 15 December 2016, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212017314002813

Monday, December 2, 2019

Marketing and Dove Essay Example

Marketing and Dove Essay The brand refused to call its product a soap for 40 years and insisted that it was something entirely new. This hints that it could have tried to be a pioneer in a new category of the health and beauty sector thus aiming for central positioning. Nevertheless, the brand was considered by the target market as soap with a unique value proposition, I. E. Allowing oneself to clean the skin without drying out. Thus, it was positioned differentiated offering a unique benefit in an existing product category that allowed it to be distinguished from other brands. Dove chose a product-as-hero positioning with regard to other brands. The marketing campaign pronounced the functional benefits f the product, illustrating how the attribute that differentiated Dove from other competitors (cleansing cream) was added to the soap. The brand provided two main benefits to the consumer: cleaning and moisturizing. While cleaning is the primary benefit that triggers action by a consumer (realizing dirtiness / need to clean), moisturizing is a secondary benefit that sets Dove apart from competitors and addresses an existing problem in the sub-category of soap bars. We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing and Dove specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing and Dove specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing and Dove specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The need to clean oneself while not drying out is deliverable by Dove as indicated in the marketing campaign due to the product attribute of 25% cleansing cream. Finally, the uniqueness of the brand is purely defined by the moisturizing effect. The Dove campaign for its beauty bar put a strong focus on the benefit of its products. With respect to the a-b-e model, a combination of baby and e- b was chosen to stress the key benefit of not drying the skin when using the soap to clean oneself. Illustrating the attribute of added cream to the product is used to support this benefit (bob). This is communicated in the second part of the main message of the campaign (Dove soap doses t dry your skin because it s one quarter cleansing cream). Furthermore, he negative emotion attached to having dry skin when using traditional soap bars is addressed in the first part of the campaign message. The negative emotion attached to dry skin is dispelled with the benefit of the Dove soap (e- b). Mastermind era When Milliner decided that Dove would become a Mastermind, one thing that product. As a Mastermind, many different brands with differing product attributes were combined under the umbrella of Dove. Thus, focusing on a single functional product benefit was no longer possible as there were many different ones and Dove changed to representing a general point of view. This point of view would be developed with the campaign for real beauty. The brand was positioned as differentiated once again in the health and beauty sector. This time however, it did not do so based on a unique product feature but rather based on their point of view on beauty which was vastly different from the rest of beauty brands in the industry. While the beauty industry traditionally presented an unattainable stereotypical image of beauty in marketing campaigns (young, white, blonde, thin) Dove chose to start a campaign addressing all the women that had problems with their self-esteem as they did not feel beautiful. Dove started to develop marketing campaigns using more realistic women with different shapes, sizes, ethnicities and age groups. This change from aspiration to reality was the aspect of the brand that differentiated it within the product category. As a Mastermind, Dove no longer pursued a product- as-hero positioning due to the already mentioned fact that it combined a large variety of products with different benefits. It rather decided to choose a user-as-hero positioning placing their target market at the center of the campaign. The feelings of women having problems with low self-esteem were central to the marketing strategy ND many different customers were portrayed in different parts of the campaign (Tick-Box, Six real women, Daughter-film, Evolution etc. ). The benefit that the brand was offering was real beauty as it tried to make women feel beautiful that currently din t do so. To the target market this was a highly important benefit as the studies conducted by Dove showed the large percentage of the population that actually faced self-esteem challenges related to beauty. As it portrayed realistic images of women in their campaigns and how Dove could change how they felt about themselves the rand managed to show that it could actually deliver the benefit of making women feel better about themselves. Finally, as it was the only brand that chose to market this benefit was also unique distinguishing Dove from the traditional approach of beauty brands. Question 2: How was the meaning of the Dove brand controlled in the age of mass media? How is it controlled in the era of Youth and other interactive media? The use of mass media such as billboards, magazines, radio, television or newspapers allows for a higher level of control over the transported marketing message than the SE of interactive media such as blobs, networks or other internet platforms. During the functional era, Dove communicated the benefit of its products through mass media and was able to exert a high level of control over the meaning of the Dove brand that reached the target market. It was a one-way communication with Dove transporting the meaning of its brand to the customers and controlling what exactly it wanted the target market to see, hear and associate with the brand. Dove also controlled who would receive the message to a great extent as it knew its target audience as well as its target market and the channels through which it could reach of male-dominated sport such as the Super Bowl since the audience would have had very little in common with the mainly female target market. When Dove switched to including interactive media into its communication strategy the level of control it had on the meaning that was associated with the brand decreased. With interactive media, the audience exposed to Dove advertising and anything associated with the Dove brand has the possibility of giving immediate feedback to the message. As an example, an advertising film on Youth, such as the Dove Evolution ad, can receive instant feedback from anyone who has seen it through commenting and like-button tools. Thus, anyone viewing the video after feedback has been given will not be exposed to the original and pure marketing message that Dove had communicated with its film. Rather the message received by subsequent viewers will be altered by the feedback of previous ones. This means that one difference from mass media to interactive media is that Dove cannot be sure to transport its originally desired and clean message that it wants to communicate to the target audience about the meaning of the brand. Thus, advertising had changed from a one-way communication to a two-way communication in which the audience added to the brand meaning that was transported. Furthermore, the use of interactive media can result in a much faster and more extensive spreading of the message than mass media. The people that ultimately get exposed to a marketing campaign could be highly different from the audience that the campaign had been planned for. However, in the case of Dove this loss of control over the receivers of a marketing campaign is not a great problem but rather an advantage. This is due to the fact that the target audience of the real beauty campaign was a lot larger than the target market. While the market that Dove wanted to tap into and ultimately buy its products did increase to include females of all age groups, shapes and sizes as compared to the more narrow approach from the functional era, the target audience increased to a far greater extent. Dove intended to start a public debate about beauty within all areas of society and thus wanted to reach all people in America with their campaign. They wanted people to become aware of the self-esteem challenges hat women faced in connection with the unattainable image that the beauty industry tended to portray in advertising. After becoming aware of this problem, Dove wanted the target audience of its campaign to think about and start discussing this issue. Therefore, the fact that the campaign could be spread rapidly with the interactive media used turned out to be a favorable factor as more people would be talking about the self-esteem issue on blobs and social networks. With respect to this issue it is important to notice that Dove continuously tried to fuel the debate and keep it alive. This was the brand s way to exert a certain level of control over the meaning of Dove. As long as people were talking about the beauty issue they would also be connecting it with the meaning that Dove intended to stand for. Concluding it can be said that overall the level of control that Dove could exert on the meaning that was transported about the brand was significantly lower after the switch to interactive media. In the functional era Dove fully controlled the meaning of the brand that was transported to the target audience simply through changes in advertising (slogan, images, channels used etc. As the communication was purely adapt to the audiences feedback to control the original message of the brand while also fueling the beauty debate to raise brand awareness. Question 3: Is the Dove brand out of control? Is Dove making a risky bet? The strategy of employing interactive media instead of traditional mass media to market the real beauty campaign was undoubtedly risky. But even though the level of control that Dove can exert over the meaning of its brand that is transported to the audience it is not completely out of control. Dove was able to raise brand awareness to a far rater extent than it could have done through the use of mass media mostly by allowing itself to let go of completely controlling the communicated message and shifting part of it towards the consumer. Of course this was largely helped by the fact that Dove did not simply transport the meaning of its brand but rather start a public debate in society that went beyond the use of Dove products. It tried to make people think and debate about the meaning of real beauty and shift perception from the unattainable and aspiration beauty image portrayed by the majority of the industry towards real beauty. The key lay in making the audience connect this debate about beauty with the Dove brand. As long as this was the case and as long as the debate would continue to go on the brand had achieved its goal. Thus, it can be said that while the risk was definitely given it was also controllable. Dove knew the large number of females that had problems with their self-esteem so it knew that it only had to spread the message of real beauty far enough for enough of these women to react to it. The choice to include interactive media was therefore a very reasonable and rational decision as it helped to spread the message farther and more rapidly Han mass media could have done. As Dove knew that there were enough women out there to care about the message that it was sending, the only real risk was that the audience would not believe that the brand was really caring about these women. Authenticity was the key issue and it was crucial that people believed that Dove was serious in trying to change the way women felt about themselves and their self- esteem problems. In my opinion, Dove did an exceptional Job in communicating the brand s authenticity about the issue and this was the key to the success of the campaign. Whenever there were doubts about the campaign Dove did not retreat from the issue but instead went one step further and communicated the self-esteem challenges of women and the switch from aspiration to reality even in a more pronounced way. Dove was not afraid of losing the aspiration element and thus the incentive of customers to buy the brand. Instead it answered to the concerns with the highly emotional daughter-film. Dove was also unafraid to communicate its message to the male-dominated Super Bowl audience. It did not assume a defensive position upon meeting criticism and to its campaign from news reporters and nonusers but rather embraced the critique to fuel the beauty debate even further. Finally, it also did not retreat from walking-the-talk and investing funds in the establishment of the Dove Self Esteem Fund to actively help young women with their problems. All of these steps were necessary to convince the target audience about the authenticity of the brand and ultimately allowed Dove to keep control over the had no choice but to acknowledge that Dove was serious about the important issue of women s self-esteem and therefore whatever alteration was done it could not change the meaning of the brand to spin out of control.