International Competition Essays - Marketing, Communication Design

International Competition Essays - Marketing, Communication Design International Competition Consumer Behaviour Consumers have so many choices to make compared to ten or even twenty years ago. Today as always, business growth depends heavily on loyal customers who return because they are satisfied with the product and/or service they have received. But first companies have to bring consumers into the stores. The companies bring consumers into the store by marketing their product. The average consumer would probably define marketing as a combination of advertising and selling. It actually includes a good deal more. Modern marketing is most simply defined as directing the flow of goods from producers to customers. In order to answer this question fully we must define consumer goods which means goods that are used or bought for use primarily for personal, family, or household purposes. The paper outlines the contributions of marketing through fast moving consumer goods. Promotion, which works hand in hand with marketing a product, allows the product to be relayed to the right consumer through cam paigns. A Market research must be completed to find a target audience which is used for promotional and advertising reasons. The last part of the scheme is the actual advertising of the good which pulls the consumer into the store. Marketing has had an influential impact on fast moving consumer goods through abroad range of activities including, promotion, market research, and advertising. Promotion is used to communicate information about goods and services to target market audiences thereby facilitating the exchange process. Promotion plays an important role in informing, educating, persuading and reminding customers. The promotional mix is adjusted according to the organizations promotional objectives and its marketing situation. Generally, in consumers services, marketing and advertising will be by far the main component and the most expensive. Promotion is essentially about communication. Target audiences need to receive information about goods and services before they can begi n to consider making a purchase. The promotional objectives will influence the nature of the promotional message and the type of appeal used to get the message across. One of the key tasks in designing and executing promotional programmes is the selection of appropriate media for advertising and other forms of communication. The range of possible media choice is extensive but will ultimately be governed by factors such as the budget available and the target audience profile. The development of an effective promotional campaign involves combining the promotional mix elements in the most appropriate way to meet the organizations communications objectives. Evaluation and monitoring is important and one method of evaluation is by completing marketing research. (Woodruffe 1995149,163-4) An advertisement, or a campaign of advertisements, is planned in much the same way a successful salesperson plans the approach to be used on a personal call. The first stage is working out the strategy. T his requires a thorough analysis of all available market research, personal discussionsor focus groupswith typical prospective buyers of the product, and knowledge of all competitive products and their advertising. Based on the understanding and insights derived from this information, advertising professionals write a strategy that defines the prospects that constitute the target market to which they must direct the message and what must be communicated in order to persuade the prospects to take the action that is desired. With this strategy as a guide, copywriters and art directors begin to create the advertisements. At this second stage they try to come up with an idea that involves the prospect, pertains to his life or problems, and is memorable. The idea can take the form of an unexpected set of words or a graphic symbol. It also can be a combination of words and graphics, and even music. An advertising idea works best when it is a totally unexpected yet thoroughly relevant fulf illment of the strategy. The third stage is the execution of the idea. This means turning the idea into some form of communication that a prospect can see or hear. For print advertising, execution involves writing text, taking photographs or commissioning drawings, arranging elements on the page (layout), setting type, making photo engravings, and so on. For broadcast advertising, it may mean writing dialogue and composing music, hiring actors and recording voices, filming in a studio or on location. Throughout all

How to Recognize Common Figures of Speech

How to Recognize Common Figures of Speech Of the hundreds of figures of speech, many have similar or overlapping meanings. Here we offer simple definitions and examples of 30 common figures, drawing some basic distinctions between related terms. How to Recognize Common Figures of Speech For additional examples and more detailed discussions of each figurative device, click on the term to visit the entry in our glossary. Whats the difference between a metaphor and a simile?Both metaphors and similes express comparisons between two things that arent obviously alike. In a simile, the comparison is stated explicitly with the help of a word such as like or as: My love is like a red, red rose / Thats newly sprung in June. In a metaphor, the two things are linked or equated without using like or as: Love is a rose, but you better not pick it. Whats the difference between metaphor and metonymy?Put simply, metaphors make comparisons while metonyms make associations or substitutions. The place name Hollywood, for example, has become a metonym for the American film industry (and all the glitz and greed that go with it). Whats the difference between metaphor and personification?Personification is a particular type of metaphor that assigns the characteristics of a person to something non-human, as in this observation from Douglas Adams: He turned on the wipers again, but they still refused to feel that the exercise was worthwhile, and scraped and squeaked in protest. Whats the difference between personification and apostrophe?A rhetorical apostrophe not only animates something absent or non-living (as in personification) but also addresses it directly. For instance, in Johnny Mercers song Moon River, the river is apostrophized: Wherever youre going, Im going your way. Whats the difference between hyperbole and understatement?Both are attention-getting devices: hyperbole exaggerates the truth for emphasis while understatement says less and means more. To say that Uncle Wheezer is older than dirt is an example of hyperbole. To say that hes a bit long in the tooth is probably an understatement. Whats the difference between understatement and litotes?Litotes is a type of understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite. We might say litotically that Uncle Wheezer is no spring chicken and not as young as he used to be. Whats the difference between alliteration and assonance?Both create sound effects: alliteration through the repetition of an initial consonant sound (as in a peck of pickled peppers), and assonance through the repetition of similar vowel sounds in neighboring words (It beats . . . as it sweeps . . . as it cleans!). Whats the difference between onomatopoeia and homoioteleuton?Dont be put off by the fancy terms. They refer to some very familiar sound effects. Onomatopoeia (pronounced ON-a-MAT-a-PEE-a) refers to words (such as bow-wow and hiss) that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to. Homoioteleuton (pronounced ho-moi-o-te-LOO-ton) refers to similar sounds at the endings of words, phrases, or sentences (The quicker picker upper). Whats the difference between anaphora and epistrophe?Both involve the repetition of words or phrases. With anaphora, the repetition is at the beginning of successive clauses (as in the famous refrain in the final part of Dr. Kings I Have a Dream speech). With epistrophe (also known as epiphora), the repetition is at the end of successive clauses (When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child). Whats the difference between antithesis and chiasmus?Both are rhetorical balancing acts. In an antithesis, contrasting ideas are juxtaposed in balanced phrases or clauses (Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing). A chiasmus (also known as antimetabole) is a type of antithesis in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first with the parts reversed (The first shall be last, and the last shall be first). Whats the difference between asyndeton and polysyndeton?These terms refer to contrasting ways of linking items in a series. An asyndetic style omits all conjunctions and separates the items with commas (They dove, splashed, floated, splashed, swam, snorted). A polysyndetic style places a conjunction after every item in the list.Whats the difference between a paradox and an oxymoron?Both involve apparent contradictions. A paradoxical statement appears to contradict itself (If you wish to preserve your secret, wrap it up in frankness). An oxymoron is a compressed paradox in which incongruous or contradictory terms appear side by side (a real phony).Whats the difference between a euphemism and a dysphemism?A euphemism involves the substitution of an inoffensive expression (such as passed away) for one that might be considered offensively explicit (died). In contrast, a dysphemism substitutes a harsher phrase (took a dirt nap) for a comparatively inoffensive one. Though often meant to sh ock or offend, dysphemisms may also serve as in-group markers to show camaraderie. Whats the difference between diacope and epizeuxis?Both involve the repetition of a word or phrase for emphasis. With diacope, the repetition is usually broken up by one or more intervening words: Youre not fully clean until youre Zestfully clean. In the case of epizeuxis, there are no interruptions: Im shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here! Whats the difference between verbal irony and sarcasm?In both, words are used to convey the opposite of their literal meanings. Linguist John Haiman has drawn this key distinction between the two devices: [P]eople may be unintentionally ironic, but sarcasm requires intention. What is essential to sarcasm is that it is overt irony intentionally used by the speaker as a form of verbal aggression (Talk Is Cheap, 1998). Whats the difference between a tricolon and a tetracolon climax?Both refer to a series of words, phrases, or clauses in parallel form. A tricolon is a series of three members: Eye it, try it, buy it! A tetracolon climax is a series of four: He and we were a party of men walking together, seeing, hearing, feeling, understanding the same world.Whats the difference between a rhetorical question and epiplexis?A rhetorical question is asked merely for effect with no answer expected: Marriage is a wonderful institution, but who would want to live in an institution? Epiplexis is a type of rhetorical question whose purpose is to rebuke or reproach: Have you no shame?