Teenagers: A Despairing Glimpse At Future Generations

My piece is an argumentative article, intended for publication in a broadsheet newspaper such as The Daily Telegraph. The primary purpose is to argue a rather controversial idea based upon the semantic field of teenage culture and behaviour; however, the piece also aims to entertain with frequent use of humour through hyperbole and sarcasm, such as â€Å"Oh, how mature†. The text is aimed at an audience of educated adults, hence the formal and somewhat advanced lexis perpetuated throughout. My piece is based on an article by Quentin Letts, from which I adopted such linguistic features as repetitive listing, comedic imagery, satirical imitation and inclusive mode of address. I realised that Letts' style was often overly pretentious, and that he often presents views which would be seen as controversial or belligerent by most, as displayed by the declarative â€Å"Many of us are bog-standard class†. His altercations often target certain groups of people, and this was utilised in my own piece by attacking a whole generation, much to the amusement of the given audience. Both mine and Letts' articles are comparable in the sense that they are both self-deprecating: Letts, attacking the British whilst being a Briton himself, and me, attacking teenagers whilst acknowledging that I am a teenager myself. The use of mode of address helps to punctuate the self-inclusive nature, with the first-person plural pronoun â€Å"we† used to bridge a connection between me and teenagers, and to establish an unwanted common ground. Although I am wholly included within the recipients of my own blame, I make it obvious that I wish to be distanced from teenagers as I am writing from a viewpoint which does not want to be related with teenagers. I utilise various methods which help emphasise my stance. A method of intimidation which Letts uses is imitation as demonstrated with the declarative â€Å"e don't love me!†, which is thus emulated in my piece with: â€Å"ME MAM BURNT ME CHIKEN NUGETS!† which also uses satiric misspelling to hyperbolise the remark, and maintain the humour of the piece in order to conform to the purpose. The use of such imitation makes clear the dissonance between me and teenagers as it directly parodies them in a somewhat demeaning way. Letts helps to convey his argument by use of metaphors such as â€Å"climbing down into the gutter is a dangerous tactic†. This was mirrored in my piece with the metaphor â€Å"we speedily climb the ladder of maturity, whilst our parents wait at the top† which not only presents clever imagery to affirm the point for the reader, but also provides humour in a more refined way; use of such humour is used to adjust more with the audience of the piece. When writing the piece, I aimed to argue my point in a succinct and structured way, which would simultaneously permeate an air of humour and pretension which Letts so adequately upholds. The audience is under consideration throughout, with clear attempts to maintain formal lexis and thus appease those of higher education and class, as shown with such words as the concrete noun â€Å"cacophony† and the descriptive adjective â€Å"gargantuan†. Yet this effectively contrasts with the satiric use of informal lexis such as colloquial adjective â€Å"plastered†, and the ironic use of such text abbreviations as â€Å"TBH† and â€Å"IDK†.

Communication Styles Essay

Identifying with your personal style of communicating will help you in the long run to create good communication skills. There are four different communications styles which are passive, assertive, aggressive and passive aggresive that we all can identify with. Knowing about the many styles of communication can help you to adapt to others and their style of communication. Passive communication is one of the four different communication styles. Passive communication is shown when individuals fail to express their opinions, feelings, needs and show low self-esteem. I don’t identify with this style of communicating because this isn’t me. When I feel the need to express myself I do so. I always stand a hundred and ten percent behind my opinion and I never let others step over me. Aggressive communication is very different from passive communication. Being a aggressive communicator you express your feelings and opinion. Aggressive communicators can often be verbally abusive because of past situations such as they may have experienced physical and or emotional abuse or still carrying around unhealed wounds. Aggressive communicators will often try to be the dominate one and control others. They speak in a very loud demanding voice and act rudely. I myself can be aggressive from time to time in situations. For example if my boyfriend makes me mad I began to speak in a loud overbearing tone and will not listen to anything he has to say. Being an aggressive communicator will unable you to mature . Passive-aggressive communication is a style that on the outside they show to be passive but act out of anger because of feeling powerless. Passive-aggressive communicators will use sarcasm, deny that there is a problem and will sabotage you to get even. I personally cannot relate to this style of communication. If I have a problem I will gladly let you know what the issue is. Also I do not believe in sabotaging others, you will get your karma, as they say what goes around comes back around. Assertive communication is the last style of communication. It is a style in which one believe on speaking up about their opinions and feelings. Assertive communicators show high self-esteem and value everything about themselves such as their time, emotions and needs. Assertive communicators will stand up for their rights but yet be respectful about it. They also listen well and respect others and speak in a calm tone. I find myself being an assertive communicator the most especially in disagreements. I let others know how I feel but at the same time I still respect them and how they feel. Assertive communication is one of the best styles of communication because it creates an respectful environment and allows you to be mature enough to address issues as they arise.

Supply and demand in baseball Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Supply and demand in baseball - Essay Example Over the years, various studies show that participation in professional baseball games have steadily declined. There are many reasons attributed to this condition of reduction in demand for baseball as indicated by the lower ticket sales based on volume. One reason cited is that the ticket prices have risen sharply in the past 15 years. This is accompanied by increases in the price of related goods or complementary goods to baseball games live, including parking fees and food prices. (Wood, 2004) To illustrate this point, Chicago-based research company Team Marketing Research asserted that on the average, a family of four is estimated to spend about $153 for watching in big-league ballparks as at 2004. This figure represents nearly 3% increase from 2003. Similarly, Philadelphia Phillies fans are estimated to spend around $188 for a family of four. This is greater than a 25% jump from the cost in the previous year. (Wood, 2004) Apart from this, another reason mentioned is the change in the kind of spectators who are purchasing baseball tickets. It is seen that corporations and other businesses are buying in bulks to impress clients by giving away complimentary tickets. Note that these business entities would opt for the premium seats such as those located in blocks behind the home plate and in covered boxes. In this regard, baseball owners are able to jack up the price for seats in these locations as there is an assured demand for such. Moreover, as these owners attempt to recoup the increasing cost of doing business, they boost the ticket prices particularly for those in prime locations (Wood, 2004). For instance, team owners have to contend with the meteoric rise in their factors of production, especially labor. Wage is often perceived as the primary component of business cost that leads to the increase in price (Dornbusch, Fisher& Starkz, 2002). In professional baseball, it is seen that teams belonging to the top 25% of revenue-earners have experienced an increase of $28 million on the average between 1995 and 1999 alone (Bergen, 2000). As team owners are tied up with multi-year and multi-million dollar contracts with their players, they attempt to recover the substantial wage cost by increasing ticket prices. Given the above, it could be concluded that inflation has not only affected the basic goods but the baseball ticket prices as well. This could be better explained with the aid of the graph (Change in Demand for Baseball Game Tickets). Based on the graph, it is exhibited that the price of baseball tickets has increased form D0 to D1 due to the consistent demand of corporate buyers coupled with the increasing cost of operating a baseball team. In macroeconomic terms, the "inflation" that has affected baseball tickets may be classified as both cost-push and demand-pull. These means that the steady demand for baseball tickets as well as the rise in the cost of doing business (Samuelson & Nordhaus, 2002) has led to the hiking up of baseball ticket prices. However, as baseball fans, especially families, have been hit by inflation, thus increasing the

The Innovator's Dilemma Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Innovator's Dilemma - Case Study Example ive technologies on incumbent firms, it would be prudent for the organization to balance its product portfolio by having both high-growth and low-growth products. Here, one could look at the 2.5† drive as the low-growth product and the 1.8† as the high-growth product. Also, as Christensen (Para 38) says most incumbents fail because of delay in making the strategic commitment to enter the emerging market. Choosing to offer the 1.8† drive now the organization lessens the likelihood of failing if the 1.8† turns out to be a disruptive technology. Christensen (Para 27) says that established firms are the leading innovators in literally every other sustaining innovations in the drive industrys history. Merely investing in a new technology for fear that it could be a disruptive technology would be a waste of scarce resources. Those resources would be better spent in critically analysing the market. In today’s rapidly changing business environment, the company should not merely focus on their current customers but on their non-consumers as well. The company should find out if there are ways that it could meet the needs of its non-consumers and then invest in developing that market. If developing the 1.8† would enable it to capture this new market, and if the market’s projections imply that it is sustainable then it should invest in the 1.8†. Otherwise, the company should not venture into making the 1.8

Global warming Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Global warming - Essay Example ost circulated US newspapers and the two television channels with the largest viewership have been focusing their attention on only peripheral solutions to global warming instead of paying attention to the basic policy changes required. As Friedman (2008) has pointed out, green living in US has become a fashion of sort rather than a commitment that involves hard core political and economic choices (p.203-216). As a result, the real â€Å"scales† by which the problem has to be understood, measured and addressed is still lacking (Friedman, 2008, p.209-216). In other words, environmentalism in US is still dwelling on the rhetorical level and has not yet entered the realm of real action (Friedman, 2008, p.215). But all the same, if there is conviction to move forward, there are a number of viable alternatives presented, as is done by Al Gore (2008). Al Gore (2008) has stressed that there is full scope for convergence of actions meant to solve climate change and â€Å"economic† and â€Å"energy security crisis† and has provided many examples. But Friedman (2008) is rather pessimistic as he is conscious of the magnitude of the task in front (p.209-215). But it is evident that there are no â€Å"easy† ‘consumer-friendly’ ways to go green (Friedman, 2008, p.203-4). And it is evident from this discourse that global warming can be reduced only by path-breaking policies and corresponding action. What the US citizens can do towards this end should not be limited by the easy and ready-made solutions provided by trendy rhetoric. It is in this context that two major news papers and two most popular television channels will be scrutinized in this study over a certain period of time, by examining all the environmental reports that came in them during this period. The solutions offered in each of these reports will be categorized into two groups, namely, easy solutions and real solutions (related to policy and law). These two lists will be compared to find out which category is

What is the role of each component of the strategic management process Essay

What is the role of each component of the strategic management process in determining overall enterprise performance - Essay Example As such, environmental scanning is very important in directing strategy formulation and implementation. The next component is the strategy formulation process. The strategies developed to determine the excellence of the firm in executing them. However, some scholars argue that strategy implementation and monitoring can lead an organization to excellence even if the strategy developed was inefficient or wrong. However, strategy formulation leads to the development of objectives, performance indicators, business unit strategies, functional strategies and the key strategy (Vagadia, 2014). Strategy implementation is equally important. The approach of strategies implementation and execution determine how successful they will become. Strategy implementation assesses aspects such as synergy, efficiency, and total reward strategies. Strategy evaluation is the final component of the strategic management process. Primarily, strategy evaluation and monitoring is the process of performance analysis and management. This component involves with ensuring that the set objectives are achieved and that various functional strategies are completed within the set deadlines (Vagadia, 2014). Strategy evaluation entails the measurement of performance and taking corrective courses of action. As such, strategy evaluation is entirely based on enterprise performance. However, each component plays a unique

Organizational Training and Development; Core Values in McDonalds USA Essay

Organizational Training and Development; Core Values in McDonalds USA - Essay Example The employees who are recruited are of high integrity and are always ready to follow the code of ethics of the organization thus making it possible for the company to be ranked in position five. The training functions support the organizational strategies. For example, through training, the employee’s performance is improved thus the McDonald’s USA, LLC business goals are achieved. Time and money which are limited resources have to be effectively allocated so training is conducted thus targets and objective of the company are achieved. Since problems in the McDonald’s USA, LLC are unpredictable, training is conducted when the need arises and this is done beyond classrooms, instead, work experience and web-based training is conducted (Noe 2013). The use of job experience and web-based training helps McDonald’s USA, LLC to solve problems quickly. Through the use of knowledge-based, McDonald’s use mentoring programs, chat rooms, and job experience to make sure that the company succeeds in its business practices. Since McDonald’s USA, LLC Company does not use classroom mode of training, like its competitors, it has achieved a competitive position in the industry. Rather McDonald’s USA, LLC usually use knowledge developed through job experience. Interactions in the company are allowed where one can gather information from one department to another between the employees thus making it impossible for other companies to imitate McDonald’s strategies. The use of knowledge developed through job experience and interactions between the employees provide a competitive advantage of the company where it makes it impossible for other companies to imitate thus remaining in the market for a long period without strong competitors.

Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content. What Personal Statement - 1

Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content. What do you do or experience there and why is it meaningful you - Personal Statement Example Its satisfies all the five senses: It has this serenity that is exclusive, the air being inhaled is purified as there are little or no sources of pollution, the wind that blows is gentle, the sound of the animals brings a feeling that one can get from no other place, and the taste of the wild fruits provides nature’s best, as compared to the fruits that reach the markets that have be grown using chemicals. The sense of nature being around me in its purest form brings a sense of peace. Being in the woods gives me the peace that I cannot get in an environment that is characterised by the hooting of vehicles and moving machines and the threat of being mugged or knocked down by vehicle. It also takes me away from thinking about unfinished businesses and many of life’s worries. The woods present me with an opportunity to hike, making me reconnect with nature in the best way that the earth we live in provides. This is also an opportunity to go biking and feel the adrenaline as the air rushes past me and the earth moves fast behind on a a rough terrain that ignites my endurance. The wooded environment is also good for hunting, which makes me be in touch with other forms of life such as birds of different types, rodent, snakes, and lizards among other animals. Watching animals in the wild is for me one of the greatest wonders that this world presents. Seeing how the eagle preys on the rodents from the moment it targets its prey to the time it catches it is simply amazing. This makes me appreciate nature that no form of human invention can be of that complexity. Seeing how the ecosystem balances itself reminds me that there is an important part that I was created to do on earth. As every part of the ecosystem has and fulfils its purpose, so do I have a purpose that I am to fulfil. My recent visit to the Grand Canyon was an experience of a lifetime - one that I would not want to wash away from my memory. The place is such a

Computer think Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Computer think - Essay Example Actually, the majority current calculators are truly a kind of computers, with several pre-installed application programs to assist in solving complicated and difficult jobs. In addition, the computers have greatly influenced over lives. They have totally transformed the working practice of business domains. Moreover, they have brought revolution in mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Geography, Banking and various other disciplines of life (McGuigan and Wallace), (Norton) and (Shelly, Cashman and Vermaat). This paper presents a detailed overview of computers, their largest impact or influence on our thinking and our life. This paper will analyze some of the important aspects of computers throughout our life. This paper will also evaluate that how computer has enriched various walks of our life. Then I will present the impact of modern technology of computer in a community. An introduction to computers At the moment each particular individual is familiar with the term computer. Due to t heir massive utilization we are able to discover computer systems at all over our surroundings. Actually current world will be imperfect without computer systems as well as their utilization in various walks of life. It’s approximately impractical to yet visualize the recent benefits and services exclusive of the utilization of computer systems. A lot of persons might recognize that computer implies a PC, over which they are able to watch movies, play interesting games, organize staff records as well as handle every day planning, activities and development. However, this is only a simple fraction of computer expertise. Therefore, computer implies even more than a personal computer. In this scenario, a computer could be referred as a device which accepts data and instructions carry out processing and functions consequently. In addition, these controlled instructions are recognized as computer software and computer systems implement this software to perform a function. Moreover , during a specified instant of time, a group of instructions can be provided to a computer to execute a number of processes, all together (The Gemini Geek). Computer Technology Vs Calculators Similar to computer systems, another device known as calculator as well obtain data or instruction like an input and return back to the users in the form of useful information. However, a calculator is able to offer perform operations on a current and instant input simply. Therefore, computers can perform a collection of instructions simultaneously; consequently a computer system is able to work like a constant employee. In addition, computers give information for particular instructions using a determined way, thus there is no need to input a single data or instruction at a given instant of time. Moreover, an individual computer system is able to manipulate a variety of instructions all together. Due to this special trait, computer systems may show an ample impact and useful services and func tionalities like banking, transport, safety, management interaction etc (The Gemini Geek) Computer Utilities At the moment computers have been classified according to their capabilities. Considering their utilization and service function they could be divided into different kinds. In this scenario, the fastest computers available in the marketplace are known as

Advanced Marine Design Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Advanced Marine Design - Coursework Example Substantial modifications have been installed in the design to include the hull form characteristics and standard dimensions to iterate certain design arrangements. This marine craft is a high-speed aluminum planing hull with similar screw diesel thrust and heavy buildup. The key facets that have been well-thought-out in the designing procedure of the craft include the effects, needs, dimensional ratios, form features, resistance, propulsion and strength of the ship and its outline (Mizine, Brenner and Harries, 2011, p. 1). Corresponding dimensional ratios I. Influences Increasing anxiety over the creation of the general design of the marine craft, its incorporation, with production, sustenance and renovation has created specific attention (Mizine, Brenner and Harries, 2011, p. 1). This focus influences the functions and needs of automatic designs and production, and the application of information technology aspects. Initiation of computerized instruments has made this design employ the attempt of enhancing the design guidelines with the aim of advancing the performance and security of the ship and its structures. The depiction of the hull configurations for such a high-speed marine crafts is the most significant aspect that greatly influences all stages of the design project (Mizine, Brenner and Harries, 2011, p. 1)... This mainly applies for traditional marine crafts that make this design appear and perform as a modern and improved structure of traveling and warring purposes (Mizine, Brenner and Harries, 2011, p. 2). III. Principle dimensional ratios The accompanying dimensional ratios have been recognized with a program that gets a grip of the function played by the three-dimensional computer displaying in current ship design exercise. This exercise involves training in numerous current utilized three-dimensional project apparatuses like the current design (Mizine, Brenner and Harries, 2011, p. 2). To get to the opening principle features of the ship’s design structure, a database of similar vessels were covered. To commence the design, it was already established that planing hulls need a coefficient of velocity (CV) of 2, Savitsky, operating under the theory of Hydrodynamic Design of Planing Hulls. The marine technology used in this design also employs a cruising velocity that is supposed to be approximately 30 knots. Using these values and the theory that establishes Savitsky’s equation: CV = V/ (g*B).5 A distance of 20 feet was initiated for the marine craft’s beam. Afterwards, the equation was deployed to control this measurement: L = 9.8489*B –91.585 = 105 feet Knowing the length, the relationship shown in the design was used to realize the displacement: ? = 2.2244*L –120.01 = 113.55 LT Lastly, from the calculation, a value for the current was realized: ? = 56.857*T – 253.56 T = 5.5 feet Consequently, preliminary principal dimensions were as follows: L = 105 feet B = 20 feet T = 5.5 feet IV. Form characteristics on stability Certain incorporation techniques, Bonjean curves, dampened exteriors and

Card Game Essay Example for Free

Card Game Essay The study was commenced inside the Computer Shop at Dasmarinas, Cavite. After we discussed our first topic we planned to come up with a Card Game as our second topic for the sake of our thesis project in Software Engineer Subject. We picked Card Game as our second topic because we feel that it’s more challenging rather than hunting some companies around Dasmarinas. Some of the reasons why we picked Card Game as our second topic are because in this topic we own our time performing the codes of the program any time before the day of our defence without such pressure. Statement of the Problem From some of the research and data we gathered. We found a few application and websites that is running a similar online game like our propose topic. From what weve seen some major problem that they have is that the game is not quite user friendly. Its difficult to use the control. Because of the lack of visual control buttons. There is also limitation on how many game can it accommodates at the same time. Of course keeping the gamers idle for so long they might lose interest in the game Research Objectives The Objectives of this research is to develop a game that will be entertaining and at the same time, a game that will be educational that may enhance thinking and decision-making skill in the following ways: * To make unique cards in the game that will allow diversity for the players to think of their own strategy. * To ensure that players will have no advantage against each other by making cards balance. * To allow multiplayer (online) for players to play against each other in different parts of the world. Significance of the Study Cardfight vanguard is a trading card game there are also people who wants to experience playing this game but doesnt have the luxury of buying the needed cards and also looking for people to play with. Since people now are more often browsing the internet people who want to play Vanguard can play the game without buying the necessary cards needed and having to worry of looking for someone to play with. Conceptual Framework * PHP Hypertext Preprocessor. * Randomized * Easy access * Less hassle Electronic Trading Card Game The model above explains on what and how will be the process of the study. Trading Card Game is a game played using specially designed sets of playing cards. While trading cards have been around for longer, TCGs (Trading Card Games) combine the appeal of collecting with strategicgameplay, but in our study we will do it in a different way by using PHP Hypertext Pre-processor as our scripting language for this study and for our main function for this logical game is the random() function. The researchers will assure an easy access program for the user and it lessens hassle because rather than bringing your deck of cards using your bare hands, just bring your portable computer and start playing the game on your most comfortable place.

The importance of counting in early number development

The importance of counting in early number development Counting is the action of finding the number of elements of a finite set of objects by continually increasing a counter by a unit for every element in the set, in some order. Counting is used by children to demonstrate knowledge of the number names and number system. Archaeological evidence suggests that humans have been counting for at least 50,000 years, and in ancient cultures counting was used to keep track of early economic data. Learning to count is considered a very important educational and developmental milestone in most cultures of the world. Learning to count is a childs first step into mathematics, and constitutes the most fundamental idea of mathematics. The present essay will attempt to illustrate the importance of counting for the development of number-related skills from an early age (Eves, 1990). The use of numbers is a skill developed from an early age. In mathematics, there is the term number sense, a relatively new construct that refers to a well organized conceptual framework of number information that enables a person to understand numbers and numbers relationships, and to solve mathematical problems that are not bound by traditional algorithms. Number sense includes some component skills such as number meaning, number relationships, number magnitude, operations involving numbers and referents for numbers and quantities. These skills contribute to general intuitions about numbers and pave the way for more advanced skills (Bobis, 1996). Studies have shown that this number sense begins at a very early age. Even before they are able to count properly, children of around two years of age can indentify one, two or three objects. Theorists as early as Piaget noticed this ability to instantaneously recognize the number of objects in a small group. Piaget called in subitizing. Later, as the childs mental powers develop, around the age of four, groups of up to four objects can be recognized without counting. Adults have and continue to use the same ability of subitizing, although even they cannot use it beyond a maximum of five objects, unless the objects are arranged in a particular way or practice that aids memorization. Subitizing refers to the minds ability to form stable mental images of patterns and then associate them with a fixed number. In a familiar arrangement, such as six dots arranged into two rows of three (such as in dice or playing cards) six can be instantly recognized when presented this way (Gelman Galli stel, 1978). Yet, with the exception of familiar arrangements such as the examples above, when people are presented with groups numbering more than five objects, they must resort to other mental strategies. Groups can be broken up into sub-groups to facilitate the process. A group of six objects, for example, can be broken up into two sub-groups of three, which are recognized instantly and then unconsciously combined into six, the number of the bigger group. This strategy does not use any actual counting, but a part-part-whole relationship which is assisted by rapid mental addition. Therefore, there is an understanding that a number can be composed of smaller parts, along with the knowledge of how these parts add up. This kind of thinking has already begun by the time children begin school, around six or seven years of age. It should be nurtured and allowed to develop, as it is thinking of this sort that lays the foundation for understanding operations and developing mental calculation strategies (Bobis, 1996). Skills such as the ability to perceive subgroups, need to be developed alongside counting in order to provide a firm foundation for number sense. Although there is no denying that counting is crucial for the development of numbers, these other skills play an important part as well. Skills and alternative strategies for counting can be developed more effectively by the use of teaching strategies. Children can be shown flashcards with objects in different arrangements (sometimes six in a cluster of four and a pair, or sometimes in three pairs) as these different arrangements will tend to prompt different strategies. Furthermore, if the flashcards are shown for only a few seconds, the mind is challenged to act faster and develop strategies other than counting to make the necessary calculations (Way, 1996). Yet, despite the importance of alternative strategies, a considerable amount of evidence supports the idea that counting is the most important mechanism used by young children in estimating numbers of all sizes, perhaps only with the exception of 1 or 2. Subitizing and grouping, as described above, are used as mediators for the ability to understand small numbers, but it seems that even these skills are developed after children have learned to estimate numbers by counting. Moreover, counting is the basic mechanism used when children learn to add and subtract. At least the initial stages of adding and subtracting, before the child masters the processes, involve counting. For example adding 8 and 3 might be achieved by first counting to 8 and then proceeding to 11 (Gelman Gallistel, 1978). A surge of interest in counting was triggered by Gelman and Gallistels (1978) book, which claimed that preschoolers learning to count was inexplicable unless they had innate predispositions to learn counting. So, is counting innate or not? Butterworth et al. (2005) believe that the human ability to count is innate and is not reliant on numbers or language to express it. They based their study on the fact that the children of Australian Aborigines were able to count even though their languages do not have words for numbers. An extreme form of linguistic determinism has been developed recently, which claims that counting words are needed for children to develop concepts of numbers above three. In contrast, the teams study of aboriginal children suggests that humans have an innate system for recognizing and representing numerosities, the number of objects in a set, and that the lack of a number vocabulary does not prevent them from doing numerical tasks that do not require number words. On the other hand, other cross-cultural studies support the opposite conclusion: counting is not innate. Although it seems to come naturally, counting may be cultural rather than innate. Many hunter-gatherer societies such as the Australian Aborigines or various different peoples in South America have no words in their languages for counting or at best only words for up to the number five. This could be because those societies do not have the culturally supported contexts where exact numbers need to be encoded. To investigate the issue, one study (Hyde et al., in press) examined a population of deaf Nicaraguans who do not speak Spanish and never had the opportunity to learn conventional sign language. These people live in a numerate culture that uses exact counting and large numbers, but because they were never educated in it, they lacked conventional language for themselves. Still, these individuals did not spontaneously develop representations of numbers over three. They use gestur es to communicate about numbers but do not consistently produce gestures that accurately represent the cardinal values of sets containing more than three items. This is in contrast to native speakers of the American Sign Language, who, raised and immersed in a language that uses counting, were just as good as speakers of Spanish and English at counting. Therefore, deafness was not the factor that made the difference. The overall point, though, is that whether innate or not, there can be little doubt that counting is crucial for early number development. People belonging to those cultures without words for numbers larger than five can subitize up to a point but are handicapped when the need arises to deal with larger quantities (Butterworth et al., 2008). Activities that involve counting have been shown to to be very effective for helping young children understand the concept of number. Young children and prepared to engage in and benefit from preschool exposure to counting before they are taught arithmetic in an organized manner. Children form many necessary language associations at a very early age, and even at the early age of three, certain counting principles are already in place. Children can make effective use of guided experiences that help them build developmentally appropriate pre-formal mathematics understandings. Counting can be used to reinforce and extend childrens natural learning. The highly influential book of Gelman and Gallistel (1978) proposes a set of counting principles, and counting exercises based on these principles contribute greatly to childrens pre-formal understanding and progress toward formal understanding. Gelman and Gallistels principles do not refute Piagets classic, ground-breaking findings on the processes of development, but rather extend them. Some of these principles are attainable by age three and all of them by age five. Many counting exercises that emphasize these principles also employ the logical activities recommended by Piaget, such as classification, seriation, matching and comparison (Aubrey, 1993). The one-to-one principle shows that, when counting, only one number word in assigned to each object. This refers to both the verbal and mental act of counting. The stable order principle shows that, when counting, number words are always assigned in the same order. Although the tie of number to language is important, exercises that employ stable order are most useful when they simultaneously employ the previous, one-to-one principle. The cardinal principle shows that the number of objects in the set is the last number word counted. The cardinal principle is similar to the co ncept of cardinality, of which children gain implicit understanding long before they understand numerical quantity. The order irrelevance principle shows that when counting the number of objects in a set, the order in which they are counted is not important, but rather simply that all objects are counted. In other words, a set of objects may be properly counted by starting with any object and going in any order. Finally, the abstraction principle shows that when counting any unique set of objects, all the above principles apply as well as they do to any other unique set. Researchers as early as Beckmann (1924) analyzed the way in which children arrived at an accurate estimate of the number of items, in order to establish the importance of counting. Depending on their behaviour during a counting task and their explanation of how they reached the answer, Bechmann divided the children into counters or subitizers. In general, it was found that the younger the child, the greater the tendency to count for all numbers, while the larger the number, the greater the tendency for all children to count. These results together showed that children estimate a number by counting before they can subitize the same number. Similar effects were observed by Brownwell (1928) and McLaughlin (1935). By asking children to identify the number of elements in arrays of 3 to 10 objects, Brownwell noticed that young children almost always counted and rarely took advantage of the patterns in the display. McLaughlin similarly observed that 3- to 6-year-olds typically counted in or der to determine the number of objects in an array, even when the number of objects was small. As the number of items a child could count increased, so did the ability to estimate numbers. Gelman (1972) notes that when the performance of children in experiments where they have counted is compared with that in experiments where they did not count, the resulting discrepancy adds support to the hypothesis that young children initially estimate by counting. Buckingham and MacLatchys (1930) study on estimation showed children a random throw of objects, and the subjects were not prevented from counting. In contrast, in Douglas (1925) study where three similar number tasks were used, children were discouraged from counting. If the groups of 6-year-olds in these and other studies that accordingly encourage or discourage counting are compared, a large discrepancy can be observed. In the first case, the percentage of children who accurately estimated non-linear arrays of around 10 items on at least one trial varied from 54% to 70%, while in the latter case only 8% of the children successfully estimated the numerosity of 10-element arrays. Although the studies differed in a varie ty of ways, the similarity of the tasks, the selection of the same age group and the use or absence of counting suggest that at least some part of this impressively large discrepancy in successful estimation scores can be attributed to the presence of absence of counting. Overall, the role of counting on early number development is not entirely clear and there are many different, often conflicting, opinions on how these processes occur. The most striking example is whether counting is innate or not, with some researchers claiming that humans are born with the ability to see the world numerically in the same way that they are born with the ability to see the world in colour, and others insisting that it is a cultural, not an innate ability which will not develop outside of a cultural setting that reinforces it. Different opinions also exist in the matter of the importance of counting and the importance of other skills such as subitizing. Subitizing and other similar skills that assist in estimations are crucial, but they only seem to be so when used together with counting. Counting develops first and produces much better results in estimates and numerical tasks in general. It is the first mechanism used in estimation, the most effective one, and also e qually crucial when developing other, more complicated numerical skills such as adding and subtracting. It truly seems to be the basis of early number development.

Nan Goldins Representation Of Gender And Sexuality

Nan Goldins Representation Of Gender And Sexuality In this essay I will be looking at how Nan Goldin photographs people and represents their sexuality and gender through her work as it has always been a heavy factor in her work. What does it say about the subject matter she is trying to represent? I will look at other photographers that represent sexuality and gender a lot in their work and compare how different photographers work in different ways. I will also look at how this work of hers has possibly influenced other photographers and their work. I will look at the background of Nan Goldin and her family upbringing to see if it has influenced the way she works and if her surroundings at the time of making her work gave her a strong need to want to represent this subculture she was emerged in. I would also like to give my opinion on if the representation she has given of these men and women seems accurate and if she has portrayed them in a certain way, what is she trying to say about these people? Other photographers I would like to look at in this essay include Larry Clark whos most common subject was the photography of youth and their engagement of underage sex and violence and were all part of a subculture, somewhat like the photography of Goldins prostitutes and drag queens. I will look at all of Goldins work and see how she has progressed through her work and if anything has changed since she started for example her view on sexuality and how people represent themselves to others. Books I will be looking at will include The Ballad of Sexual Dependency which is a visual diary of her life in New York. Il be you Mirror is another book I will be heavily focusing on during my research as it covered two decades of her life, this is a book in which some of her most influential work is gathered, therefore an obvious choice when looking at her photography. Her work has heavily touched on subjects filled with sexual gender identification such as drag queens and I will look at each project she has encountered and how she has chosen to deal with the transformation of the self and courage. Goldin looks heavily in her work at the external behaviour of people and their relationships and I would like to analyse this as it may be related to how she would like to deal with her own issues and if this representation is a reflection about how she feels about the same issues. Goldin photographs real life and records what she sees, she gives a straight forward document of sexuality- but can it sometimes be too much? She documents their personal space and joys and sorrows of contemporary life and looks at sexuality as an addiction. I will research how she has photographed the significance of the female figure and why she does so. Does Goldin pave a new way for photographers in how they represent sub cultures and women? Biography of Nan Goldin Nan Goldin was born in Washington DC in 1953 in an upper middle class Jewish family. Shortly after, she and her family moved to Boston, where Goldin spent a few unhappy years before moving away from her family. In 1965, when Goldin was 14 years old, her older sister, Barbara Goldin, committed suicide. extremely troubled by this event, Goldin sought after relievement in her friends and in a way created an alternate family. She soon decided that tradition family values and life were not for her, then Goldin moved in with a series of foster families, and soon enrolled in a school called Satya Community School. Here she met two friends- David Armstrong and Suzanne Fletcher. As the memory of her sister started to become disappear, Goldin started photograph to preserve the her memory. She photographed her associates so she would never misplace the memory of them, as had happened with her sister. Her photographs were her way of documenting their lives, and, in turn, her own. When she began photographing, Goldin started to experiment cross-dressing and drag; this early experimentation would shape Goldins lifelong fascination with the blurry line separating the gender and sexuality. Through Armstrong, Goldin was introduced to the drag subculture in Boston. There, she photographed drag queen beauty contests during the early 1970s and became friends with many transvestites. Her documentation of these people was reality as she seen it, showing them in a straightforward way, being part of their everyday lives. Goldin then moved to the Boston School of Fine Arts, and therefore changed her photographic style slightly. Before she began at the college she would mainly use black and white film, however within college started to experiment with colour and started to introduce flash. She gradually developed her own style of photography, with subtle flash and bright vibrant colours. When she graduated from college in 1978 she moved to New York City and began photographing American subcultures such as the gay scene in the late 70s and early 80s. This was a major life change for Goldin with a heavy exposure to drugs and abusive relationships. The Ballad of sexual dependency was created between 1979 and 1986 which documents a drug culture and relationships of which by this time were commonplace in Goldins circle of friends. Goldin wrote, I believe one should create from what one knows and speak about ones tribe . . .You can only speak with true understanding and empathy about what youve experienced. Most of the people she documented during this time were dead by the 1990s. In addition to this book she created two other books including Ill be your Mirror and All by Myself.   The main themes of her early work include gender and sexuality.   She documented everything from parties to her relationships like a personal diary for all to see. By 1988 Goldins lifestyle of drugs and alcohol started to take a toll on her life, and entered a clinic to deal with her problems. Throughout this time she experimented a lot with self portraiture and documented her progress in the clinic. Throughout this time in the clinic she was also struggling with some outside issues including having to deal with the death   of many of her close friends that she has photographed over the years. Most of them were dying of aids, one of the most important being Cookie Mueller, a friend since 1976. The Cookie Portfolio was a small document of her life over 15 portraits that Goldin created perhaps as a tribute to her friend. Goldin then decided to document many of her friends with AIDs that seem to be dramatically disappearing. Somewhat he same as what she had done when her memory of her sister started to disappear. In 1994, she and her friend David Armstrong created a book called  A Double Life. Composed of photographs taken by both Goldin and A rmstrong, the book displays their differing styles of photographing the same person.

cloning Essay -- essays research papers

Cloning Can cloning be beneficial to us? Or is cloning a waste of time and dollars? Cloning as of recent years, has become a very controversial issue. Society is firmly divided on the uses and ethics of cloning. Cloning can range from copies of plants and animals to clones of humans and human organs. Should we clone humans and human organs? Why clone human embryos? There are many legitimate reasons for investigating cloning. Embryologists believe that the research could help improve the lives of further generations. "Cancer research is possibly the most important reason for embryo cloning. Oncologists believe that embryonic study will advance the understanding of rapid growth of cancer cells. Cancer cells develop at approximately the same phenomenal rate as the embryonic cells do. By studying the embryonic cell growth, scientist may be able to determine how to stop it, and also stop cancer growth in return." Another use for cloning is growing organs and / or tissues for humans. Cells can be manipulated to revert their embryonic stage and then these cells will have potential to grow into other tissues, cells, etc. This is done through chemical signals called fibroblast growth factors. These signals "tell" the cells what to do. These same chemical signals are also used on embryos. The fibroblast growth factors tell the cells what to become. Hans Spemann found the organizer effect, which is how the embryonic cells are aligned... cloning Essay -- essays research papers Cloning Can cloning be beneficial to us? Or is cloning a waste of time and dollars? Cloning as of recent years, has become a very controversial issue. Society is firmly divided on the uses and ethics of cloning. Cloning can range from copies of plants and animals to clones of humans and human organs. Should we clone humans and human organs? Why clone human embryos? There are many legitimate reasons for investigating cloning. Embryologists believe that the research could help improve the lives of further generations. "Cancer research is possibly the most important reason for embryo cloning. Oncologists believe that embryonic study will advance the understanding of rapid growth of cancer cells. Cancer cells develop at approximately the same phenomenal rate as the embryonic cells do. By studying the embryonic cell growth, scientist may be able to determine how to stop it, and also stop cancer growth in return." Another use for cloning is growing organs and / or tissues for humans. Cells can be manipulated to revert their embryonic stage and then these cells will have potential to grow into other tissues, cells, etc. This is done through chemical signals called fibroblast growth factors. These signals "tell" the cells what to do. These same chemical signals are also used on embryos. The fibroblast growth factors tell the cells what to become. Hans Spemann found the organizer effect, which is how the embryonic cells are aligned... cloning Essay -- essays research papers Cloning Can cloning be beneficial to us? Or is cloning a waste of time and dollars? Cloning as of recent years, has become a very controversial issue. Society is firmly divided on the uses and ethics of cloning. Cloning can range from copies of plants and animals to clones of humans and human organs. Should we clone humans and human organs? Why clone human embryos? There are many legitimate reasons for investigating cloning. Embryologists believe that the research could help improve the lives of further generations. "Cancer research is possibly the most important reason for embryo cloning. Oncologists believe that embryonic study will advance the understanding of rapid growth of cancer cells. Cancer cells develop at approximately the same phenomenal rate as the embryonic cells do. By studying the embryonic cell growth, scientist may be able to determine how to stop it, and also stop cancer growth in return." Another use for cloning is growing organs and / or tissues for humans. Cells can be manipulated to revert their embryonic stage and then these cells will have potential to grow into other tissues, cells, etc. This is done through chemical signals called fibroblast growth factors. These signals "tell" the cells what to do. These same chemical signals are also used on embryos. The fibroblast growth factors tell the cells what to become. Hans Spemann found the organizer effect, which is how the embryonic cells are aligned...

Essay --

The movie Sherrybaby depicts a young woman struggling to pick up her life where it left off after being released from prison. She tries to rebuild her life but encounters many obstacles along the way. She tries to rekindle the relationship with her daughter Alexis, while battling to stay clean from her heroin addiction. She also seems to have a difficult time forming relationships with people in her halfway home and using her sexuality to get her way in the work field. She is in over her head as she tries to jump right into where she left off three years ago. Despite her positive attitude, we witness the challenges she faces with low self-esteem, substance abuse, and the guilt of leaving her daughter Alexis to be raised by her brother and sister in law. In the very beginning of the film when trying establish the fundamental things necessary to get her life back on back, we see how she uses her sexual appeal to get what she wants. When speaking with her parole officer, Sherry tries to use her good looks in persuading him to see her family in New Jersey. After he quickly picks up on this, dissatisfied Sherry sulks using the excuse that she hasn’t seen her daughter in years. â€Å"Indeed family contact was the key motivator stated by participants for maintaining their recovery† (Duffy & Baldwin, 2013). Perhaps her parole having dealt with similar cases to Sherry saw the effects family isolationism had on recovery. It is clear that he is not in on her game but still, he allows her to go see her brother and daughter. Arriving at her new home Sherry is introduced to the director of the halfway home where we find the two of them in the basement sexually involved. Once again, we see Sherry using her good looks when try ing to ge... ...ug use, recovery from use and personal identity† (Brener, Hippel, & Hippel, 2012). Sherry does acknowledge her addiction and does want to get clean. This theory could be useful in predicting future drug use among people who are attempting to quit and who is likely to complete treatment. She soon discovers things are not so easy or as expected. Sherry realizes during her first true parenting experience that she is not quite able to handle life on her own just yet. In order for Sherry to have a chance at rekindling her relationship with daughter Alexis, she must be willing to accept her weaknesses and accept the past. As the film unravels, it is evident she has issues from her past that are kept at bay reflecting on where she is in life. It is Sherry’s desire to change that will ultimately determine whether she gets second chance at life.

Ode To The West Wind :: essays research papers

" Ode to the West Wind" was written by Percy Bysshe Shelley shortly before his death in 1822. Shelley spent the majority of his life in England where he was born to an upper class family. He attended Eton for his primary education and Oxford University until he was expelled for the publication of The Necessity of Atheism. Shortly after being expelled, Shelley married a commoner named Harriet Westbrook , which upset his family because of his wife’s low social standing. The marriage was short lived and Shelley quickly fell in love with Mary Godwin. Shelley continued writing throughout his life and his most notable works include "Ozamandias", "Laon and Cythna", and "Rosalind and Helen". Mary Shelley, Shelley’s wife who was also involved in literature, wrote Frankenstein. In 1822 Shelley drowned in a boating accident in the Gulf of Spieza. Shelly is mainly noted as the most passionate of the Romantic writers and for his usage of expe rimental styles in poetry. "Ode to the West Wind" was written by Shelley on a day when the weather was unpredictable and windy, the poem reflects the mood of the weather and expresses Shelley’s desire for creativeness and intellect. The first section of the poem focuses on the description of the colorful autumn leaves being stirred by the wind. The line " Wild Spirit, which art moving everywhere; Destroyer and preserver.." shows the relationship between Shelley’s desire to create and nature’s force. The second section of the poem tells about the clouds in the sky that are forewarning " the locks of the approaching storm". The fierce storm clouds represent Shelley’s frustration in his lack of original ideas. The third section relates the winds effect on the waves in the sea, which Shelley describes as ".. Grey with fear and tremble and despoil themselves†¦". In the fourth section of the poem Shelley shows his desire to be the autumn leaves, tempest clouds, and turbulent waves so that he to can be effected by the wind and nature the way the objects are.

Visa Sponsorship Marketing Group

rP os t CASE: SPM-5 DATE: 7/22/03 VISA SPONSORSHIP MARKETING op yo Visa was the world’s leading payment brand and its vision was to be â€Å"The World’s Best Way to Pay. † In 2002, Visa-branded cards (credit; debit and prepaid; corporate; purchasing and business products)1 generated more than $2. 4 trillion in annual volume; totaled more than one billion cards worldwide, and were accepted in over 150 countries and territories. Visa was among the most globally recognized brands and it held 7. 1 percent share of global personal consumption expenditures (PCE). Its U. S. tagline, â€Å"It’s everywhere you want to be,† had become part of the American lexicon. Appendix A and Exhibit 1 provide summary information on Visa. tC Visa attributed an important part of its success to high profile sponsorships such as its Olympic Games sponsorship. Visa also sponsored numerous events such as the Rugby World Cup, Best of Broadway, the Toronto Film Festival, NASCAR, the NFL, the Visa Triple Crown, and the Paralympics, and has an international alliance with The Walt Disney Company.In the fall of 2002, Visa announced its decision to extend its Olympic Games sponsorship through 2012. Its original sponsorship deal was structured through the 2004 games in Athens, but the sponsorship was extended because the partnership had become increasingly successful over time. The deal would extend a relationship between Visa and the Olympic Games that started in 1986. The company spent an additional two to three times that of the sponsorship fee it pays for advertising, promotions, and other efforts to maximize the value of the ponsorship – not an atypical amount for such sponsorships. 1 No Visa International was comprised of six regional operating organizations: Asia-Pacific; Canada; Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East & Africa (CEMEA); European Union; Latin America & Caribbean; the United States. Despite its global reach, Visa remained very much a lo cal organization. Its regional offices had a high degree of operating and marketing autonomy. Visa felt that because its regional organizations were closest to their local markets, they knew best how to help member institutions serve their customers.Do Debit products allowed consumers to access their checking or bank deposit accounts directly. Debit products gave consumers the choice to â€Å"pay now,† whereas credit products allowed consumers to â€Å"pay later,† and prepaid products to â€Å"pay before. † 2 Personal consumer expenditure represented the market value of all goods and services purchased by households and nonprofit institutions, excluding the purchase of homes. In 2003, global PCE was at $19 trillion and was comprised primarily of cash and check payments.Visa had an average annual increase in its share of global PCE of 12 percent over the prior five years. Victoria Chang prepared this case under the supervision of Professor George Foster as the ba sis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation. Copyright  © 2003 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, e-mail the Case Writing Office at: [email  protected] stanford. du or write: Case Writing Office, Stanford Graduate School of Business, 518 Memorial Way, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5015. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means –– electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise –– without the permission of the Stanford Graduate School of Business. This document is authorized for use only by Hadi Nejatian until May 2013. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. [email  protected] harvard. du or 617. 783. 7860. Visa Sponsorship Marketing SPM-5 rP os t p. 2 Thomas Shepard, Visa’s executive vice president of international marketing, partnerships, and sponsorship, played a key role in convincing Visa’s six regional boards and its international board to allow Visa to extend its Olympics and Paralympic sponsorship. The sponsorship gave and would continue to give Visa and its member financial institutions (i. e. , banks and credit unions) exclusive marketing rights, including advertising and promotional use of the Olympic rings and other graphics.Visa also would be entitled to exclusivity with transactions under Olympic control, including online transactions, ticket sales, and Olympic-themed events. SPONSORSHIP MARKETING op yo In the summer of 2003, Shepard and his team gathered at Visa’s International headquarters located in Foster City, California, to reflect on the impact and lessons of its past sponsorship activities. Specifically, they planned to discuss the current corporate strategy and through this process refine the existing sponsorship strategy. The current corporate strategy emphasized greater involvement in the field of entertainment.An outgrowth was selecting and working with new partners such as The Walt Disney Company (2002). General Sponsorship Marketing No tC Sports marketing was an important marketing platform for many companies – see Exhibit 2 (Panel A). Sports sponsorship was often a key component of sports marketing. There were many ways to own/sponsor properties — by an event title or presenting title; a naming rights sponsor of sporting venues; a supporting level partner; a supplier and/or licensee; or a media sponsor; athlete endorser. In several instances, companies who did not officially sponsor events participated in ambush marketing techniques. Companies typically sponsored general properties and sports events to: 1) strengthen customer relationships, 2) acquire new customers, and 3) provide incentives for their retail distrib ution channels. 4 In 2002, global sponsorship spending reached $24. 4 billion. In the U. S. alone, companies spent $9. 4 billion on sponsorships in 2001. 5 According to Shepard, sponsorship marketing had increased in popularity due to globalization; new access points, including new media that allowed companies to reach consumers in very segmented ways; and convergence of the sports and entertainment industries.Do Most major consumer brands leveraged sponsorship marketing to enhance their marketing efforts. For example, according to sponsorship consultancy IEG, in 2002, Anheuser Busch spent between $215 and $220 million on sponsorship marketing, PepsiCo. between $190 and $195 million, and Nike between $105 and $110 million. According to IEG, Visa, MasterCard, and American Express together spent $150 to $165 million on all types of sponsorship in the U. S. in 2001. Visa and MasterCard each spent $65 to $70 million, making them respectively the 11th and 12th largest spenders on sponsor ship.American Express spent $20 to $25 million and was ranked 49th. These figures only included the rights to purchase properties. Big-time sponsors such as these companies typically spent two to three times as much promoting their official 3 Ambush marketing was when companies who did not officially sponsor properties led consumers to infer that they were part of the official event through marketing, advertisements, or other marketing methods. 4 â€Å"Winning the Sports Sponsorship Game,† Bank Marketing International, June 24, 2002, p. 8. 5Michael McCarthy, â€Å"Sports Sponsorship Game Heating Up,† USA Today, June 12, 2002, p. 3B. This document is authorized for use only by Hadi Nejatian until May 2013. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. [email  protected] harvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. Visa Sponsorship Marketing SPM-5 rP os t p. 3 sponsorship status as they paid to get that official status. â€Å"The price of entry is what you pay for the proper ty,† said Shepard. â€Å"Where you really start to spend, and reap the most benefits, is in the marketing tools that your constituencies need — the advertising programs, promotional templates, nd onsite efforts. † William Chipps, senior editor of IEG Sponsorship Report, a Chicago-based sponsorship newsletter, agreed by stating that in order to be worthwhile, Visa’s total Olympic expenditure needed to be at least three to four dollars on marketing for every dollar paid for the sponsorship — and that did not include its media buy. â€Å"A company can sponsor an event, but the sponsorship isn't going to do much for them unless they spend some extra money to activate it through consumer sweepstakes or client hospitality6,† said Chipps. Sports Sponsorship Marketing p yo Sports marketing was a particularly high-stakes game. In 2002, in the U. S. alone, companies annually spent $9. 4 billion on sports sponsorships. 7 In 2001, companies spent $6. 5 b illion on sports sponsorships in the U. S. , up from $2. 1 billion in 1992. 8 In the U. S. sponsorship market, sports held the largest market share, or 69 percent of the total sponsorship market in 2001, up 10 percent from $5. 9 in 2000. 9 IEG expected sports sponsorships to increase in future years and to outpace the rate of growth in general sponsorship spending. tCAccording to some analysts, sports marketing was more complicated than simply putting a logo on a shirt: â€Å"Part of the problem is that some clients and agencies think that the sport they align with will do the marketing job by itself. In reality, to be effective at sports marketing requires the same attention to detail as any other discipline. †10 Andrew Hampel, managing director, Europe, of the sports marketing group, IMG, commented: â€Å"Sports sponsorship may give you the right to talk to customers, but if you want to say anything worthwhile about your brand, you have to engage them at a number of levels .The starting point is always to identify your target audience and set your objectives. When you know what you want to do, choose a sport that you can afford and leverage it creatively through above-the-line advertising, PR, sales promotion, hospitality, and community tie-ins — just as you would do in any well-orchestrated non-sport strategy. †11 No VISA SPONSORSHIP MARKETING STRATEGY AND PROCESS Visa sponsored events such as the Olympic Games, the Best of Broadway, NASCAR, NFL, the Visa Triple Crown, the Walt Disney Company, and the Paralympics – see Exhibits 3 and 4.Shepard discussed how sponsorship could help Visa improve upon and alter its brand image: Do Within the payment service industry, we’re doing research that shows how consumers view the brand. We’ve learned that we are very relevant in the minds 6 Hospitality programs included free tickets, travel packages, and corporate events hosted by senior Visa management. Beyond sports sponsorship s, companies spent over $27 billion on traditional sports advertising and more than $1 billion on endorsements and Internet advertisements. 8 Michael McCarthy, â€Å"Sports Sponsorship Game Heating Up,† USA Today, June 12, 2002, p. B. 9 â€Å"Winning the Sports Sponsorship Game,† Bank Marketing International, June 24, 2002, p. 8. 10 Andy Fry, â€Å"Beyond Branding—Sports Marketing is More Complicated than Putting a Logo on a Shirt,† Sports Marketing, March 29, 2002, p. 26. 11 Ibid 7 This document is authorized for use only by Hadi Nejatian until May 2013. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. [email  protected] harvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. Visa Sponsorship Marketing SPM-5 rP os t p. 4 of consumers and have a significant impact on consumer lifestyle. Visa gives people piece of mind and people use their cards everyday.They believe we’re a quality organization, but we’re not perceived as unique. That’s what we have wor ked on and that’s what sponsorship can help us achieve. Visa’s sponsorship portfolio was also skewed [toward] male and low-end [markets] in some cases and we are balancing our portfolio as a result of this research. Periodically, Visa embarked on a â€Å"sponsorship refresh† where the sponsorship team made sure that its objectives paralleled Visa’s corporate objectives. â€Å"Our sponsorship marketing objectives are grounded in corporate objectives and executed through the brand value proposition,† explained Shepard. p yo Sponsorship Development Cycle Visa divided its sponsorship opportunities into three development cycles: 1) emerging markets (name recognition, branding, and product sampling), 2) maturing markets (name building, signage, advertising, public relations, and promotions), and 3) mature markets (presence, products, partnerships, and alternative media). In this final mature market category, Visa sought to differentiate its product from competitors. Sponsorship Selection Criteria and Internal Integration tCVisa’s sponsorship selection criteria included the following: 1) brand fit, 2) usage stimulation on behalf of Visa’s members, 3) event history/credibility, 4) broad reach, 5) governing body control, 6) advocacy creation, 7) low risk, 8) event’s marketing plan, 9) ease of implementation, and 10) strong member interest. Shepard commented on the challenges of evaluating long-term sponsorship opportunities: â€Å"There are a lot of new payment schemes out there in the payments industry and looking out into the future to try to figure out what the landscape is going to look like is probably the hardest part of evaluating any sponsorship opportunity. Sponsorship Marketing Platforms and Marketing Mix Do No Shepard discussed Visa’s sponsorship marketing platforms and marketing mix: â€Å"The property Visa is associated with is all about creating platforms. From an advertising platform standp oint, we seek to build awareness and imagery and support member acquisition/usage. From a promotional platform standpoint, we seek to increase usage and partner with strong brands. From a corporate relations platform, we seek to enhance impact/reach of other marketing efforts, strengthen our corporate reputation and image, and improve employee relations through employee programs (e. . an event with Disney, Visa’s sponsor, to show employees why Visa decided to partner with Disney). From a product platform standpoint, we seek to showcase new technologies; launch new products; and develop infrastructure on site. † (Exhibit 5. ) To implement sponsorship marketing platforms, Visa first conducted core/primary consumer research and then held an initial task force meeting and promotional briefing. It believed in developing a multi-agency â€Å"promotional platform† where various advertising agencies and internal onstituents developed and tested the marketing and promotio nal concepts as a team. This document is authorized for use only by Hadi Nejatian until May 2013. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. [email  protected] harvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. Visa Sponsorship Marketing SPM-5 rP os t p. 5 THE OLYMPIC GAMES Overview op yo The Olympic Games transcended political and geographical boundaries to deliver international exposure, broad-based audience appeal, and a wide range of cultural and sporting events appealing to virtually every demographic.For example, during the Olympic Games in Sydney (2000 Summer), more than 3. 7 billion viewers across 220 countries watched over 3,500 hours of coverage totaling 36. 1 billion viewing hours while athletes from 80 of the 200 countries participating earned 928 medals. During the Salt Lake City Games (2002 Winter), 2. 1 billion global viewers in 160 countries amassed 13. 1 billion viewer hours. Exhibit 6 shows U. S. television coverage and ratings for each Games since 1960. Despite recent Oly mpic scandals (see Appendix C), many corporations still continued to sponsor the event.Indeed, many of the 10 worldwide sponsors had very long associations with the International Olympic Committee (Exhibit 2, Panel B). tC From 1988 to 2002, Visa USA had donated more than $9 million to the U. S. Olympic Team to help fulfill the dreams of America’s Olympic athletes and hopefuls. Although exact sponsorship figures were not disclosed, in 2002, TOP (The Olympic Partners) sponsors paid over $50 million for a four-year sponsorship cycle. Visa’s members received hospitality benefits due to Visa’s sponsor status, as well as a guaranteed number of rooms and tickets for member and client entertainment (e. . Visa had invited approximately 800 guests to Salt Lake City). Visa’s members could also sponsor an individual athlete or team, use the Olympic theme in marketing promotions (from TV advertising to product literature); or issue Olympic cards with the Olympic rings or a picture of the specific athlete or team they were sponsoring without paying extra fees. Since Visa began its Olympic sponsorship, its members had issued more than 21 million Visa cards bearing the exclusive Olympic rings. NoShepard explained Visa’s rationale for sponsoring the Olympics: â€Å"We look at the equities that a property brings to us to develop our business. We seek out sponsorships that generate advocacy at the highest end of the consumer spending pyramid. If you look at the Olympics, it’s a perfect fit for us. Olympic brand equities include being at the pinnacle of its category; having universal appeal; standing for excellence; having broad-based consumer awareness and acceptance; having global reach with local impact and participation; and standing for leadership.Visa’s brand equities of industry leadership; global yet local; accepted everywhere; innovative and modern; and service excellence parallel Olympic brand equities. Visa probably cou ld work on innovativeness, though, because we’re not known as the most innovative brand. † Do Matt Beispiel, former vice president for Visa said: â€Å"The key is that the Olympics really fit into our overall strategy, which is aligning Visa with the best. It’s a one-of-a-kind event, especially in this country, where Americans are enamored with the Olympic Games. Those five rings really are very, very meaningful.Our hope, with all of our marketing efforts around the Olympic Games, is that all of the goodwill and good feelings that people have (in) [about] those five rings will attach to the Visa brand. †12 12 Lisa Riley Roche, â€Å"Some of Visa’s TV Ads to Promote ’02 Games,† Desert News, April 6, 2000, p. E01. This document is authorized for use only by Hadi Nejatian until May 2013. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. [email  protected] harvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. Visa Sponsorship Marketing SPM-5 rP os t p. 6 op yo In November 2002, Visa announced that it would be renewing its Olympic sponsorship through 2012.As a result of the renewed agreement, Visa would be the exclusive payment card and official payment service for the four Olympic Games following Athens (Summer 2004). This included the Winter Games in Torino in 2006, the Summer Games in Beijing in 2008, the Winter Games in Vancouver in 2010, and the 2012 Games (locations yet to be determined). Shepard discussed Visa’s continuation of its Olympic sponsorship through 2012: â€Å"I presented to Visa’s six regional boards to get the international board to allow us to sponsor the Olympics through 2012.They asked us, ‘Aren’t you subject to exorbitant fees to make sure that Visa owns the category in TV in the U. S. ’ and that’s something that we and other sponsors must evaluate. It is a costly opportunity. We cannot just look at the cost of the property. We have to look at the cost of the property pl us the television rights that we have to acquire, the manufacturing of all the commercials that we have to do, etc. Millions of dollars were rolled up into this decision. The question is, how can we best leverage the property and how can we make a business case for sponsoring the property. Malcolm Williamson, CEO and President of Visa International said: â€Å"In the eight years following the Athens Games, Visa’s corporate sponsorship is expected to provide nearly $40 million in financial support to National Olympic Committees and through to the athletes in support of their quest to participate in the Olympic dream. †13 According to Williamson, â€Å"It's taken us a lot of time to get value out of that Olympic property. † Over the years since 1986, Visa member banks have become more involved and derived greater benefit from the sponsorship.Williamson believed that extending the sponsorship until 2012 would â€Å"enable these 21,000 banks to have the confidence to go on leveraging this property and recognize that we’re not going to change course. †14 tC Evolution of Olympic Sponsorship Do No Shepard discussed the progression of Visa’s involvement with the Olympics: â€Å"We’ve raised the bar with the Olympics. When we first started with the Olympics, we were just trying to get our name out and use it as an advertising platform. Our sponsorship strategy has evolved to one with a global platform with local relevance; an integrated marketing approach; and n expanded window of opportunity beyond just the Olympic Games. † Shepard continued: â€Å"In Albertville (1992 Winter), we started to engage and build marketing programs for all of our member financial institutions. We expanded member and merchant participation globally. In Barcelona (1992 Summer), we expanded Visa’s presence in the host city for the first time by engaging the merchant community and having onsite visibility with our own service cent ers. In Lillehammer (1994 Winter), it was the first time we rolled out a global corporate relations platform and really started to get visibility throughout the city and we began sponsoring teams.In Atlanta (1996 Summer), it was the first time we did anything comprehensive on site with our products. We issued a stored value product [pre-paid cards] that was marginally successful. Our hospitality program, ATM infrastructure, and Customer Service Center hosting were all significantly larger than those at previous games. In Nagano (1999 Winter), we had overkill in terms of our visibility and we learned that we needed to have a comprehensive effort because at Nagano we 13 â€Å"Visa Extends Olympic Games Sponsorship for Eight More Years,† Visa Press Release, November 11, 2002. Visa Website: http://www. visa. com/globalgateway/gg_selectcountry. tml? retcountry=1. 14 â€Å"Visa Breaks Olympic Record for Sponsorship,† Bank Marketing International, January 22, 2003, p. 8. This document is authorized for use only by Hadi Nejatian until May 2013. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. [email  protected] harvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. Visa Sponsorship Marketing SPM-5 rP os t p. 7 had five different Visa logos. Also in Nagano, initially only 6 percent of the merchants took Visa, but by the time we finished, we had a 1,000 percent increase in merchant acceptance of Visa cards. We also used Nagano as a platform and template for a lot of our other Asian activities. OLYMPICS INTEGRATED MARKETING PROGRAM For the Olympic Games, Visa focused on creating an integrated marketing program which included creating a central marketing theme; a look of the Games; member and merchant programs; advertising; promotions; public relations; athlete relationships; host city partner/presence programs; onsite activation capabilities; and hospitality. (Examples are in Exhibits 7 and 8. ) op yo Central Marketing Theme and Look of the Games For the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Visa created an integrated marketing platform centered on a marketing theme, â€Å"You’ve got what it takes. Shepard said this central marketing theme â€Å"spoke to the core brand position of superior acceptance, to the athletes who were the core of the Olympics, to Visa cardholders, and to Visa employees. Visa’s look also complemented the Salt Lake Olympic Committees look and feel. † Member and Merchant Programs and Promotions tC For the Salt Lake City Games, Visa created member and merchant programs in which 500 members around the world utilized Visa’s rights in the form of statement inserts, templates, and other promotional campaigns.Members were its banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions issuing Visa products. More than 50 million statement inserts highlighting Visa’s Olympic marketing programs were distributed to consumers. Visa received an unprecedented 100 percent participation in its member program s from its top 12 U. S. members during the Salt Lake City Games. Of the top members, 75 percent conducted multiple programs that covered multiple lines of business (credit, debit, commercial, employee incentives, etc. ). Do No Merchants received indirect association with the Olympics through Visa.For the Salt Lake Games, statement inserts included offers such as Olympics-related sweepstakes. Fifty-four member sweepstakes programs were also developed during the Salt Lake City Games. For example, each time cardholders used their Visa cards, they were automatically entered to win a trip to the Olympics. Linda Cullinan, a vice president of Intrust Bank of Wichita, Kansas, said it had chosen to ally with Visa over MasterCard in part because of the prestige associated with the Olympic Games. Intrust used some of the Visa Olympic promotional inserts in statements sent to its 100,000 card account holders.Though Visa offered Intrust a better deal financially, â€Å"Visa's standing in the ma rket was the single most important factor in the branding decision, â€Å"followed by the promotions they run and the acceptability of those promotions,† she said. 15 In 1994 Visa also launched another worldwide public relations program effort called the â€Å"Visa Olympics of the Imagination,† a children’s art contest. Children ages 9 to 13 from various 15 Lavonne KuyKendall, â€Å"Gauging Value Has High Degree of Difficulty,† The American Banker, February 27, 2002, p. 1. This document is authorized for use only by Hadi Nejatian until May 2013.Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. [email  protected] harvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. Visa Sponsorship Marketing SPM-5 rP os t p. 8 countries were invited to submit art around a designated theme. For the Atlanta Summer games, Visa asked children to invent and then illustrate an Olympic sport of the future, and write about how that sport would promote global peace and unity. For the contest in Nag ano, children were asked to create artwork featuring a person they admired, engaged in a Winter Olympic sport. Winners received free trips to the Olympic Games.For the Atlanta Games, the contest garnered positive coverage in more than 1,000 newspapers, print, TV, and radio outlets in more than 50 countries and Visa received approximately 600 million media impressions. Mike Sherman, vice president of corporate relations at Visa in San Francisco said: â€Å"That's like getting a story in The Wall Street Journal every day for a year. †16 op yo Merchant programs included online and offline efforts. During the Salt Lake City Games, merchants such as Federated, Nordstrom, CompUSA, and Gap. com participated in merchant programs by promoting trips to the Olympics if consumers used their Visa cards.Prior to Salt Lake, merchants ordered over 1 million point-of-sale signs and over 15,000 merchants participated in merchant programs. Advertising tC Advertising was a significant part of Vi sa’s integrated marketing program. During the Sydney Games, Visa launched two television spots highlighting its Olympic ties during the Super Bowl (nine months early). Visa typically tailored its advertising to reflect the unique aspects of each Olympic setting. â€Å"As you go from Olympics to Olympics, each one has a different feel and tone. We try to develop a concept that suits each one,† said Beispiel. What we wanted to exploit this year [Sydney 2000] are the unique aspects of the Australia Olympics. The ‘dream with no boundaries’ theme is a way to capitalize on the magnitude and boundless nature of that continent. †17 No Television dominated the advertising mix for the Sydney campaign. Visa purchased exclusive rights on the NBC Olympic broadcast and was the only advertiser in its category during the Games coverage on that network as well as MSNBC and CNBC. Visa also bought exclusive rights on the local NBC stations in the top dozen markets. Oth er advertising included radio, print, and online advertising.Early Visa television advertisements highlighted places that accepted Visa but not American Express. This campaign was developed in 1985 by BBDO. â€Å"It was intended to separate the Visa brand from MasterCard,† said Beispiel. â€Å"We have both brands that functionally do the same thing and we needed to somehow separate the brands in the mind of the consumers to move our business ahead. †18 Athlete Relationships Do Visa developed relationships with athletes around the world. In the U. S. , Visa had sponsored the ski team since 1986 and for Salt Lake, extended its athlete sponsorship into other sports such as snowboarding, bobsledding (e. . Jean Racine and Jen Davidson), freestyle, figure skating (e. g. 16 Visa Press Release, September 8, 1997, volume 53, issue 25. â€Å"Visa Kicks Off Olympic-Themed Campaign,† Bank Advertising News, February 21, 2000, volume 24, issue 4, p. 1. 18 Ibid. 17 This docume nt is authorized for use only by Hadi Nejatian until May 2013. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. [email  protected] harvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. Visa Sponsorship Marketing SPM-5 rP os t p. 9 Sasha Cohen) and other athletes in the Paralympics. Visa also sponsored the Canadian bobsleigh team, the Russian hockey team, and the Japanese ski jumping team.During the Salt Lake City Games, Visa directly tied athletes into its efforts through a â€Å"usage study† called â€Å"One Year, One Card,† with three hopefuls (two Olympians and one Paralympian). Each agreed in March 2001 to give up cash and checks as part of Visa’s â€Å"One Year, One Card† program. Two of the three (one out due to injury) successfully completed the program in February 2002, after spending a year writing no checks and using cash only for purchases under $10. Destination Marketing—Host City Partner/Presence Programs op yoVisa was the first worldwide Olympic partn er to launch â€Å"destination marketing† programs linked to the Olympic Games’ host cities. Visa’s strategy was to extend the benefit of its Olympics sponsorship beyond the actual Olympic Games: â€Å"We have been able to stretch the marketing window from the duration of the Olympics to a four to five year period,† said Shepard. â€Å"We have a worldwide sponsorship of tourism, merchants, and advertising, which never stops. † Visa assisted its partners and members in creating local and regional incremental value and benefits around the Olympic Games.Sydney proved to be the â€Å"gold standard† of Visa’s destination marketing efforts, according to Shepard. In Sydney, Visa generated more than $40 million in marketing value for Australia for the Sydney Olympic Games over the four-year period leading up to the Olympic Games in 2000. 19 Shepard stated: tC Sydney was our most robust case of generating volume for our Visa network of members . We still have partnerships from that time period that are around today such as the Australian Tourism Commission, the Sydney Convention and Visitors Bureau, etc. We’ve really penetrated the merchant community in Sydney.Sydney became our gold standard. And we continued this effort in Salt Lake City. In Athens (Summer 2004), we’re looking to use Athens as a pan-European footprint, extending our reach beyond Greece. No In the Salt Lake Games, Visa created national television commercials that highlighted Olympic athletes and Utah as a destination during the Games. One spot titled â€Å"Surfing,† featured the Wasatch Powderbird Guides, a Utah-based helicopter ski and snowboard company. â€Å"We have changed our methodology in the 16 years since we first started sponsoring the Olympic games,† said Sherman. DoOur campaign for the 1988 Calgary Olympics was all about branding and we focused on the 17 days surrounding the games. Then in 1994, we saw that Visa was going to have to adapt its marketing to make it closer to tourism and spread its efforts over a much longer period. We realized that we had to work with the Olympic city before, during, and after the Games in order to derive the best benefits for our members. We asked ourselves why host cities bid for the games and we realized the answer came down to showcasing the city to the world. Not only do the games bring tourists to the Olympic city, but also they create a large 9 Visa Website: http://www. visa. com/globalgateway/gg_selectcountry. html? retcountry=1. This document is authorized for use only by Hadi Nejatian until May 2013. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. [email  protected] harvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. Visa Sponsorship Marketing SPM-5 rP os t p. 10 halo effect that lasts beyond the games. Prior to the 1992 Olympics, Barcelona was the 16th most popular tourist destination in Europe. In 1993, it was the third. There was a similar kind of lift in Austral ia after the 2000 games. 20The Division of Travel Development in Utah, where the Winter Olympics took place in February 2002, stated: â€Å"One measurement of the improved visibility the state has received during and after the Olympics has been the sustained increase in visits to the Division of Travel Development's consumer website, Utah. com. During February 2002, the number of visitors to the site increased by over 200 percent to nearly 700,000 visitors (compared to a typical month of 220,000). Since the conclusion of the Games, interest has remained high. The number of visitors to the Utah. om website has remained at approximately 400,000, nearly 80 percent above its pre-Games level. †21 op yo Furthermore, during the Salt Lake Games, surrounding areas saw sales on Visa payment cards increase 30 percent over the same period in 2001, and 23 percent over the prior month. The Salt Lake Convention and Visitor’s Bureau reported that overall, 55 percent of reservations we re made on Visa cards, up from 46 percent in 2001 and 41 percent in 2000. 22 â€Å"As an organization, Visa’s involvement in the Olympics went well beyond corporate self interest,† said Dianne Binger, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau. Visa developed a true partnership with Salt Lake’s hospitality community. Their support helped to ensure the success of the Games, as well as our continued success as a world class travel destination. †23 Onsite Activation and Marketing No tC Onsite marketing activities were also an important component of Visa’s integrated marketing program. At Salt Lake City, Visa had its ATM networks at or near all competition and noncompetition venues, including two mobile ATMs, 650 new point-of-sale acceptance terminals at Olympic venues, and a customer information center to help visitors with lost or stolen cards and Games-related questions.Visa believed these efforts helped build consumers’ a wareness and reinforced Visa as the payment brand of choice. Visa pointed to its improvements by showing that Visa’s volume throughout the Olympic venues at Salt Lake City exceeded the 2000 Sydney Games by more than $2 million, even though the Sydney Games were four times larger. 24 Shepard described onsite challenges: Do As a product platform in our sponsorship marketing platforms, we’ve used the Olympics to showcase a lot of our products from a Visa cash platform in Atlanta to a number of our mobile commerce solutions that we’re investing in right now.However, we’re responsible for the infrastructure on site, which has the potential of becoming the program’s Achilles heel because a lot can go wrong onsite. For that reason, a lot of care and onsite management goes into creating and maintaining the systems. 20 â€Å"Visa Launches Marketing for 2004 Olympics,† Bank Marketing International, December 31, 2002, p. 4. Ibid. 22 Visa Website: http: //www. visa. com/globalgateway/gg_selectcountry. html? retcountry=1. 23 â€Å"Visa Honored with Salt Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau Tourism Achievement Award,† Visa Press Release, July 11, 2002.Visa Website: http://www. visa. com/globalgateway/gg_selectcountry. html? retcountry=1. 24 Becky Saeger, â€Å"Visa Has What it Takes at the Olympics,† Marketer’s Forum, April 2002, Vol. 6, no. 3, p. 30. 21 This document is authorized for use only by Hadi Nejatian until May 2013. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. [email  protected] harvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. Visa Sponsorship Marketing SPM-5 ATHENS SUMMER GAMES 2004 rP os t p. 11 For the Athens Olympics, there would be 11 worldwide or TOP sponsors, each in a different product category.As one of the worldwide sponsors, Visa was the exclusive payment card and official payment service of the Athens Games and would be the only card accepted at all Olympic Games venues for all official Olympic-relate d transactions. Visa planned to install a special Olympic ATM network and hundreds of point-of-sale acceptance devices at the International Press Centre, the International Broadcast Centre, and the Olympic Athletes Village. The Visa Service Centre (VSC) would provide multilingual emergency services and general assistance to cardholders.Visa also sponsored the Visa Olympians Reunion Center where Olympians could congregate and relax. It had also planned to support teams such as the U. S. gymnastics, track and field, ski and snowboard, hockey, and figure skating teams. tC op yo In terms of its members, Visa planned to utilize the Games as a sponsorship platform by offering marketing tie-ins and opportunities for international exposure and image enhancement. Similar to Sydney and Salt Lake City, Visa planned to conduct destination marketing campaigns with the host city during future Games.In November 2002, Visa and the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) formed a global alliance to promote Greece worldwide as a key travel destination and showcase Visa’s sponsorship of the Athens Games. Visa planned to use advertising, direct mail, cardholder communications, and Olympic promotions in more than 50 countries to promote Greece as a travel destination. One program would feature the joint development and creation of an information booth to service visitors, providing information concerning tourist issues. Visa also planned to eature Greece on its â€Å"Visa Destinations† online travel site and planned to promote Greece with its hotel and airline travel partners. â€Å"We are packaging trips to Greece and to the Greek islands which can be offered as prizes to Visa card users,† said Shepard. No As an extension of its Olympic sponsorship, Visa also planned to sponsor the Paralympic Games in Athens in 2004 for the first time (Visa had supported the Paralympic Games in other ways at various other Olympics). Visa’s sponsorship resulted in th e first Visa Paralympic Website, accessible to people with vision, hearing, and mobility challenges.Visa’s members would help deliver the messages of the Paralympic Games (Pursuit, Strength, Inspiration, and Celebration). Visa hoped that its sponsorship of the Paralympic Games would create an affinity between its brand and the disabled community and their families worldwide. Shepard noted: â€Å"There are 750 million people worldwide with disabilities. If we can create something relevant for them and their families, we will be creating a partnership with them for mutual benefit. † RUGBY WORLD CUP DoThe Rugby World Cup (RWC) was considered to be the third most-watched sporting event in the world behind the Olympic Games and the FIFA World (Soccer) Cup. In October/November 2003, 20 rugby union playing nations would contest the RWC in Australia. The International Rugby Board (IRB) had held qualifying matches over four years around the world to qualify the 20 nation partic ipants. The first RWC was held in 1987 (Exhibit 9). This document is authorized for use only by Hadi Nejatian until May 2013. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. [email  protected] harvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860.Visa Sponsorship Marketing SPM-5 rP os t p. 12 op yo The RWC was expected to lure 40,000 international visitors to Australia in 2003. Visa had been a sponsor of the RWC since 1995. Coca-Cola paid $3. 5 million to secure both the 1999 and 2003 World Cups. In May 2002, Visa renewed its RWC sponsorship as an Official Worldwide Partner and official payment service of RWC. It had planned to use the sponsorship to deliver unique benefits to its members and Visa cardholders, including providing up to 10,000 tickets for cardholders to win worldwide when Visa cards were used during merchant and cardholder promotions. With banks and branches in virtually every nation around the world, Visa’s members and merchants can effectively market the RWC programs and spe cial offers to hundreds of millions of cardholders worldwide,† observed Shepard. â€Å"It will be our responsibility to provide our members with effective and profitable RWC marketing programs. †25 Shepard also noted: â€Å"In 1999, we had RWC promotional programs underway in all major rugby markets from Australia to Argentina and from the U. K. to South Africa.Visa members worldwide once more will have exclusive opportunities to use RWC 2003 in their Visa marketing, advertising, and promotions and provide unique offers to their cardholders and merchants. †26 Visa also planned to use its ongoing partnerships with Australia’s tourism and convention associations to create even greater synergy with RWC 2003, promoting increased tourism to Australia. Visa planned to develop a joint program with the IRB (International Rugby Board) to develop a Visa/Rugby World Cup Classic TV series that would include four rugby legends, winning players and captains of 1995 and 1999 former Rugby World Cups.The program would feature former great rugby players talking about rugby’s greatest moments and the program would be distributed worldwide. Visa promotions included international promotions that encouraged consumers to use their Visa cards to win trips to the RWC. In terms of corporate hospitality, Visa brought its merchant partners and members to the RWC. No tC Shepard discussed Visa’s rationale for sponsoring the event: â€Å"Visa recognized rugby’s great promise after we sponsored the 1995 Rugby World Cup on a regional basis and then globally for RWC 1999 in Wales.It was a diamond in the rough in 1999, and has continued to develop as a valuable gem. The spirit and passion that rugby fans engender and the vast potential for marketing to its followers worldwide are what attracted us to this event. Rugby World Cup provides Visa with a major global marketing platform reaching some of our most important markets around the world. Visa plans to tap into the passion and spirit of rugby to deliver unique, highly visible business opportunities to our members and their merchants around the world. †27 DoSheng Li, a sponsorship executive at Visa commented: â€Å"We use the RWC as more of a promotional platform versus our sponsorship of the Olympics, which is more of a brand vehicle for us. Thus we run a lot of promotional programs around the RWC. It’s a much less expensive investment for us compared to the soccer World Cup. We get a lot more value for our money with rugby since the rugby demographic tends to have a lot of spending power. †28 25 Rugby World Cup Press Release, â€Å"Visa Renews 2003 Rugby World Cup Partnership,† May 21, 2002. http://www. rugby2003. com. au/. 26 Ibid. 27 Ibid. 28 Interview with Sheng Li.Subsequent quotes are from this interview unless otherwise noted. This document is authorized for use only by Hadi Nejatian until May 2013. Copying or posting is an infringement o f copyright. [email  protected] harvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. Visa Sponsorship Marketing SPM-5 rP os t p. 13 Li discussed the challenges of working with the event: â€Å"The RWC is a fast growing event and is experiencing customary growing pains. For example, in the recent past, it had a minimal antiambush marketing program. We are working with them in this area, and we definitely understand what they are going through.As a long term partner, we will continue to provide our support to make the RWC an even greater property. † NEW ZEALAND ALL BLACKS op yo Visa secured sponsorship of the New Zealand All Blacks (rugby team) in advance of the 1999 Rugby World Cup. At that time, the All Blacks were considered a favorite to win. Visa hoped that the sponsorship of the All Blacks, combined with its sponsorship of the RWC would provide both local (All Blacks) and global (RWC) marketing platforms leading up to the RWC. However, the All Black sponsorship turned out to be much more of a challenge than Visa had originally expected.Shepard stated: We wanted to sponsor the All Blacks but during the process, we couldn’t get the necessary access from them for appearances, relevant marketing programs, tickets or for other alignment opportunities, and most importantly they were not very proactive or effective in terms of ambush marketing protection. The All Blacks also did not seem to value what we were bringing to the table in terms of global network and communication so we mutually decided not to continue the sponsorship. In retrospect, we were also not engaged enough and didn’t get enough visibility in the marketplace for the property. tCIn February 2003, the All Blacks signed on MasterCard as its official payment card. In addition to Visa’s issues with the All Blacks, the New Zealand Rugby Union also caused much public controversy when in late 2002, New Zealand lost its bid to co-host the 2003 Rugby World Cup because it was unable to guarantee stadiums free from advertising ( see Appendix D). This loss led to an inquiry into the management of the New Zealand Rugby Union and a subsequent major management shakeup. No F. A. PREMIER LEAGUE Do In 1998, Visa began its sponsorship of the F. A. (Football Association) Premier League in England. The F. A.Premier League was a competition involving 20 Premier League Clubs. These 20 included globally known â€Å"Super Clubs† such as Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Liverpool. The league was formed in 1992 to increase popularity and interest in soccer within England. Visa’s sponsorship extended only to the League, but did not include the individual teams (clubs). Other sponsors could sponsor individual teams as well as individual matches. As a sponsor, Visa paid a set amount and received non-exclusive perimeter boards (signage at the matches), the rights to use the Premier League logo, and a certain amount of tickets.Li commented: â€Å"When we first started work ing with the Premier League, it was not as strong as it is today. In addition, at the end of 1999, there was a lot of management turnover at the Premier League. The â€Å"Super Clubs† were the teams that our Members and cardholders were most interested in. However, we had difficulties creating team-related benefits through the League sponsorship structure, especially when we were trying to run promotions outside of the This document is authorized for use only by Hadi Nejatian until May 2013. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.[email  protected] harvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. Visa Sponsorship Marketing SPM-5 rP os t p. 14 U. K. For example, we ran a promotion in Asia to fly winners to England to watch a match between two high-profile teams, but the Premier League did not provide us with adequate assistance. We had to find tickets through other channels. All these factors led us to not renew our sponsorship with the Premier League in 2000. We preferred to foc us at this time on other sponsorships such as the Olympics. † op yo In addition to Visa’s sponsorship of the F. A.Premier League, the company also signed a separate three-way agreement with the F. A. Premier League and Manchester United, as part of its greater F. A. Premier League sponsorship. Li explained: â€Å"When we first signed on as a sponsor with the Premier League, the League had included the Manchester United Platinum Club sponsorship package which secured the League sponsors’ boards and a certain amount of hospitality related to the most successful team. With the Platinum Club, sponsors could also sponsor one Manchester United match in the season. With that match, sponsors would get more tickets, hospitality, etc. SPONSORSHIP PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT tC As sponsorships grew in popularity and became more expensive, sponsors began looking for ways to quantify event marketing value. One of the first techniques used was tracking televised logo time, i. e. , the amount of time a sponsor’s logo is visible to a television viewer. However, over time, marketing professionals have begun to question the value of this analysis, as flashing a company’s logo during an event may have been cheaper than running advertising during the event, but the two many not have been interchangeable in terms of effectiveness.Companies have begun using a variety of research techniques to measure pre- and post-event results ranging from focus groups to onsite surveys. Do No Visa Performance Measurement Visa often used external consultants to quantify the value generated by the Olympic sponsorship to â€Å"persuade us first as a management team and the board second† that there is a business case for a sponsorship. The results showed that a sponsorship translated directly into tangible benefits such as brand recognition and market share and â€Å"has a significant value. 29 Since 1986, the number of Visa cards in issue grew from 137 million to just over one billion, while global volume grew from $111 billion to $2. 3 trillion. Since it started sponsoring the Olympics in 1986, Visa’s market share had risen by 33 percent, to 53 percent, the company said. â€Å"And when you gain the leverage from the member banks,† said Williamson, â€Å"it’s an amazing property [Olympics]. †30 Moreover, during the span of Visa’s Olympic involvement, it had seen brand preference in the U. S. go up — it had seen its rating as â€Å"best overall card† rise to 50 percent. 1 Visa cited research showing that more than 66 percent of Americans thought Olympics sponsors deserved their business. â€Å"Obviously, not all of that is from the Olympics,† said Michael Lynch, senior vice president of event and sponsorship marketing. â€Å"But we’re finding that those who are 29 â€Å"Visa Breaks Olympic Record for Sponsorship,† Bank Marketing International, January 22, 2003, p. 8. Ib id. 31 â€Å"Visa Extends Olympic Games Sponsorship for Eight More Years; Most Successful Sponsorship to Deliver Support Through the Games of the XXX Olympiad in 2012,† Business Wire, November 11, 2002. 0 This document is authorized for use only by Hadi Nejatian until May 2013. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. [email  protected] harvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. Visa Sponsorship Marketing SPM-5 rP os t p. 15 aware of our Olympic sponsorship are more likely to use the Visa card than those who are unaware. †32 According to Becky Saeger, executive vice president of brand marketing: â€Å"At Visa, we frequently review our efforts to ensure a return on investment for our members.Since 1986, no single property has allowed us to build our brand and drive use better than the Olympic Games†¦. Since 1986, Visa volume has grown at a compounded annual rate of 16 percent. Unaided consumer awareness of Visa’s sponsorship after Sydney was an unprecedent ed 72 percent, and research shows sponsorship awareness drives Visa brand preference. Finally, the 2002 Games scored record ratings on NBC, enabling Visa to reach a larger, more diverse audience than ever before. †33 op yo Visa measured specific campaigns as well.For example, in 1992, it advertised that it would donate a percentage of each card transaction to the U. S. Olympic team. Transactions increased by 17 percent. Up until that point, Visa had never received more than a 3 percent increase from any advertising or promotional campaign that it had run. 34 Lynch said it analyzed its sponsorship spending carefully and was still bullish on sponsorship marketing, even at times where the economy was lagging. â€Å"What does end up happening is that a lot of the clutter will go away during times of adversity,† he said. It is an opportunity for the leaders to step up. It is important for us to deliver the proper message during those periods. †35 Other Companies No tC Other Olympic sponsors such as Bank of America had their own ways of measuring performance. Bank of America had paid less than $55 million as a second-tier sponsor and started to advertise 100 days before the games, spending $60 million on ads alone. It built two branches on the Olympic grounds and brought 83 employees to serve visitors, but looked to Visa to provide ATMs under its category rights.Bank of America measured its sponsorship performance through awareness boosts, stating that it had seen â€Å"significant increases in awareness† since the ads began, though â€Å"product sales will lag a little further behind. † To gauge the boost, the company compared account generation and card use numbers for the current quarter with figures from the first and fourth quarters of the prior year. â€Å"All the research we’ve looked at says people perceive Olympic sponsors as leaders in their categories,† said Dockery Clark, Bank of America’s sponsorship marketing executive. 6 Do John Hancock started its Olympic sponsorship in 1993 (in the life insurance/annuities category). Since then, the company’s sales have increased 14 percent, while the insurance business had seen an industry-wide drop of 4 percent. By using trips to the Games as an incentive for agents and customers, Hancock calculated that its Olympic investment of approximately $40 million had 32 Miriam Kreinin Souccar, â€Å"Visa’s Sponsorship Gives it Inside Lane for Olympic Games,† American Banker, November 9, 1999, vol. 264, issue 216, p. 1. 33Becky Saeger, â€Å"Visa Has What it Takes at the Olympics,† Marketer’s Forum, April 2002, Vol. 6, no. 3, p. 30. 34 http://www. onlinesports. com/sportstrust/sports13. html. 35 Lavonne Kuykendall, â€Å"War Jitters Aside, Card Giants Defending Sponsorship Deals,† The American Banker, March 25, 2003, p. 7. 36 Lavonne KuyKendall, â€Å"Gauging Value Has High Degree of Difficulty,† Th e American Banker, February 27, 2002, p. 1. This document is authorized for use only by Hadi Nejatian until May 2013. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. [email  protected] arvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. Visa Sponsorship Marketing SPM-5 rP os t p. 16 translated into a $50 million increase in sales, a 21 percent net gain in purchase consideration, and a 53 percent increase in consumers who believed the Boston-based insurer to be a smart and cultivated company. Patrick Finnegan, an analyst for Moody’s Investors Service, suggested that Hancock’s international business was too small to justify a global sponsorship of the Games, however. â€Å"A 20 percent increase in sales — boy, that’s a stretch,† Finnegan said. When you buy life insurance, you don't think about who sponsored the last Olympics. † Replied Hancock’s Chairman and CEO, David D’Alessandro, â€Å"Do I attribute all this [growth] to the Olympics? No. Do I want to drop out of the Olympics to find out? No. †37 THE FUTURE Do No tC op yo Visa had â€Å"raised the bar† during each of the Olympics it had sponsored since 1986. It had created an integrated marketing program that ranged from advertising to host city partner/presence programs. Visa had also learned much through its other sponsorships that had posed significant challenges, e. . , its sponsorship of the New Zealand All Blacks. In the summer of 2003, Shepard and his team gathered at Visa’s International headquarters located in Foster City, California, to reflect on the impact and lessons of its past sponsorship activities. Specifically, they planned to discuss the process of selecting and working with new partners and creating new alliances such as with the Walt Disney Company (2002); how to evaluate the effectiveness of Visa’s existing sponsorships; and how to apply lessons from its existing and past sponsorships to current and future sponsorships. 7 Craig Copetas, â€Å"Winter Olympics 1998: Despite the Enormous Costs, Sponsors Swear the Olympics are a Good Buy,† The Wall Street Journal Europe, February 18, 1998. This document is authorized for use only by Hadi Nejatian until May 2013. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. [email  protected] harvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. Visa Sponsorship Marketing SPM-5 Appendix A Overview of Visa rP os t p. 17 op yo Visa was jointly owned by 21,000 member financial institutions (members) such as banks and credit unions worldwide. It was a private, for-profit ssociation whose members offered credit cards and other payment solutions for both consumers and businesses. Cards were issued by Visa’s member financial institutions, not by the Visa association. Its members also signed up (acquired) retailers, recruited cardholders, set fees and determined spending limits and interest rates on outstanding balances. A board of directors composed of representatives from me mber banks supervised each Visa region, and select members from each region composed the international board. Member banks elected the board and votes were allocated according to the volume of various products offered by members.The board developed operating regulations, set transactions fees and interchange payments between members, developed system-wide innovations such as interchange technologies, promoted the association brand through advertising, and coordinated other system-wide matters such as fraud control. tC Visa products and services were offered directly by members to their customers. Visa did not issue cards; set annual fees on cards; determine annual percentage rates (APRs)38; solicit merchants to accept cards; or set discount rates. 39 Members managed the relationships with consumers and merchants.Visa’s goal had been to create a brand that was a trusted seal of approval so that members could use Visa as a platform to meet their objectives. Member objectives in cluded increasing consumer confidence, enhancing customer relationships, and driving usage in new markets. One service Visa provided members was an advanced transaction processing infrastructure, known as VisaNet, run by its Information Technology (IT) and processing subsidiary, Inovant, that processed over 5,000 transactions per second during its peak season (the holidays) and was capable of handling transactions denominated in 160 different currencies.Average transaction approval time was under two seconds. Shepard elaborated on Visa’s relationship with its members: No Our 21,000 member financial institutions own us. We’re similar to McDonald’s who manage their individually owned franchises. Visa’s international role is to coordinate these six regions and try to provide innovative solutions for the properties that we have. Our primary job is to help members grow their business by offering them payment solutions; new payment technologies; dynamic, effici ent, and secure processing services; and the global Visa brand.Do John Ekoniak at Piper Jaffray said: â€Å"The organization stays incredibly focused on maintaining the difficult balance of providing rich services to its members, but not too complete, so as to allow members room to add differentiation as they compete with other members. The members and stakeholders are all competitors and feel that they compete most effectively with the help of the Visa association if it is a closed organization with all returns reinvested. †40 38 The APR was the yearly interest charge on outstanding credit card balances.The discount rate was the fee a merchant paid a member financial institution to process a purchase charged to a Visa card. 40 John Ekoniak, â€Å"The B2B Analyst,† US Bancorp Piper Jaffray Research, January 12, 2001, vol. 2, number 2, pp. 3-4. 39 This document is authorized for use only by Hadi Nejatian until May 2013. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright . [email  protected] harvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. Visa Sponsorship Marketing SPM-5 rP os t p. 18 TRANSACTION PROCESSINGMultiple parties were involved in every Visa card transaction: 1) cardholder, 2) issuer: a financial institution that issued Visa cards and maintained a contract with cardholders for repayment, 3) merchant: an authorized acceptor of Visa cards for the payment of goods and services, 4) merchant bank: a financial institution that helped the merchant fulfill Visa card payments from customers, 5) Visa, whose members issued Visa cards and/or signed merchants to accept Visa, and 6) VisaNet: a network that acted as an authorization and clearing and settlement service to transfer payment information between parties which was run by Inovant, Visa’s IT and processing subsidiary. 41 op yo Processing a Visa card transaction was a two-stage process. The first stage was called Authorization, where an electronic request was sent through various parties to either approv e or decline the transaction.The next stages were Clearing and Settlement, where all parties settled their accounts and were paid. The Authorization stage included eight steps: 1) cardholder presents Visa card to pay for services, 2) merchant swipes Visa card, enters the dollar amount, and transmits an authorization request to the merchant bank, 3) merchant bank automatically sends the authorization request to VisaNet, 4) VisaNet routes the request to the cardholder’s issuer, 5) issuer approves or declines the transaction, 6) VisaNet forwards the issuer’s response to the merchant bank, 7) merchant bank forwards the response to the merchant, and 8) merchant receives the authorization response and completes the transaction accordingly. tCThe Clearing and Settlement stages included another five steps: 9) merchant deposits the transaction receipt with the merchant bank, 10) merchant bank credits the merchant account and electronically submits the transaction to VisaNet for settlement, 11) VisaNet pays the merchant bank and debits the issuer account, then sends the transaction to the issuer, 12) issuer posts the transaction to the cardholder account and sends the cardholder a monthly statement, and 13) cardholder receives the statement and pays issuer. 42 REVENUE MODEL Do No Visa’s revenue model included a series of fees from merchants who accepted Visa cards. Typical fees included 1) discount rate (a percentage of sale