Trends toward Western-style China and India Essay

Trends toward Western-style China and India - Essay Example marketers of today should understand that, to attract the large youth dominated markets, they must then provide the goods and services that are interesting to the youth and hence these goods and services must focus on music, fashion, technology and other factors that are influencing to the youth. Both companies from India and China emphasize on the importance of value differentiation in developing their competitive advantage strategies. The consumers in these emerging markets prefer value and are willing to consume more of the goods, which they believe are of quality, safe and have utility. In addition, these consumers are shifting upscale and ready to pay more for goods with integrity, reliability and desirable features that are made from high quality material and components (White, 2012). Therefore, it is evident that the old paradigm when consumers preferred price to all other factors is fading in these markets and consumers are shifting gears in their preference and tastes. Thus, this shift seems to be a new critical factor for marketers in in these emerging markets and a wake call to companies to produce new and better products meeting the consumers’ demands, taste and preferences, which ultimately would lead to customer brand loyalty. However, companies in the United States emphasize on the importance of a standardized marketing strategy, which involves marketing consumer goods in a uniform and consistent way across all the marketing mix. These companies view this strategy as the most influential and effective approach to developing competitive strategies. For instance, some companies in the United States standardize all aspects of their goods while others on the other hand standardize a few elements of their goods. However, whichever way or approach the companies use, they are able to make cost savings and ensure consistency of their goods globally (White, 2012). The consumption style of the West involves increased sensitivity to the different economic

Mangement on personal planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mangement on personal planning - Essay Example (Caldwell) The first key step in scheduling your finances is to have a prearranged budget that consist of savings, expenses, and investments. Needing a static budget will help you stick to your strategy to make certain future achievement. After a twosome of months it would be very relaxed to tell if your financial plan needs to be reformed to fit with your individual circumstances. A periodic budget not only assistances to set up lasting financial objectives, it also can make your immediate budget subjects disappear. Knowing precisely where your money is going every month can retain you out of dues, and can help you figure out where you might have future budgetary concerns. Your financial plan can also assist you to come up with an instantaneous reserves plan if you have a hefty pending expenditure, such as college for your kids or a new home. Exploration is imperative when it comes to conception your financial plan, particularly when it comes to financing money for your upcoming and your fami ly. The best part of individual financial arrangement is that your future will be more protected. You will no longer have to concern about needing money for out of the blue expenses such as emergency hospital visits or a car accidents. Setting a little extra money away in your budget can deal you harmony of mind that you under no circumstances had when living wages to wages. Personal economic planning pointers to the eventual goal: a comfy retirement. At long last, this is the most significant motive to blueprint for your future. With an unbalanced economy, and social sanctuary reimbursements in the balance, having sufficient money to contentedly continue after retirement is indispensable. No one recognizes what the years to derive will take along, so make sure your own life in control can be a huge progressive. Having a well alleged financial plan can countenance to be safe and sound now and confident for the

Report on the Religious Life of Planet Earth Essay - 2

Report on the Religious Life of Planet Earth - Essay Example These include the religion of Islam which was revealed by the prophet Muhammad and its adherents are spread all over the world such as in the Middle Eastern countries (Swatos & Kivisto, 998). Second, the religion of Christianity is notably the largest faith and has its teachings firmly grounded in the Bible. Evidently, it has approximately over 2 billion followers in the entire. Buddhism is equally another famous religion which teaches the adherents on the best way of living in accordance to Siddharta Gautama (Swatos & Kivisto, 998). Hinduism is a religion in which the faithful have their ideas firmly founded on Indian religious beliefs. The Candomble religion represents an African driven belief system of religion that traces its origins and followers in Brazil. On the other hand, Taoism connotes ancient religious, philosophical tradition that has its belief founded in Chinese worldview. There are equally contemporary and growing religions such as the Bahai religion. The aforemention ed religions are just but a sample of the many religions in the Earth. Their existence and adherents that subscribe to the religions offer part of the proof of the religious nature of man on Earth. The belief in the existence of supernatural beings is a foundational precinct in the belief system of religious people. To this end, they acknowledge the existence of supernatural beings such as gods, spirits or a supreme God. Evidently, the belief in supernatural beings offers a connection to the existence and experiences of humans. For example, among Christians they believe in a supernatural being of God who is composed of three elements. That is, The Holy Spirit, God the Father and God the Son. In addition, they believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. On the other hand, the Islamic adherents believe in Allah as a supernatural being and in Muhammad as his prophet. The Hindus on their part believe in the existence of 330 million gods but in one supreme ultimate god known as the Brahman. Contemporary religions such as Bahai express their faith in Bahaullah as the reincarnation or

A comparative analysis from the online retail company Rakuten to Essay

A comparative analysis from the online retail company Rakuten to another four companies - Essay Example Bezos and its headquarters is in Seattle. Mr. Bezos is still the CEO, Chairman and President of the Company- he took office in 1994 after founding the company. The senior Vice President is Mr. Thomas J. Szkutak who has been in office since 2002. Other executives include: Ms. Kathy Sheehan, Mr. Phil Hardin and Ms. Mary Bowman. Amazon.com has been able to increase its revenues to $74.5B from $61.1B in the previous years. It bounced back with a profit of $274M after a loss in the previous year of around $39M. This may be attributed to decrease in the percentage of sales related to cost of goods. Currently, the market price of its shares is $327.82, a 3.58% increase. The table below shows annual financial statement of the company. EBay Inc. is an online trading company that allows sellers and buyers to exchange products and services ranging from collectible and memorabilia to coins and sporting tickets. It also has an online payment service- PayPal. Its headquarters is located at Hamilton Avenue, San Jose, California. It has three presidents: John J Donahoe (President/CEO), Craig Hayman (President-Enterprise Business) and Devin N Wenig (President-Market Places). EBay shares are currently valued$54.36, this is a 0.02% decrease. The financial position of companies at the end of every fiscal year is very important for investors as it forms basis of their future decisions. There are many types of ratios in use today, however the ones that are more important to the investors are the profitability and liquidity ratios as they reveal the financial position of the company at the end of that year. Profitability is an important piece of information for investors as it will either attract them to a company or scare them away. This is due to the fact that high revenues and increased stock prices don’t necessarily equate to high dividends for investors. Profitability ratios therefore give investors a clue of the likelihood that a company

Investigating how concentration affects rate of reaction Essay Example for Free

Investigating how concentration affects rate of reaction Essay This means that you would need to use 200ml of the original 0. 01M solution with 50ml of distilled water to make 250ml of 0. 008M solution. Remember to keep all other solutions at a constant concentration throughout. Investigat  the same range of concentrations as was used for potassium bromide, to ensure that a rate equation can easily be found. Making Required Solutions 0. 01M potassium bromate(V): KBrO3: K = 1 x 39. 1 = 39. 1 Br = 1 x 79. 9 = 79. 9 O3 = 3 x 16. 0 = 48. 0 RFM = 167 grams needed = (0. 01 x 167 x 250) 1000 = 0. 4175g dissolved in enough distilled water to make 250ml of solution. 1M Sulphuric acid: H2SO4: H2 = 2 x 1. 0 = 2 S = 1 x 32. 1 = 32. 1 O4 = 4 x 16. 0 = 64. 0 = 98. 1 grams needed = (1 x 98. 1 x 250) 1000 = 24. 525g dissolved in enough distilled water to make 250ml of solution. 0. 0001M phenol: C6H5OH: C = 6 x 12. 0 = 72. 0 H = 6 x 1. 0 = 6. 0 O = 1 x 16. 0 = 16. 0 = 94. 0 grams needed = (0. 0001 x 94 x 250) 1000 = 0. 00235g dissolved in enough distilled water to make 250ml of solution. 0. 01M potassium bromide: KBr: K = 1 x 39. 1 = 39. 1 Br = 1 x 79. 9 = 79. 9 = 119. 0 grams needed = (0. 01 x 119 x 250) 1000 = 0. 2975g dissolved in enough distilled water to make 250ml of solution. Risk Assessment (6) The following risk assessments are based on concentrated solutions of each substance. The concentrations I will be using are much more diluted that the solutions mentioned below to ensure that my experiment is safer. Although some of the acute hazards and symptoms associated with the concentrations I am using will not be as severe as those shown below, the risks are still very serious. For this reason I will still take appropriate precautions and will handle each substance with care. Potassium bromate(V): Type of Hazard Acute Hazards/Symptoms Prevention of Hazard Solving Hazard Fire. Not combustible but enhances combustion of other substances. Gives off irritating or toxic fumes (or gases) in a fire. No contact with combustibles and reducing agents. Water in large amounts. Explosion Risk of fire and explosion on contact with combustible substances and reducing agents. n/a In case of fire: keep drums etc. cool by spraying with water. Inhalation Cough. Sore throat. Breathing protection. Fresh air, rest. Refer for medical attention. Contact with skin Redness. Protective gloves. First rinse with plenty of water, then remove contaminated clothes and rinse again. Refer for medical attention. Contact with eyes Redness. Pain. Safety goggles, or eye protection in combination with breathing protection if powder. First rinse with plenty of water for several minutes (remove contact lenses if easily possible), then take to a doctor. Ingestion Abdominal pain. Diarrhoea. Nausea. Vomiting. Do not eat, drink, or smoke during work. Wash hands before eating. Rinse mouth. Give a mixture of activated charcoal in water to drink. Induce vomiting if person is conscious. Refer for medical attention. Spillage n/a n/a Sweep spilled substance into sealable containers; if appropriate, moisten first to prevent dusting. Carefully collect remainder then remove to safe place. Do not absorb in sawdust or other combustible absorbents. Storage n/a Separated from combustible and reducing substances, powdered metals and incompatible materials. See Chemical Dangers. n/a Sulphuric acid: Type of Hazard Acute Hazards/Symptoms Prevention of Hazard Solving Hazard Fire Not combustible. Many reactions may cause fire or explosion. Gives off irritating or toxic gases in a fire. No contact with flammable substances. No contact with combustibles. No water. In case of fire in the surroundings: powder, foam, carbon dioxide. Explosion Risk of fire and explosion on contact with bases, combustible substances, oxidants. n/a In case of fire: keep drums etc. cool by spraying with water but no direct contact with water. Inhalation Corrosive. Burning sensation. Sore throat. Cough. Struggling to breathe. Shortness of breath. Ventilation or breathing protection. Fresh air, rest. Half-upright position. Artificial respiration may be needed. Refer for medical attention. Contact with skin Corrosive. Redness. Pain. Blisters. Serious skin burns. Protective gloves. Protective clothing. Remove contaminated clothes. Rinse skin with plenty of water or shower. Refer for medical attention. Contact with eyes Corrosive. Redness. Pain. Severe deep burns. Face shield or eye protection in combination with breathing protection. First rinse with plenty of water for several minutes (remove contact lenses if easily possible), then take to a doctor. Ingestion Corrosive. Abdominal pain. Burning sensation. Shock or collapse. Do not eat, drink, or smoke during work. Rinse mouth. Do not induce vomiting. Refer for medical attention. Spillage n/a n/a Do not absorb in saw-dust or other combustible absorbents. Personal protection: complete protective clothing including self-contained breathing apparatus. Do not let this chemical enter the environment. Storage n/a Separated from combustible and reducing substances, strong oxidants, strong bases, food and feedstuffs, incompatible materials. May be stored in stainless steel containers. Store in an area having corrosion resistant concrete floor. n/a Phenol: Type of Hazard Acute Hazards/Symptoms Prevention of Hazard Solving Hazard Fire Combustible. No open flames. No contact with strong oxidants. Alcohol-resistant foam, powder, water spray, carbon dioxide. Explosion Above 79i C explosive vapour/air mixtures may be formed. Above 79i C use a closed system, ventilation. In case of fire: keep drums etc. cool by spraying with water. Inhalation Sore throat. Burning sensation. Cough. Dizziness. Headache. Nausea. Vomiting. Shortness of breath. Laboured breathing. Unconsciousness. Avoid inhalation of fine dust and mist. Ventilation or breathing protection. Fresh air, rest. Half-upright position. Refer for medical attention. Contact with skin Easily absorbed. Serious skin burns. Numbness. Convulsion. Collapse. Coma. Death. Protective gloves. Protective clothing. Remove contaminated clothes. Rinse skin with plenty of water or shower. To remove substance use polyethylene glycol 300 or vegetable oil. Refer for medical attention. Wear protective gloves when administering first aid. Contact with eyes Pain. Redness. Permanent loss of vision. Severe deep burns. Face shield, or eye protection in combination with breathing protection. First rinse with plenty of water for several minutes (remove contact lenses if easily possible), then take to a doctor. Ingestion Corrosive. Abdominal pain. Convulsions. Diarrhoea. Shock or collapse. Sore throat. Smoky, greenish-dark urine. Do not eat, drink, or smoke during work. Wash hands before eating. Rinse mouth. Give plenty of water to drink. Do not induce vomiting. Refer for medical attention. Spillage n/a n/a Sweep spilled substance into sealable containers; if appropriate, moisten first to prevent dusting. Carefully collect remainder then remove to safe place. Personal protection: complete protective clothing including self-contained breathing apparatus. Do not let this chemical enter the environment. Storage n/a Separated from strong oxidants, food and feedstuffs. Keep in a well-ventilated room. n/a Potassium bromide: The hazards for this substance are almost negligible, especially for the low concentrations that I will be using. However, protective goggles will still be worn to avoid contact with eyes, as this could cause irritation. This substance could also cause some discomfort if ingested, so I will take be very careful to ensure that this doesnt happen. Method for Investigating Temperature Change Extra Apparatus Reason For Use Size/Concentration Heating plate Used to heat the mixture to different temperatures during the reaction.n/a Beakers Used as a water bath to heat the mixtures evenly. 500ml Boiling tubes Used to hold reacting mixture whilst it is heated or cooled to the desired temperature. n/a Ice cubes Used to cool the water bath to temperatures below room temperature. n/a Thermometer Used to measure the temperature of the mixture so that it can be kept constant throughout the reaction. n/a Method 1. Set the apparatus up as was done in the experiment investigating concentration change. However, this time use a heating plate rather than a magnetic stirrer so that temperature can be adjusted. 2. Mix 5cm3 of potassium bromate(V) solution, 5cm3 of sulphuric acid solution and 5cm3 of phenol solution in a boiling tube and add 4 drops of methyl orange indicator. 3. Add 5cm3 of potassium bromide to a separate boiling tube. 4. Fill a large beaker with water and place it on top of the heating plate and set it to the required temperature. To achieve cooler temperatures put ice cubes into the beaker and monitor the temperature using a thermometer. Place the boiling tubes containing the correct solutions in the water bath so that they are also heated or cooled to this temperature. 5. Mix the two solutions and start the stopwatch. Record the time taken for the solution to go colourless. Ensure that the temperature of the water is kept constant. This can be done by having a thermometer in the beaker. Although the higher temperatures should be easily maintained by the heating apparatus, lower temperatures must be kept constant by adding more ice cubes if required. 6. Repeat 5 times with each temperature to ensure accurate and fair results. Results With Respect to Potassium Bromate(V) The table below shows my results when varying the concentration of potassium bromate(V): Concentration of Potassium Bromate(V) (mol/dm-3). Time Take For the Mixture to Turn Colourless (seconds) Repeat 1 Repeat 2 Repeat 3 Repeat 4 Repeat 5 Average Reaction Rate (seconds-1) Graph 1 on the next page shows the concentration of potassium bromate(V) plotted against the average time taken for the solution to turn colourless. From this graph I can see that there is a negative correlation because as concentration is increased, the time taken for the solution to turn colourless decreases. However, this graph does not provide enough information to work out the rate equation data for potassium bromate(V). For this, I had to draw up a graph of concentration against reaction rate. Reaction rate is worked out using the following equation: Reaction Rate = 1 Time This is presented in Graph 2. Graph 2 has a line of best fit which is a straight diagonal line, rather than a curve. It also shows that there is a positive correlation between concentration and reaction rate, as when concentration of potassium bromate(V) is increased, reaction rate increases. I could draw the line of best through the origin at point (0,0) as I know that if the concentration is 0M then the reaction will not occur the reaction rate will be 0seconds-1 (this can be applied to all other graphs of concentration against reaction rate that I have drawn). I decided to draw the majority of my graphs using a computer to plot the axes and points, and drawing the line or curve of best fit by hand. The computer can provide better accuracy than I can as far as drawing the axes and plotting the points is concerned. However, I believe that I can provide more accuracy when drawing the line or curve of best fit. My line of best fit suggests that the reaction, with respect to potassium bromate(V), is first order. This means that that rate equation so far is as follows: Rate = k[BrO3] Results With Respect to Potassium Bromide The table below shows my results when varying the concentration of potassium bromide: Concentration of Potassium Bromide (mol/dm-3) Time Take For the Mixture to Turn Colourless (seconds) Repeat 1 Repeat 2. Repeat 3 Repeat 4 Repeat 5 Average Reaction Rate (seconds-1) The line of best fit is once again a straight diagonal one. This shows that there is again a positive correlation between concentration and reaction rate.

Quality of service of a network

Quality of service of a network CONGESTION MANAGMENT: Networks which are designed to support most different traffic types which share a single data path between routers. Congestion management techniques should be considered in such cases to ensure the quality and treatment for the various traffic types. Traffic prioritization especially important for delay-sensitive, interactive transaction based application for instance, for example takes video conferencing that requires higher priority than the file transfer applications. However use of WFQ (weighted fair queuing) ensures that all traffic is treated fairly. Prioritization is most effective in WAN links where the combination of bursty traffic and relatively lower data rates can cause temporary congestion if there is no congestion on the WAN link, there is no reason to implement traffic prioritization. APPLICATION QUALITY: By various parameters used for network quality of service which allows the specification of quality metrics. Such quality of service metrics are monitored and analysed using network quality parameters and important aspect of quality which is always ignored in many cases and overlooked is the behaviour of each and every individual applications in the internet recognised .most applications try to possess a majority part of network resources possible, immediately it may not or influence the quality of an application. NETWORK QUALITY OF SERVICE: The Ability to provide better service to a selected traffic.Quality of service refers to the ability of a network to provide highest quality service to any selected network traffic using various technologies in the latest networks used with a combination of traffic Qos ensures the exact application to be accessed to the resources of the network first, it is a combination of various technologies which allows application to recive request most acceptable and predicted service levels in terms of data and its Bandwidth (throughput capacity) latency variation in jitter, packet loss and delays.Qos provide the best features and more predictable network service by following methods(cisco 2009) Ø Dedicated bandwidth and support Ø Loss characteristics Ø Congestion avoidance and mangment of network Ø Network traffic shaping OPERATION OF QOS: Ø Qos distinguishes the traffic and splits it with very exact timing requirements Ø It improves resources in the network so that all the traffic reaches the specified destinations reliably and faster Ø It doesnt create any bandwidth it simply manages it effectively to meet the application requirements (OPNET 2008) Here the working of qos follow a series flow of simple rules in order to execute the file or a packet and at first the packet is pass through the classification which means that the following packet must be in which group does it fit then the packet is moved on to the next level which is the pre-queuing which means that the following packet is arranged in a order according to the source and the destination numbers and then it is again moved on to the next level which is the queuing and scheduling its main work is to set the stream to the destination point so that it automatically enforces the bandwidth allocations then moves on to the last level which is the post queuing which increases throughput on the lower speed links so that it reaches the destination point within the time it has decided and thus the working of the qos is completed. ADVANTAGES OF QOS: Ø Dedicated bandwidth Ø Controlled network latency and jitter Ø Improved loss characterstics Ø Control and predictability beyond best effort concept (OPNET NETWORK 2008) NEED OF QOS IN A NETWORK: All packets in a network are given equal access to all the resources , the priorty acn only be given when we can distinguish data packet from a voice packet. For a company network to effectively use the network and its resources it must identify which network traffic is the appropriate and which is not to allocate the right recourses to effectively support the traffic streams . The priority should be given to all the data streams to failing to do so can create low quality of voice and data, because most of the audio and visual application is delay and jitter sensitive. Only a good Qos can give the audio and video packets the best priority access. Qos evolution: The networks which are used with Qos enabled are called the Best -effort network. Where each and every packet is treated in the same way which is significantly important in the network design for preferable results, when even space in the cpu is available these type of networks work prominently. There are two major architectures of qos, both the architecture have different approach and different ways of quality of service in their own preferable ways. The main architecture of Qos is integrated services and differentiated services. Traffic characteristics that Qos tools can effect 1) Bandwidth 2) latency 3) jitter 4) compression 5) queuing BANDWIDTH: Bandwidth refers to number of bits per second that can reasonably be expected to be successfully delivered across same medium. firstly bandwidth techniques are mainly used to describe or define network traffic and to do this we can set some special type of techniques which are mainly used by the network devices such as blue coat for instance and by using this we can setup a type of service (TOS) in the packet of the internet protocol header and by using the required information of the type of service we can set the device in action and allow the traffic to flow in different direction and for another instance we can choose some factors to involve this issue such as audio clarity, if the sound is audible in two different direction then it is said to be working in perfect condition and this can be measured by the MOS (which means the mean opinion score) , so by this we can rate from 1-5 which means that 1 scores the worst and 5 scores the best and the average typical analogue call whi ch rates from 4.1 to 4.7 and a avg cell phone ranges from 3.5 to 3.9 and if we considered the VOIP CALLS ranges from the 4.0 to 4.4 so which means that the VoIP also has the best average rating in audio clarity and if we comes to reliability comes to 99.999 so which is more reliability to the customers and the usage of them is also more and the techniques used in this kind of symphony which is sophisticated and the consistency is also more which is mixed out with the qos so this is in short all about bandwidth in qos LATENCY: It is mainly specified as some serious problem to qos which is also known as the delay and if we speak in technical words its the same amount of time taken by a packet from source to destination and if the latency and the bandwidth are defined they are for speeding the network so for instance we can say that a normal average person can hear a call upto 250 ms approx and 200 ms in sensitive person ear so if the call doesnt return in that range the caller is going to be disappointed. JITTER: It also refers to the same problem but for connectionless or wireless so which is also called as a delay which must be a serious and most inappropriate but business customers such as for company which is dealing with important calls so in this here if we see the database server is connected to some system and the employees are storing some information to the database systems and in between there are calls to handled and the calls doesnt seems to go through the cloud of the similar database server so we can find the disturbance which are caused by the latency and jitter so in order to watch and control the traffic we must maintain the jitter in control and the specification for this is it must be less than 100 ms for the communication less than 100 ms for normal database because if the jitter took place a bit slow in voice band it doesnt have a problem but if it takes under the packet series then it might be some kind of serious issue so in order to reduce this we must all keep the j itter in control. bandwidth refers to number of bits per second that can reasonably be expected to be successfully delivered across same medium Compression: Either the payloads or the headers compressed by reducing the total number of bits required to transmit the data. Call Admission control: reduces all the overall load of the network by denying any new incoming voice and video calls. Queuing: Qos refers to a broad collection networking technologies and techniques. The goal of Qos is to provide guarantee on the ability of a network to deliver predictable results. Qos involves prioritization of a network, Qos is a method to guarantee the bandwidth relationship between individual or application or protocols. Qos refers to the capability of a network to provide a better service to selected network traffic over various underlying technologies including frame relay,(Cisco systems Inc. 1999). There are seven Qos mechanisms and tools that are used to implement Qos in a computer network. Ø Congestion management Ø Congestion avoidance Ø Control admission control Ø Shaping and policing Ø Bandwidth reservation Ø Link efficiency Ø Classification and marking 1.1.3 Aim of Qos is to provide a dedicated bandwidth sufficient to deliver for the service of the applications by controlling latency and jitter, and by reducing data loss. Network characteristics managed by quality of service. Category of quality of service mechanisms: 1) Admission control 2) Traffic control 1.2.1 Admission control: Gives the information of number of users and the applications used to network resources it allows only specific users and resources which can be used in a network segment (subnet). 1.2.2 Traffic control: It controls and regulates the data flow by classifying and marking the packets based on priority and by stopping traffic, service class assigned to a traffic flow which evaluates the quality of service treatment, the traffic receives. 1.2.3 Call admission control: It provides the overall quality for all the networks, it controls the voice disturbance from the voice traffic, and video from the other video traffic 1.3.2 Classification and marking: For defining a quality of service identifying the traffic is the first case involved in the procedure which is treated either differently or preferentially which is done by classification and marking. 1.3.3 Bandwidth reservation: Bandwidth reservation provides guarantee to the bandwidth, i.e., bandwidth is provided whenever needed without reserving it for a specific application or flow in a network. 1.3.4 Shaping and policing: The significant issues related to quality of service in a network are solved by traffic shaping , the delay and loss in a network are solved by traffic shaping which is called as(egress blocking)The data which is sent or received are measured by traffic shaping and traffic policing . traffic policing in a network is used to remove all the excess packets which helps to overcome the policed rate. The excess packets are again en-queued by shaping. Both shaping and policing prevent the traffic from exceeding the bit rate defined. Link efficiency: Link efficiency is used increase the quality of service of a network,particularly if the given note continuously increase the bandwidth rate on a network which causes the sudden change in behaviour of the network. Which slows down data applications significantly.if the load exceeds the given bandwidth for a period of time the application slows down completely or even stops down ata particular point because of the continuous queues which can be avoided by using the link efficiency. 1.3.6 Congestion management: Whenever queuing occurs in a network congestion management gives the ability to rearrange the packets. 1.3.7 Congestion avoidance: Congestion avoidance tools are used to avoid congestion. It enables queue to avoid congestion. Whenever the rate of transmission load and offer load exceeds the line rate send by various senders.Queues are formed which may cause congestion. The queue are managed by congestion avoidance tool by dropping the packets randomly which are selective which reduces the congestion level. WHY DO WE NEED QOS Each and every packet will be given equal access to resources when we not consider the QoS policies. We cannot give voice priority if we cannot tell a voice packet from a data packet. In order to utilize its network resources efficiently for a company, so to support those traffic streams it must identify which network traffic is critical traffic and allocate appropriate resources to support those traffic streams. Otherwise, the result could be intermittent with voice quality complaints. Applications like voice and video are delay and jitter sensitive. Voice packet will be given first priority access to the interface queue, when we use a good QoS policy. For example, both FTP and an voice packet arrive at the same time at an outbound router interface. When we not consider the QoS policies the voice packet may need to wait in the queue until the FTP packet has been processed out the interface. This may results delay of unacceptable amount of delay into the voice path which will depends upon the interface speed. Traffic flow with out qos (global knowledge,whitepapers,[2],author:gardiner2008) The voice packet could be given priority first over the FTP packet when we use QoS configuration. The FTP packet may be fragmented to make sure that the voice packet does not show any excessive delay, if the interface speed is less than T. QoS Evolution The main reason for the wide transformation of best-effort models to more complex differentiated services models is by privately owned enterprise and service providers networks, the meaning that the network gives different applications differing levels of service. 2.6.1 Congestion Management (Queuing): QoS queuing tools provide you with a variety of queuing methods. Queuing tools define a number of queues. The queuing tools are as follows: a. Priority Queuing(PQ) b. Custom Queuing(CQ) c. Weighted Fair Queuing(WFQ) d. Class-Based Weighted Fair Queing(CBWFQ) e. Low Latency Queuing(LLQ) f. Modified Deficit Round-Robin(MDRR) a. Priority Queuing: Priority Queuings most distinctive feature is its scheduler. PQ schedules traffic such that the higher-priority queues always get serviced, with the side affect of starving the lower-priority queues. With a maximum of four queues, called High, Normal, and Low, the complete logic of the scheduler can be easily represented, as shown in figure. (Cisco systems, 1999) b. Custom Queuing: As with most queuing tools, the most interesting part of the tool is the scheduler. The CQ scheduler reserves an approximate percentage of overall link bandwidth to each queue. CQ approximates the bandwidth percentages, as opposed to meeting an exact percentage, due to the simple operation of the CQ scheduler. The CQ scheduler performs round-robin service on each queue, beginning with queue 1. CQ takes packets from the queue, until the total byte count specified for the queue has been met or exceeded. After the queue has been serviced for that many bytes, or the queue does not have any more packets, CQ moves on to the next queue, and repeats the process. (Morgan, 1991) c. Weighted Fair Queuing: Weighted Fair Queuing differs from PQ and CQ in several significant ways. The first and most obvious difference is that WFQ does not allow classification options to be configured. WFQ classifies packets based on flows. A flow consists of all packets that have the same source and destination IP address, and the same source and destination port numbers. So, no explicit matching is configured. The other large difference between WFQ versus PQ and CQ is the scheduler, which simply favors low-volume, higher-precedence flows over large-volume, lower-precedence flows. Also because WFQ is flow based, and each flow uses a different queue, the number of queues become rather large up to a maximum of 4096 queues per interface. And although WFQ uses tail drop, it really uses a slightly modified tail-drop scheme- yet another difference. (Cisco systems Inc, 1999) d. Class-Based WFQ: CBWFQ is most like CQ, in that it can be used to reserve minimum bandwidth for each queue. It does differ from CQ in that you can configure the actual percentage of traffic, rather than a byte count. CBWFQ is like WFQ in that CBWFQ can actually use WFQ inside one particular queue, but it differs from WFQ in that it does not keep up with flows for all the traffic. e. Low Latency Queuing (LLQ): LLQ combines the bandwidth reservation feature of CBWFQ with a PQ-like high priority queue, called as Low Latency Queue, which allows delay-sensitive traffic to spend little time in the queue. But first, this section begins with WFQ, which uses a completely different scheduler. Table 2: Comparison of Queuing Tools. (Odom W, et al, 2005) Tool Maximum Number of Queues Classification Capabilities Queue Service Algorithm/ End Result of Algorithm PriorityQueuing (PQ) 4 IP ACL Input interface Fragments Strict service; always serves higher-priority queue over lower queue. Custom Queuing (CQ) 16 IP ACL Input interface Fragments Serves a configured number of bytes per queue, per round-robin pass through the queues. Result: Rough percentage of the bandwidth given to each queue under load. Weighted Fair Queuing (WFQ) 4096 Automatic, based on flows, (Flow identified by source/destination address and port numbers, plus protocol type.) Each flow uses a different queue, Queues with lower volume and higher IP precedence get more service; high volume, low precedence flows get less service. Class-Based Weighted Fair Queuing (CBWFQ) 64 IP ACL NBAR Same as CB marking Service algorithm not published; results in set percentage bandwidth for each queue under load. Low Latency Queuing (LLQ) N/A Same as CBWFQ LLQ is a variant of CBWFQ, which makes some queues priority queues, always getting served next if a packet is waiting in that queue. It also polices traffic. Modified Deficit Round-Robin (MDRR) 8 IP precedence Similar to CQ, but each queue gets an exact percentage of bandwidth. Supports LLQ mechanism as well.

Nestle Marketing Analysis

Nestle Marketing Analysis This is a report as well as a marketing plan about Nestle and its new product Nescafe Menu. The report is about the Halal food leader ― Nestle (Malaysia) and its activity on how they market their products and sustain their leader position in the current market. Moreover, there will be a detail analysis on the current marketing situation which included SWOT, PEST and financial analysis plus the marketing strategies applied by the company in order to domain the market. The marketing strategies will further the discussion by involving the pricing, product, distribution and promotion strategies. However, the main focus will fall on the company ― Nestle Malaysia, the market of soluble coffee, the brand Nescafe and its new launched products. In addition, recommendations and solutions are provided by the author to solve the current scenario and overcome the problems. Nestlà © (Malaysia) Berhad plays the role as the leader of Halal food manufacturer and the first multinational to voluntarily request for Halal Certification of all its food products when it was first introduced in 1996. Nestlà © is establish in 1912 and public-listed on Bursa Malaysia since 1989. Currently the biggest Halal producer in the Nestlà © world. In Malaysia, Nestlà © employs 5000 people, owns 7 factories and 6 sales offices plus one national distribution centre. The head office based in Petaling Jaya, Selangor. (Nestle, 2008) Nestlà ©Worldwide Nestlà © is a multinational company that leading the global food business. It is founds by a Swiss chemist ─ Mr. Henri Nestle. Nestlà © have the worlds largest food manufacturer and the worlds largest private nutrition research capability based in Switzerland. Overall, Nestlà © present in over 100 countries with 276,000 employees worldwide and 456 factories in 84 countries. Currently, Nestlà © owns over 8500 brands and produce over 10,000 different products. Nestlà © hits the sale of 32 billion products yearly. Furthermore, Nestlà © have 24 Research Development centres worldwide and invest RM5 billion annually on RD. (Nestle,2008) Introduction about the product ― NESCAFÉ ®MENUâ„ ¢ At November 2009, Nestle introduced a new range of beverage to captures locals heart. New Nescafe menu is your menu of Malaysian favourite. Bring home the authentic taste of your favourite coffee shop flavours anytime and anywhere. (Nestle,2009) Key Benefit Nestle provides good quality products with improving nutrition and health benefits under Halal policy benefits everyone especially Muslims so that consumers can enjoy their favourite food or beverage without worries with the Halal assurance promised by Nestle. (Nestle,2010) The introduce of Popularly Positioned Products (PPP) brings affordable nutrition accessible (based on local considerations, food regulations, nutrient deficiencies and public health concern) for society and leads a healthier lifestyle and diet plan with the Nestlà © Nutritional Compass label in all nestle products. (Nestle,2008) Talk about the new Nescafe menu that contains coffee as the main ingredient. In fact, according to Don Howat (2009) coffee is something great because it contains antioxidants. Meanwhile, he hopes that there is a change of the wrong perception ‘coffee is bad for health among Malaysian and able to target non-coffee drinker and increases the consumption of coffee in Malaysia which is consider as low compared to other countries. Current Marketing Situation Nestlà © Malaysia, currently the biggest Halal producer in the world, markets more than 300 Halal products in market, is warranting its appointment as the Halal Centre of Excellence for Nestlà © worldwide. Exports its products to more than 40 countries worldwide with export sales of over RM470 million. Imports Halal products from the 66 Nestlà © factories worldwide that are certified Halal. (Nestle,2010) According to Philip Kotler and Gary Armstrong (2010), differentiated marketing means a firm decides to target several market segments and design separate offer for each. Nestle (Malaysia) utilizing differentiated marketing (segmented marketing) strategy by having several categories of product that means to target different customer. Categories of product in Malaysia: Example of brand name in Malaysia ÃÅ" Coffee and Beverage ÃÅ" Nescafe / Milo ÃÅ" Culinary Aids/ Prepared Foods ÃÅ" Maggi ÃÅ" Milks ÃÅ" Nespray/ Nesvita ÃÅ" Liquid Drinks ÃÅ" Perrier ÃÅ" Junior Foods ÃÅ" Nestle Baby Cereals ÃÅ" Breakfast Cereals ÃÅ" Nestle Breakfast Cereals ÃÅ" Chilled Diary ÃÅ" Nestle Bliss/ Nespray Yogurt ÃÅ" Ice-cream ÃÅ" Nestle ice cream / Drumstick ÃÅ" Chocolate and Confectionery ÃÅ" Kit-Kat / Smarties / Milkybar ÃÅ" Healthcare Nutrition ÃÅ" Nutren Optimum / Fibre / Junior ÃÅ" Performance Nutrition ÃÅ" POWERBAR Performance / Gel ÃÅ" Nestle Professional ÃÅ" Nestle Professional Table 2 : Nestlà ©s categories of product and brand name in Malaysia Adapted from Nestle in your life, our brands, 2010. From http://www.nestle.com.my/nestle+in+your+life/our+brands/ Nescafe commands 70 per cent market share in the coffee segment locally Nescafe practises differentiated marketing too by having 5 different range of coffee (mainstream coffee, healthy coffee, Nescafe Classic and Gold). Simultaneously, Nescafe Menu marketing three different beverages that include Nescafe Menu Tarik, Ipoh White Coffee and Nelso to targets a group of local people (Malaysian) includes coffee lovers and non-coffee drinkers (all age) by offering coffee shops all time top seller. (Don Howat, 2009) Product review for NESCAFÉ ®MENUâ„ ¢ Nescafe Menu Tarik -satisfy your craving for a delicious foamy cup of coffee and indulge in the authentic taste of a tarik. Nescafe Menu Ipoh White Coffee -three minutes are all it takes for you to enjoy a deliciously creamy, smooth and aromatic cup of Ipoh white coffee, anytime of the day or night. Nescafe Menu Neslo -for those who must have your morning cup of neslo before the day can start, heres the one for you with the rich taste of Nescafe coffee and the goodness of chocolate malt, all serve in one delicious blend. Table 2: Product Review of NESCAFÉ ®MENUâ„ ¢ Adapted From Nestle in your life, our brands, beverages ― Nescafe, NESCAFÉ ® MENUâ„ ¢, (Nestle, 2010) From http://www.nestle.com.my/Nestle+In+Your+Life/Our+Brands/Beverages/Nescafe.htm New Nescafe Menu benefits consumer by giving them a big flexibility and in-home enjoyment without stepping out the house to coffee shop for beverages. The new Nescafà © Menu range is available at all leading supermarkets and hypermarkets in 15-pack bags at the recommended retail prices of RM12.90 (The Star Newspaper 2009). Currently, only the white coffee produced by old town is consider as the direct competitor because they having the same product as Nescafe Menus white coffee. PowerRoot and BOH are indirect competitor because they dont have the same (but similar) product as Nescafe Menu yet they are the strong competitor in the market so its important to keep an eyes on the companys activities. Competitive Review White Coffee 3-in-1 Classic by Old Town * Old Town kopitiam(coffee house) had 141 outlet in Malaysia and still growing (old town, 2010). * Rated as Malaysians favourite hang out place for its signature white coffee. * A perfect, smooth blend of original white coffee. Rich, creamy and aromatic, it has a heightened lingering mouth feel (Old Town, 2010). * 15 sticks in a Packet, RM12.90 * The famous Cameron Highland tea * Rated as Malaysias all time local favourite beverage. * Experience the robust, full-flavour of Boh Teh Tarik Kurang Manis with less sugar in each convenient sachet * 12 sachet in a packet for RM7.90 Oligo cereal (6 in 1) by PowerROOT * Nescafes main competitor for soluble coffee range * Cereal drink mixed with a fine blend ofoats,cereal,B-Glucan,Oligofructose, sugar and non-dairy creamer * 12 sachet in a packet for RM12.90 PEST analysis Nestlà ©s PEST Analysis (P)olitical * In support of the Governments efforts to combat non-communicable diseases in the country, Nestle collaborated with relevant NGOs to participate actively during the Nutrition Month Malaysia campaign to promote good nutrition in the community (Nestle, 2008). * Nestle is in full support of the Governments efforts to encourage healthier diets and active lifestyles to help counter problems associated with obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. We have made significant change to improve our products profile to complement the Governments efforts to create a healthier population (Nestle, 2008). (E)conomic * Flat domestic sales reflects slowdown in local economy and changes in consumer spending behaviour. (Nestle, 2009) * The weak market sentiments due to the global economic slowdown and changes in consumer spending behaviour (spending less and saving more), have some bearing to the Groups domestic business, which remained flat for the period under review. (Nestle, 2009) (S)ocial * Nestle was founded on social responsibility, sound human values and principles more than 140 years ago (Nestle, 2008). * Malaysias majority = Muslim. Consumers trust and confidence on quality and peace of mind for Muslim consumers (Nestle, 2008). * Our interest in Halal was borne out of social responsibility and respect for our Muslim employees and consumers, and today, we are beginning to appreciate the long-term investment we have made in manufacturing and marketing Halal products (Nestle, 2010). * Though it is a global brand, Nescafe is locally produced to meet the taste preferences of local consumers (Nestle, 2010). (T)echnology * Improve innovation technology and supplier development through Halal knowledge (Nestle, 2010) plus innovate renovate nutritious and healthier products using RD expertise (Nestle, 2008). * Every Nestle product undergoes as extensive RD process and a stringent quality standard before it is launched, because we value the trust that our consumers have in us (Nestle, 2008). * Nestle consumers all over the world benefit from world-class manufacturing facilities, the best private RD capability in food and nutrition, international quality and safety standards but with products catered to local preferences (Nestle, 2010). * Our global investment in RD clearly shows Nestlà ©s commitment in innovating and renovating products based on scientific evidence and trials (Nestle, 2008). SWOT Analysis (S)trengths (1) High market share ÃÅ" For instant, Nescafe commands 70 per cent market share in the coffee segment locally as the leader. (Don Howat, 2009) (2) Size, operational efficiency and financial power ÃÅ" Owns 7 factory and 6 sale office at Malaysia with one national distribution centre that involve exportation of Halal product to more than 40 countries. (Nestle, 2008) (3) Wide range of products ÃÅ" Nestlà © owns over 8500 brands and produce over 10,000 different products. (Nestle, 2008) (4) Ability to customize global product brand to local preferences ÃÅ" For example, markets more than 300 Halal products in market, to more than 40 countries. (Nestle, 2008) (5) Strong Research development ÃÅ" Have 24 Research Development centres worldwide and invest RM5 billions annually. (Nestle, 2008) (6) Halal policy ÃÅ" Helps in targeting Muslim by assuring them with all product is Halal and also attract non-Muslim customer at the same time. (Nestle, 2010) (W)eakness (1) Very narrow product line for beverages ÃÅ" Only promotes chocolate malt (milo), coffee (Nescafe) and milk beverage. (O)pportunity (1) New product discover (expanding product line) ÃÅ" The discover of New Nescafe Menu is a good example whereby it also help to expands the range of coffee under the Nescafe brand. In the future, they maybe will produce coffee candy in different flavour. (2) Changing of customer needs/tastes ÃÅ" For instant, customers have more awareness toward their health care and wish to have product that come with low sugar contain thus Nestle can introduces their products with low sugar contain to fulfil customers needs. (3) New technology ÃÅ" To improve the products quality by implementing the new technology and maintain their market share in the industry. (T)hreats (1) Economic downturn ÃÅ" Threaten profit margins and bottom-line. If the firm decides to cut cost, many people might lose their job and social responsibility is frequently put on hold. (Nestle,2008) (2) Entry of new competitor ÃÅ" For instant, the Starbucks also blends into the soluble coffee market with their signature premium coffee. Thus, Starbucks might affect the sales of Nescafe premium range product. Financial Analysis Financial analysis use and transformation of financial data into a form that can be used to monitor and evaluate the firms financial position, to plan future financing, and to designate the size of the firm and its rate of growth (allbusiness.com, 2010). Based on the 5 years statistics (appendix 2), it proved that the company is growing healthy from the year 2004 to 2008. In 2008 Nestle Malaysia post a turnover of RM3.9 billion (approximately) for the year ending 31 December 2008, which represents a 13.5 % growth over 2007. Profit before tax is increasing from year 2004 to 2008. However, the percentage of turnover which is rated as 11.6% in 2007 fall to 11.4% in 2008, due to heavy capital expenditure(which contributed to higher financing costs) (Nestle, 2009). With the implementation of lower tax expenses by government, Nestle (Malaysia) manage to nudge the profit margin after tax from 8.5% to 8.8%. According to Nestle (2009), the Board of Directors has recommended a final net dividend of 80 cent per share, giving a total net dividend proposed and declared for the financial year of 191.19 cent per share that represents a 68.0% increase compared to the previous period and hits the highest in the Groups history. From the balance sheet (appendix 3), we can see that the Nestle group and Nestle Malaysia are growing stronger and having a very positive view about their assets with the increments. Overall, the group have RM1,660,401,000 of asset while the company have RM1,110,879,000 of assets. Furthermore, it achieved a balance with their equity and liability that shows the company is healthy with strong financial. By observing the income statement (appendix 4), the company is making more profit (compared by year 2007 and 2008). Nestle Malaysia hits RM435,269,000 of revenue for 2008 which is higher than year 2007 by increase of RM75,116,000. For the Nestle group the gain approximately RM3.9 billion at 2008 and its better than the previous year with RM3.4 billion. The basic earnings per ordinary share (cent) for year 2008 is 145 while year 2007 is 125. It shows that currently the company is still doing well. Based on the cash flow statement (appendix 5), the available cash of the group and company is decreasing. It is because of the cash is used for heavy financing activities. Group 2008 RM000 Group 2007 RM000 Company 2008 RM000 Company 2007 RM000 Net cash from operating activities 555,972 290,657 401,005 226,134 Net cash from investing activities (185,696) (100,721) 28,219 21,667 Net cash used in financing activities (376,256) (214,094) (445,550) (234,505) Cash and cash equivalents at 31 Dec 25,690 31,670 1,042 17,368 Objectives 1st years objective (short term) Hoping to double our share (to reach 70 per cent of the total market) of the speciality coffee market by next year with the launch of New Nescafe Menu (Don Howat,2009) Catering to Malaysian tastes by offering a mix of drinks across different ranges and the new products add to the companys product portfolio of these ranges. (Don Howat,2009) See an increase in coffee consumption in Malaysia. (Don Howat,2009) Hope to change the perception that coffee is bad for health and educate consumer on the goodness of antioxidants contained in coffee. (Don Howat,2009) 2nd years objective (and long term objective) Improving current portfolio to ensure the products has more nutritious without affecting the taste (for example, less sugar, salt and fats). (Nestle, 2008) Maximise the use of good quality local raw materials. (Nestle, 2010) Creating and increasing consumers awareness on nutritional labelling, food safety and consumer rights to safe and quality food. (Nestle, 2008) Guarantee that all products manufactured, imported and distributed by Nestlà © Malaysia are certified HALAL by authorised Islamic certification bodies. (Nestle, 2010) Produce and sell world-class products of the highest consistent quality, reliability and convenience based on business excellence principles throughout our operations.(Nestle, 2010) Marketing Strategies Nescafe Menu utilizing the multiple segmentation bases which included of geographic, behaviour, and demographic segmentation. NESCAFÉMENUs Segmentation for Consumer Market Geographic Country Malaysia Country religion Asia Demographic Age 12 ― 65+ Gender Male and female Family size 1―5+ Family life circle Single/ married (with or without children) Income Upper low and above Occupation Students, working adult, housewives retired Religion Muslim(mainly), Hindu Buddhist Race Malay, Chinese, Indian others Nationality Malaysian Behavioural Occasions Regular Benefits Quality and convenience User status Potential user and regular user User rates Medium use Loyalty Status Strong and absolute Readiness stage Interested, desirous and intention of buying Attitude toward product Positive Table 3: NESCAFÉMENUs Segmentation for Consumer Market Adapt from Major Segmentation Variable for consumer markets by Philip Kotler, Gary Armstrong (2010). Available at Principles of Marketing (13th edition) Chapter 7― Customer-Driven Marketing (Market Segmentation) page 217. Selective marketing (differentiated marketing) ― market-coverage strategy in which a firm decides to target several market segments with separated offers (Philip Kotler, Gary Armstrong 2010). Nestle as leader of global food market applied selective targeting by differentiated their products to numbers of categories that means to target different customer. Categories of product Example of product Targeted customer (in general) ÃÅ" Coffee and Beverage ÃÅ" Nescafe / Milo ÃÅ" All range ÃÅ" Culinary Aids/ Prepared Foods ÃÅ" Maggi ÃÅ" Household, mainly teenager and university students. ÃÅ" Milks ÃÅ" Nespray/ Nesvita ÃÅ" Household ÃÅ" Liquid Drinks ÃÅ" Perrier ÃÅ" Upper middle range ÃÅ" Junior Foods ÃÅ" Nestle Baby Cereals ÃÅ" Parents with baby ÃÅ" Breakfast Cereals ÃÅ" Nestle Breakfast Cereals ÃÅ" Parents with children ÃÅ" Chilled Diary ÃÅ" Nestle Bliss/ Nespray Yogurt ÃÅ" Household ÃÅ" Ice-cream ÃÅ" Nestle ice cream / Drumstick ÃÅ" Parents with children ÃÅ" Chocolate and Confectionery ÃÅ" Kit-Kat / Smarties / Milkybar ÃÅ" All range ÃÅ" Healthcare Nutrition ÃÅ" Nutren Optimum / Fibre / Junior ÃÅ" Household ÃÅ" Performance Nutrition ÃÅ" POWERBAR Performance / Gel ÃÅ" Student working adult ÃÅ" Nestle Professional ÃÅ" Nestle Professional ÃÅ" Medium/ large Companies Table 3: Nestlà ©s products, brand name and their targeted customer. Adapted From Nestle in your life, our brands (Nestle, 2010) From http://www.nestle.com.my/Nestle+In+Your+Life/Our+Brands.htm Nescafe is a convenience product type of consumer product that consumers usually buy frequently, immediately, and with a minimum of comparison and buying effort. Normally low priced and marketers place them in many locations to make them readily available when customers need them (Philip Kotler and Gary Armstrong, 2010). (a) Pricing Strategies Major base pricing strategies à ® Value-based pricing [Everyday low pricing (EDLP)]  § Set reasonably low price but still offer high quality products and adequate customer services. Prices are not the highest in the market nor are the lowest, consistent with the benefits and costs associated with acquiring the product.(O.C. Ferrell Michael D. Hartline, 2008)  § For instant, Nestle(M) re-launched the everyday low price Nestle branded range of Take-Home Tubs with Hi calcium, in line with the Nestle corporate wellness initiatives, to further strengthen the leadership position in the affordable segment. (Nestle, 2008) à ® Competitive Matching Pricing strategy focuses on matching competitors prices and price changes. Although some firms may charge slightly more or slightly less, these firms set prices at what most consider to be the ‘going rate for the industry(O.C. Ferrell Michael D. Hartline, 2008). Nestle set the Nescafe Menu according to the ‘going rate whereby market the 15-pack bags at the recommended retail prices of RM12.90 which is almost the same with the Old Towns white coffee (RM12.90) Strategies for adjusting à ® Promotion discounting Virtually all firms, even those using value-based pricing, will occasionally run special promotions or sales to attract customers and create excitement (O.C. Ferrell Michael D. Hartline, 2008). Nestle uses this strategy to attract new and old customer and increase their sales during promotion. à ® Reference pricing Firms use reference pricing when they compare the actual selling price to an internal or external reference price. All customer use internal reference prices or the internal expectation for what a product should cost. As consumers, our experiences have given us a reasonable expectation of how much to pay for the product (O.C. Ferrell Michael D. Hartline, 2008). A pack of 15 pack-bags coffee cost above RM7.90 above and at the average price of RM11.50 to RM13.50 thus consumer expectation price also will be around that ‘reference price. (b) Product Strategies The launched of New Nescafe Menu is using product line extensions strategy by adding new flavours of coffee to Nescafe brand. These products supplement an existing product line with new styles, models, features or flavour and it allow the firm to keep its product fresh and exciting with minimal development cost and risk of market failure (O.C. Ferrell Michael D. Hartline, 2008). Product Strategies Branding strategy * Line extensions à ® It occurs when a company extends existing brand names to new forms, colours, sizes, ingredients, or flavours of an existing product category. (Philip Kotler and Gary Armstrong, 2010) à ® In this scenario, Nescafe introduce the new Nescafe menu by proving three new flavour of coffee to meet consumer variety. Packing and labelling * Nescafe Menu used a simple design by implements the photo of beverages in the packing and picks the colour to suit the beverages. * A big and clear brand name is spot in the top of the packing. * 15-pack bags at the recommended retail prices of RM12.90 * Nescafe also provide 3 flavour in a box of 6-pack bags for consumer who want to have a try for all the flavour. Customer Support Service * According to O.C. Ferrell Michael D. Hartline (2008), a firm may have difficulty differentiating its products when all products in a market have essentially the same quality, features, or benefits. In such cases, providing good customer support ― both before and after the sale helps in identifying and defining consumer needs. * Nestle provides the toll-free customer service line (1800 88 3433) in order to help them to know more about consumers needs and strengthen the current position. Product Life Cycle ― Nescafe Introduction stage i. Attracting customer by raising awareness of and interest in the product offering though advertising, public relation and publicity efforts that connect key product benefits to customers needs and wants (O.C. Ferrell Michael D. Hartline, 2008). First, Nestle make the official launch for new product included Press conference then advertising their product through newspaper, radio and television. ii. Inducing customer to try and buy the product through the use of various sale tools and pricing activities (O.C. Ferrell Michael D. Hartline, 2008). Nestle conducts free testing section, gives free samples to customer at hypermarket and offers their product in cheaper price during the promotion of new launched product. iii. Furthermore, Nestle ensure there is high availability and visibility of the product through trade promotion activities that encourage channel (hypermarket, convenient store and etc) to stock and support the product (O.C. Ferrell Michael D. Hartline, 2008). Growth stage i. Nescafe has a strong branding, high quality with reasonable price to secure their market position. ii. Utilize advertising to stress the products benefits for target customer (O.C. Ferrell Michael D. Hartline, 2008). iii. Maintain and control over product quality to ensure customer satisfaction (O.C. Ferrell Michael D. Hartline, 2008). For example, Nestle collect the customers feedback through their customer service line and email. iv. Contact with key channel especially retailers to get a better shelf space that easily catch customers eyes. Maturity stage i. Nescafe manage to hold the 70% market share of the Malaysian market share with its soluble coffee ranges (Don Howat, 2009) ii. Nestle able to create cash flow and invest it for new products or technology to improve their companys portfolio. iii. At this stage, Nescafe also develop a new product image and apply the new technology to their products. (c) Distribution strategy Nestle uses the indirect marketing channel with intensive distribution that makes a product available in the maximum number of merchants or outlets in each area to gain as much exposure and as many sales opportunity as possible (O.C. Ferrell Michael D. Hartline, 2008). Multiple customer-marketing channel Adapted from Business (tenth edition)by William M. Pride, Robert J. Hughes, Jack R. Kapoor, 2009. Available at http://books.google.com.my/books?id=zb0cItqvLJUCpg=PT427dq=customer+marketing+channelhl=enei=PNa4S6_3I4SyrAfPpfXDCgsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=7ved=0CFMQ6AEwBg#v=onepageq=customer%20marketing%20channelf=false Nestlà © as the producer keep the product in their national distribution centre which is used as the main logistic function ― warehouse. Next, wholesaler represent hypermarket that gets the products for the agent (sales office) and then sell it to retailer and customer. (d) Promotion strategy Nestle applied the promotion mix as the promotion strategies. Nescafe use product advertising to promote the image, features, uses, benefits, and distribution of products (O.C. Ferrell Michael D. Hartline, 2008). They present their advertising through television, radio, magazines, newspapers, outdoor display and the internet. Thus, consumers can have a look of the physical evidence of the product. Public relations can be referring to the process in the 7Ps of the marketing mix. It used to promote the firms, its people, its ideas, and its image and even to create an internal shared understanding among employees and can create specific images such as quality, innovativeness, value, or concern for social issues (O.C. Ferrell Michael D. Hartline, 2008). Nestle uses different methods such as press conferences, press releases and event sponsorship. For instant, Nescafe organizes press conferences and releases official press to announce the launch of the Nescafe Menu. Personal selling refers to personal presentation by the firms sales force for the purpose of making sales and building customer relationships. Sales people (as one of the 7Ps of marketing mix) will carry out the communication that attempts to inform customers about products and persuade them to purchase those products. Nestle uses the 6 sales offices and their employees to sell their products. Sales promotion direct towards consumers and trade is applied. Nestle gives sale promotion by giving out samples, point-of-purchase promotion and contests. For example, Nestle promotes different contests for their product seasonally to create excitement for consumers and increase the sales. Moreover, they offer trade allowance and selling incentives offered to an intermediarys sales force. Conclusion and recommendations In conclusion, Nestle group is a strong financial corporate and Nestle Malaysia is a Multinational company that have a bright future in exporting Halal product to more countries out of Asia. The ‘born of the new Nescafe Menu means a revolution of Nescafe beverages by offers local-styled coffee according to consumers needs. Furthermore, I discovered that Nestle do not have a brand that offers tea beverages as new line of product and attract non-coffee drinker to be Nestlà ©s consumer. Moreover, Nescafe ought to provide all their beverages in can so that it easy to carry to everywhere and enjoy it at anytime. As the awareness of health issues is rising rapidly in Malaysia, Nestle should provides their product with low sugar range or replace it with sugar cane which is more healthier compare to fine sugar. Lastly, Nestle should re-design their logo, label and packing as it rated as less attractive compare to its competitor. As the fast-development of multimedia, Nestle should fully utilize it in their packing and advertisement to suit the new generation. Reference Books and e-books Principle of Marketing 13th edition by Philips Kotler Gary Armstrong, 2010. United State of America, Pearson Prentice Hall. Marketing Strategy (global edition) 4th edition by O.C Farrell Michael D. Hartline ,2008. United State of America, Thomas South-Western. Business (tenth edition)by William M. Pride, Robert J. Hughes, Jack R. Kapoor, 2009. (Online) Available at http://books.google.com.my/books?id=zb0cItqvLJUCpg=PT427dq=customer+marketing+channelhl=enei=PNa4S6_3I4SyrAfPpfXDCgsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=7ved=0CFMQ6AEwBg#v=onepageq=customer%20marketing%20channelf=false [accessed at 20th March 2010] Introduction to marketing conceptsBy Graeme Drummond, John Ensor, fifth edition