Is College Worth the Time and Money Essay Example Essay Example

Is College Worth the Time and Money Essay Example Paper Is College Worth the Time and Money Essay Introduction Is College Worth the Time and Money? Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, has been widely recognized for his talent in creating a company that totally revolutionized the computer hardware industry. There is no doubt that he is a very successful person and his net worth confirms this. Mark Zuckerberg, who designed and created the innovative social network Facebook, is another example of vision and talent coupled with effort that translated into success. What do these men have in common? They are brilliant, worth billions of dollars and they both dropped out of college. Even though these men did not complete their college education, they still achieved success. We love success stories. We love that in America we can start with nothing but an idea, out of the garage, and become one of the richest people in the world. These Cinderella stories however are not the rule but the exception, each is one out of a million, perhaps millions. These are they that the media likes to highlight because t hey are the rags-to-riches exception to the rule. There are young minds now conceiving of ideas that will make them successful beyond their dreams and we should encourage their development. Is College Worth the Time and Money Essay Body Paragraphs However, the reality is that there are many times more young minds that need the education that our colleges and universities can provide. Most CEOs of fortune 500 companies may never have attained that kind of success without the education behind them. They possibly wouldn’t even have been given the chance without a college degree. Of the CEOs from the top 100 of the fortune 500 list, 95 have at least an undergraduate degree with nearly half earning an advanced degree. While many are very successful without a college degree, what are the consequences of getting or not getting a degree on potential income? Many people go to college, get into debt, work hard, and sacrifice other opportunities, but don’t end up getting the jobs they were hoping for after graduation. Earning a college degree does not guarantee a job. What are the consequences then of going to college and getting a degree? Why do people get into debt for something that does not give financial security? Is t here something else that is beneficial to obtaining a college education? According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the unemployment rate decreases on average as education increases. Additionally, earnings are also roportional to the level of education. The structural unemployment is not the entire problem that we see in our economy. Frictional unemployment accounts for a big part of the entire unemployment picture and that is because of voluntary decisions to work based on each person’s valuation of his own work and personal preferences. All things being equal, someone with a degree is more likely to be hired than an individual who is without a degree. But even those with a four-year education couldn’t use their diplomas to ward off unemployment in the recent economic downturn. In fact, it was the educated financial and business industry that lost their jobs first. According to the most recent statistics from Bureau of Labor Statistics, however, college graduates hav e a lower rate of unemployment than those without a degree, with a rate of 4. 3 percent compared to 9. 5 percent for high school graduates and 13. 9 percent for those with less than a high school education (Farrell par. 8). With nearly 14 million unemployed workers in America, the Economist reports that many have gotten so desperate that they are willing to work for free. Even though this has many legal and economical implications, this clearly shows that the weak labour market favours those who are willing to work for free and it benefits the workers because they can maintain and improve their skills while networking with potential long-term employers. Of course a bachelor’s degree is not the golden ticket to a lifestyle of the rich and famous, but according to the Pathways to Prosperity Project at Harvard Graduate School of Education, â€Å"In 1973, a high school diploma was the passport to the American Dream.72% of the workforce of 91 million had no more than a high schoo l degree. The study goes on to say that today’s reality is much different in that â€Å"workers with a high school education or less now make up just 41% of the workforce. † Today’s reality is much different when it comes to college as getting that education is becoming increasingly more expensive. Money is a factor, but what can someone hope to gain outside of the classroom that can help the student in the future? The chance to meet and interact with a large variety of people is sometimes only found in a college environment. Many lifelong friendships are formed during one’s college career and the importance of networking for future opportunities cannot be overstated. Exposure to interpersonal relationships and learning how to work with others in a professional environment is very important. A college degree can say to a potential employer that you can commit to something until it is completed and that you have learned to work well and get along with othe rs. Moreover, most four year degrees require proficiency in basic computer skills. I can’t tell you how many times over the years I have wanted to create colorful and eye-catching documents or complete a spreadsheet for business and didn’t have the necessary time to go through the learning curve of teaching myself how to perform these basic skills. Students also have access to the college or university career center that can greatly assist students to prepare and to be aware of job possibilities. Many companies go straight to colleges and universities looking for employees. How would one who isn’t in school even know about jobs that are posted at colleges? Many job opportunities are not typically posted in the local newspaper, but instead companies will go straight to colleges and universities looking for individuals with the education to fill those positions. Furthermore, those that complete a four year college degree are more secure in their occupation as well as the income it provides. Those that enter the workforce with a Bachelors degree are more likely to keep their job even in times of economic downturn. In 2008 the unemployment rate was recorded at 2. 8 percent for those that completed a four year degree while those with only a high school diploma were recorded at 5. percent, two times greater (Hammond freebooks. uvu. edu). Moreover, those that didn’t finish high school are almost four times more likely to be laid off. This data was collected prior to the recession and the large increase in unemployment. Even with the recession those that had a degree only had an unemployment rate of 4. 6 and 4. 7 percent for 2009 and 2010 respectively (Bureau of Labor Statistics). In the same two years, those that only graduated from high school reached an unemployment rate of 9. 7 and 10. 3 percent. This in itself is reason to not only attend but complete a degree (Bureau of Labor Statistics). As a college graduate there is more than just security in the workforce but security in your income, even in times of recession. Results show that in 2008 those that completed a degree received a monthly average income of about $3,900 as compared to just over $1,000 for high school graduates (Hammond freebooks. uvu. edu) . In 2009-10, during times of recession and then recovery, where the market was at its worst for offering laborers adequate income, college graduates received on average about $4,500 monthly while high school graduates brought in only $2,500 (Bureau of Labor Statistics). Earning a college degree takes at least four years and costs thousands of dollars. It also takes a lot of time and money when it is possible to be earning a living without one. While this is true, it is also true that there’s still value in higher education. According to Chris Farrell from Bloomberg Businessweek, â€Å"the median earning of a college graduate with a BA working full-time in 2008 was $55,700. † Even those with an As sociate Degree earned $42,000 compared to $33,800 for workers with just a high-school diploma, and $24,300 for those without a high school education. The statistics show that college graduates earn more money, but it takes money to get a degree in the first place. Students and their families look at the price tag of education, an average of $15,213 at a public institution and $35,600 for private, and decide that the cost is too much (Strauss par. 3-4). When choosing to go to college or start out in the work force, it makes more sense to begin making money rather than go into debt. However, researchers at Georgetown University Center on Education estimate that the share of jobs requiring a postsecondary degree is 59 percent, and will rise to 63 percent in the next decade. The Public Policy Institute of California predicted that â€Å"the supply of college-educated workers won’t meet projected demand and that by 2025, â€Å"41 percent of workers in the state will need a bache lor’s degree† in the state of California. According to the predicted trends, it would be worthwhile for students to go to college. More and more workers with a college degree will be required in the work force, and if students regard an education as an investment, they will be prepared for the future. There are valid arguments for and against receiving a college education. The idea of so much time and money spent on a degree that may not result in a job is disheartening. But in a changing world where everything is uncertain, researchers and experts agree that it is better to have a degree than not. It’s harder to be successful today than in the past without a college education, and when considering the trends and what it means for the future, it makes sense to invest in yourself through education. Every parent should encourage their child to go to college and work hard for a degree, even though it means sacrificing time and money. Even parents who did not complet e their college education and had lucrative careers have the responsibility to encourage their children to receive an education. Although a degree is not a guarantee against unemployment, it does provide a safety net and improves the chances of finding and keeping a job, even in rough economic periods. Right now, going to college seems like a daunting task, but down the road, children will thank their parents for encouraging them and for making the necessary sacrifices to enable them to earn their degree. Works Cited Billitteri, Thomas J. The Value of a College Education. † CQ Researcher 20 Nov. 2009: 981-1004. Web. 26 Mar. 2011. Bureau of Labor Statistics. â€Å"Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers Fourth Quarter 2010. † News Release, 20 Jan. 2011. Web. 29 Mar. 2011. http://www. bls. gov/news. release/pdf/wkyeng. pdf Burnsed, Brian. â€Å"Where CEOs at America’s Largest Companies Went to College. † US News 15 Nov. 2010. Web. 29 Mar. 2011. Cowe n, Tyler. â€Å"Jobs don’t pay what they used to. † The Economist. 28 Mar. 2011. Web. 28 Mar. 2011. Farrell, Chris. â€Å"A College Degree Is Still Worth It. Bloomberg Businessweek. 25 Mar. 2011. Web. 26 Mar. 2011. Hammond, Ron J. â€Å"What is the Relationship Between Education and Money. † Intro to Sociology, 2009. Web. 29 Mar. 2011. http://freebooks. uvu. edu/SOC1010/index. php/ch14-education. html. Strauss, Valerie. â€Å"Costs of Public vs. Private College. † Washington Post. 12 Jan. 2010. Web. 24 Mar. 2011. Symonds, William C. , Schwartz, Robert B. , Ferguson, Ronald. â€Å"Pathways to Prosperity: Meeting the Challenge of Preparing Young Americans for the 21st Century. † Harvard Graduate School of Education. Feb. 2011. We will write a custom essay sample on Is College Worth the Time and Money Essay Example specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Is College Worth the Time and Money Essay Example specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Is College Worth the Time and Money Essay Example specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer

Diversity As A Weapon essays

Diversity As A Weapon essays I never knew that there was a sense of diversity back in the older days of the American nation. Sometimes, I believe we forget that diversity is not a term for some new movement, current happening, or something coined to describe the meeting of cultures and backgrounds which does not commonly occur under normal circumstances. Referring to older times, diversity meant much, much morerather, it was a concept, a tactic, to solve some issues with labor (Takaki 25). To combat the situation with labor insurrections and strikes, diversity was used as a weaponby making groups divided by ethnicity, culture, and language, the groups would regulate each other, making sure they focused on competing with each other rather than solidifying as one group (26). It was surprisingthe way we wanted an enriched culture differs from the reasons why it was so desired before. Actually, sometimes we forget that maybe diversity was always wanted, but the purpose changes with time. Another interesting fact was the plan to use Korean labor as a means to control Japanese labor (26). It was said that because Koreans were not likely to combine with the Japanese at any attempts at strikes (26), they would become a useful strategy in making sure that the focus of the workers was misdirected at other workers, rather than the system as a whole. This jumped from the pages, only because it was stated somewhere in the text that the two more educated groups of the immigrants were the Japanese and the Korean, while the rest were not as privileged to do so. Knowing that the Japanese and Koreans have some sort of history with each other, I would suppose that their differences would be the main reasons for the stratagem played against them. Honestly, it is sometimes difficult to imagine that such intricate thinking and planning and strategy was taken into consideration in a time some period agothe...

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The role of Production department in the organization - Essay Example The intention of this study is a Joint venture as an effort to form an entity, jointly together by any two entities, to undertake any economic activity for lawful purposes. Forming joint ventures is therefore one of the most prominent methods of entering into new markets as it provides an opportunity to tap into the local knowledge as well as skills to make a successful entry. Legally, a joint venture is a partnership which takes place for the short period of time by more than one party for any mutually beneficial purposes. As a general rule, each party to the joint venture contribute its assets towards the formation of the joint venture and also at the same time share the risks involved in forming such partnership. One of the benefits of forming a joint venture therefore is to gain access to the new markets as two entities; one foreign and one domestic and as such foreign entity often bring in new technologies which can benefit the domestic entities due to technology transfer. In US , Joint ventures are mostly regulated by Partnership laws, Contract Act as well as commercial transaction laws. In an increasingly complex business environment, the overall role of the organization and its top management is one of the most critical jobs that have to be performed. It is argued that the role of leadership is always to provide the vision for the future therefore the overall purpose and direction of strategic management is relatively different from that of the lower level of management.

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Wine tourism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Wine tourism - Essay Example Gastronomic supply is therefore increasingly shaped by tourist demand, highlighting the considerable potential wine and gastronomic products have in national and international tourist markets. Taking the region as the basic context of all tourist products, this paper analyses wine and gastronomic components of the product in detail, trying to underline the added value of aggregating or network logic in the development of typical agro-alimentary products and tourism.In many European countries, the situation of wine tourism appears to be complex and variegated, but also dynamic and rich in social, cultural and economic implications (Mitchell, 2000, 115-35). In order to realize its potential, it is essential that all actors involved implement a common entrepreneurial logic integrating wine tourism into the global tourist offer. In theory, this would allow them to take advantage of the strong synergies that can be achieved and to transform local land planning into a crucial instrument fo r sustainable development policy. Wine tourism is now emerging as one of the most promising segments of the tourism sector. Nevertheless, organizational and managerial capabilities lag behind in many places. It is highly likely that networks are needed to build an efficient and competitive network, to market high quality products and to safeguard the region's positive image. It is also an assumption in this paper that it is important to identify and encourage agricultural development through specialized and typical regional products, which can be protected and promoted through legislation, such as the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union. This will provide the basis for a solid and durable success both in tourism and agriculture, engendering revenue and employment benefits, especially in less developed areas. Rural Tourism and Wine Tourism: New Trends in the Tourist Market Alternative forms of tourism, which place emphasis on greater contact and understanding between tourists and the environment, emerged relatively recently. The various forms of environmental tourism can be grouped under the generic term of 'rural tourism', mainly practised away from traditional tourism destinations such as seaside and mountain resorts and art cities. Rural areas provide the backdrop for various forms of tourist behaviour, including sports, horse-riding, hunting, tasting wine and gastronomic products and learning about cooking, bird watching, photography, etc. (Goldsmith, 2001, 77-80). Rural tourism has long been considered a second-choice product, reserved for people with limited resources, who chose the countryside because they could not afford more attractive destinations. The re-discovery of tradition essentially based on typical products and rural lifestyles has only recently brought about a new rural tourism which is quite often able to offer high-standard services in terms of prices and quality. The new specific demand for environmental interaction in authentic settings (Spawton, 2005, 19-21) is deeply entrenched in the rural environment: tourists are interested in nature and tradition. 'Real' rural tourism only started to develop in the 1980s. From this point of view, local culture and the natural features of a rural environment become the real highlights. In the specific case of wine tourism, wine and other typical products of the local cuisine become real tourist attractions and a motivation to visit the countryside. Such motivations can be either exclusive - gastronomic

Marketing Strategies Used In Film Industry Bollywood Media Essay

Marketing Strategies Used In Film Industry Bollywood Media Essay Patiala House releases in Patiala, ironically the film has nothing to do with the princely state, Katrina Kaif in Lucknow studio of radio mirchi for Rajneetis Promotion, Silence is the promotion strategy for My Name is Khan a much talked film This paper investigates widespread marketing strategies used in Film industry popularly called the Bollywood both nationally and internationally. Film marketing is rapidly developing into a promising industry although the idea is its incipient stage in India. We have seen over the years that success of film now not only through its contents but varied integration of marketing strategies to promote the film. Today everyone in the film bazaar wants success but it is acquired by only those who have come out with some out of box strategy for their film. Films are much hyped before their release in the market so that they have great openings but some are bombed in few weeks and some are not even noticed due to lack of content. Films now are more than just an entertainment, but are a business. Marketing of a movie is not a new initiative it has its existence since films were introduced in India, but it is followed more rigorously in todays state of film affairs. The inception of this paper starts with introduction of the film industry followed with the strategies used to market the movies in the industry. This is also an interest area of the author, as being a movie buff. The other segment research will highlight the growth of this budding industry. The content of this paper also comprises with current inclination and variation that are common in the film industry. The methodology used in this paper has a literature review which will be the basis of the report. Due to non-availability of required data relating to the expenses on conventional and non-conventional media, the author has chose a case study approach. To indentify the consumption pattern of the consumer a research is conducted both with qualitative and quantitative analysis. The dissertation is ended with the inclusion of integrated marketing framework for Bollywood and the new means that for existing medium, those are being or could be deployed in the area of film marketing. Methodology: Before getting into details of film marketing the author highlights the area of conventional and non-conventional media and tactics to manipulate the viewers decision. Conventional media majorly includes Trailers and Commercials on Television, Posters, Radio promotion and Printed Ads etc. whereas, unconventional media comprises of SMS/MMS, Internet Broadband, BTL activities and events and social networking etc. In terms of number of movies produced India has the biggest movie industry. Around 800 movies are made and released of which 90% are bombed beyond the week at the box-office. (Indiaonestop, 2010) We can every day, every few hours, somebody, somewhere is launching a feature film in this country. (Bose, 2006) So its important for a film marketer to know which method or media would be appropriate for that particular film. While delineating conventional tactics for marketing films to the unconventional ones a clear example would be advertisement in theatre which is a conventional way but using technology or innovative techniques to market it qualifies to be an unconventional way of marketing. Taking in to consideration the number of flops annually the Bollywood gives, it is mandatory to understand the spending done on these mediums for promotion as it would give an insight to a new method which will be helpful for our dissertation. Film makers generally dont take into consideration what audiences want a few can be named as Ram Gopal Verma, Mani Ratnam etc. whose films like RGV ki Aag, Rakta Charitra and Raavan flopped in spite of having strong star cast. So in order to gauge consumer consumption pattern in terms of movie content, effects of promotional activities, change in the decision to watch a movie etc. (Chand, 2011) These factors will help in defining the timing of the movie to launched, content of the movie, Star cast, Publicity, unfriendly press and partner brands. Producers often forget the importance of the above factors in a hurry to give a clone of previous hits. All the film makers try to play safe, recover costs and try to move on and thus leave the impression to the general public that our film makers have run out of ideas. (Bose, 2006) Film makers these days are like businessman, they spread their losses by investing in several films simultaneously in the anticipation that at if one will work he can take care of the losses with it. A film-maker who has the resources and the ability to work and gamble on multiple projects is never let down by the law of probability. Mode of Study/Tools Used: A two pronged approach adopted in this report will help to understand all of the above and find a satisfactory answer for it. A secondary research will be conducted on the available data. A whole research framework will be gathered related to film marketing. This would not meet ones expectation entirely so we need a primary survey including both quantitative and qualitative analysis. Quantitative research would be done with the help of questionnaires targeting the urban crowds from the metros excluding the southern cities of India. Overseas city like Leicester and Wembley which has a number of Indian communities is also taken under the survey which will give a more holistic research. Approximately a sample of 50 respondents were targeted, though the number is too short for large topic like this; hence a figure ranging to 20,000 at a confidence level of 95% and percentage of 50% the confidence interval comes out to be approximately +/-3.5% which should be acceptable. Internet has been used as a medium to collect data from the respondents along with collecting data personally from the above mentioned localities in Wembley and Leicester. This medium saved cost and time. However response for the survey was not mandatory and it was completely at respondents discretion. The idea behind the selection of the metros for primary research is due to the beginning of the multiplex culture in these cities. Usual movie goers were targeted that includes families, teens, couples etc. The data obtained from this survey will be evaluated using factor analysis. This data will help us to understand the trend, interest of the consumers towards the unconventional media used to promote the films. As part of the research a case study of movie will be taken which was well marketed but bombed at the box office. This will give an actual scenario of the topic. Anticipated Output from the Research: Few questions would come up along with this dissertation: Whom should the producer communicate to? What appeals to whom? Which media reaches the most? What do the consumers want? Limitations of the Survey: This sample does not represent the entire India due to the limitation of the survey conducted in the taken geography. The area was chosen mostly as the region bestows majorly to the Hindi speaking population of the country. Another limitation is number of the respondents would be contacted through emails or social networking sites which leads to a possibility of fake response, half response or also data duplication. Review of Literature Overview: Hollywood has been dominant over the years in the international film industry but slowly Mumbai and Shanghai are emerging beyond providing the local language films and television into domestic and international markets. Los Angeles remains the largest cluster in the world with Mumbai following second in the lead. (PWC, 2010) Mumbai and Shanghais cluster increases between 2010 and 2040 while that of Los Angeles cluster decreases in size. This is because of shift of consumers towards alternative media options like video games and internet. (PWC, 2010) Indian and Chinese governments have realized the potential of the industry and so they are encouraging these industries to grow. However it is difficult to imagine a mainstream film audience opting for Chinese movies instead of Hollywood movies. In future this may change. In recent years Hollywood and Bollywood have realized the importance of regional cinema and so there is an increasing trend of dubbing popular movies of both the industry. E.g. Gurinder Chadhas latest film Its a Wonderful Afterlife was dubbed in Hindi and Punjabi. (PWC, 2010) As stated earlier the subject of this dissertation is to understand the Indian Film Industrys marketing strategies and its competitors. The aim of the literature review is to understand the method used for film marketing using conventional and nonconventional medium. Indian film marketing is in its incipient stage there is dearth of literature work. There are few reports and articles here and there which shed light on this subject. The literature review on the subject I found relevant to my research is as follows: Unraveling the potential: The Indian Entertainment and Media Industry, FICCI Frames, March 2006, by Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) The report is published by FICCI and it looks as Entertainment and Media Industry as a whole but not only the film industry. However the overall percepts provided gives some important information for my research. Table 1: IRS 2005, Round 2 as quoted in Jagran Prakashan Prospectus filed with SEBI dated Feb 3, 2006 Urban India Films Reach in % age Reach in millions A1 30.6 2.43 A2 25.1 3.85 B1, B2 19.1 7.53 C 18.1 8.59 D 17.1 9.52 E1, E2 15.7 10.59 Source: Televisionpoint, Research, Media Industry, 2005 The above table shows how much penetration films have in the socio economic classes. It helps to target market segmentation and marketing campaigns according to the socio-economic classes and the reach of the medium. However the report shows the share of the film industry in the Indian economy which is not changing from 2005- 2010 as the share of film industry was 19 % in 2005 but has not increased in 2010. (FICCI, 2006) The report points out that film industry is among few growth drivers for the EM industry. Quoting directly from the report: Indians love to watch movies. And advancements in technology are helping the Indian film industry in all the spheres film production, film exhibition and marketing. The industry is increasingly getting more corporatized. Several film production, distribution and exhibition companies are coming out with public issues. More theatres across the country are getting upgraded to multiplexes and initiatives to set up more digital cinema halls in the country are already underway. This will not only improve the quality of prints and thereby make film viewing a more pleasurable experience, but also reduce piracy of prints. (FICCI, 2006) Faults Found Indian Film Industry is full of uncertainty and is unorganized. The outcome is bollywood has only 1% of share in the world film industry while at the same time US has 60% of the world revenue. (PWC FICCI, 2007) Table 2 Filmed entertainment revenues by country/region, US$ million, 2009 Country/region Revenue in US$ million Percentage of total USA 34,431 40.4 Japan 11,061 13.0 UK 5,599 6.6 Other Western Europe 5,151 6.1 France 3,763 4.4 Germany 3,646 4.3 Canada 3,330 3.9 Other Asia Pacific 2,681 3.1 Australia 2,562 3.0 Latin America 2,431 2.9 Italy 2,087 2.5 Central and Eastern Europe 1,982 2.3 India 1,899 2.2 Spain 1,688 2.0 South Korea 1,275 1.5 China 1,206 1.4 Middle East and Africa 345 0.4 Total 85,137 100.0 Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers, Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2010-2014, June 2010 The above report shows the world film market is still dominated by the developed economies. (UK Film Council, 2010) In spite of Indian Film Industry having larger admissions ratio and population it still lags behind to Australia and Italy in terms of world market share. Films are today more than Art, its business. This showbiz business is the biggest money earner in the country. In last couple of years film industry has changed itself into fully professional business industry with innovative methods to promote a film. Time has changed and so are the promotional and marketing activities of a film. Awareness of film and its Star Cast is important in the competitive industry. (Merinews, 2010) Almost two to three movies releasing every Friday, to succeed the producer or directors have to something different to attract the audiences. Its all about creating brand identity. For e.g. during the release of 3 Idiots Amir Khan toured seven cities across India to connect to people and create an attention towards the movie. This proved to be very successful strategy and the movie broke all box office records. Today the actors have also understood the importance of marketing of a film. The author has found few gaps in the Indian Film Industry. Digital Movies Development in the digital technology will lead the industry in future. Digital movie assures to raise box office collections by increasing picture resolution, quality of the print and lower distribution costs. There are mixed reaction on the issue of piracy. Initiatives by producers like Bharat Shah and Manmohan Shetty have started initiative to increase digital cinemas. (Bose, 2006) Audiences distinguishing the promotions to be fake All promotion techniques like Coffee with the stars, Invitation to the premiere etc does not attract the audiences as they dont trust the promotional event. They simply think that at given sample of 10000 only 2-3 fans get a chance to meet the stars or invitation. Audiences do notice such events but percentage of participation is very low. Thus by using conventional medium to connect to people a major chunk of the pie rests untouched by the film makers. (Chand, 2011) BTL activities and its effects on films Below the line activities do engage the audiences with the campaign but at the end they fail to attract the audiences at the ticket booths and do not increase the ticket sales. A good here is of the film Aagey Se Right The campaign Win a Gun was woven with the story line of the film where the actor loses his gun in the film. It was launched online where the users could take home a gun by answering a simple question and the help the cop Waghmare, find his lost gun as well. The actor also visited seven cities of India and checked visitors purses and bags as a part of campaign. In spite of the innovativeness and spending on the campaign the film did not earn money to the producers. (Nautiyal, 2009) Competition from International Movies The international market is expected to grow at the pace of 18% annually with estimation at Rs. 7 billion but bollywood shares only 10% of its box office revenues in the international market. (PWC FICCI, 2007) There is a significant gap in the urban and rural demand due to growing middle class. The urban audiences demand Masala + Movies which cannot be met due to shortage of talent. Hence this demand gap is filled by international movies. Hollywood is gaining a reasonable market share with the help of better marketing techniques. Their target audiences are young Indians which amount 50% of the population. (Kukenshoner et al 2008) Surmises The above holes found in the working of Indian film industry surmises to the statement that: Traditional marketing strategies are vieux jeu, and more and more innovative techniques are used to attract the audiences for the Friday. Bollywood and the World Film Industry:Â   With the rise of new mediums and change in economic scenario of India more attention is diverted towards bollywood at the same time other film cultures attempting to Bucolize Hollywood. (Desai Dudrah, 2008) Bollywood prides itself with being one of the largest film industries in the world in terms of producing the films. Some around 1090 films compared to 607 in the year 2006. (Jones et al, 2008) The current dominance of Hollywood is largely due to advancements in marketing techniques, innovative, good content and an effective distribution channel. In terms of commercial success Hollywood dominated the world market but other countries were still making culturally important movies. (Jones et al, 2008) France and UK were major competitors of Hollywood. Modern Motion Picture was invented in France. It loses its leading position against Hollywood with the invention of sound in the film. The demand decreased due to the less French speaking people over the globe. Since the creation of television and film, Britain has been thriving due the film as it is a key part and driver of the mix of creative industries. (House of Commons, 2003) The industry experienced a constant brain drain to the Hollywood. (Jones et al, 2008) Chinese film industry although compared to India is small but is very organized. One area bollywood has to work on if want to be successful in the world market is the length of the film. Even the best film has 20-30 minutes more length. If bollywood wants to succeed in the global market the industry will have to invest lot in marketing and distribution of the film. (Pillania, 2008) Nollywood a dark horse of Africa is the new word in the world market at least in India. The world was minted by their inspiring counterparts namely Hollywood and Bollywood. It is one of the fastest and largest growing industries with over 872 films in 2006 (UNESCO, 2006) The African market is dominated by Nollywood. Compared to Hollywood, Bollywood and other film industries the film making style is cost effective as it uses digital cameras instead of film and movies are made in mere a weeks time with the less than 15000 USD. Movies are released directly through DVDs or CDs rather than in Theatres. It does affect the quality of the film; making it difficult to export overseas. Few western directed documentaries have spread some knowledge of Nollywood in the West. A part of the industry is working to improve the current scenario. (Mazzocco, 2011) Tollywood is the combination of wood from Hollywood and Tolly from Telugu language also known as cinema of Andhra Pradesh. In 2008 278 movies were released. Hyderabad is the center of all the work done and studios of Tollywood. (Vikram, 2010) The South Indian film industries produce half of the total number of movies of India. Breakdown of films in different languages of India is shown below: Languages No. of Films Hindi 222 Tamil 151 Telugu 155 Kannada 109 Malayalam 64 Marathi 25 Bengali 49 Assamese 17 English 23 Others 877 (Source: Central Board of Film Certification, 2003) Bollywood has over the years created an synthetic culture that appeals to a specific audience in India while regional cinemas are still rooted to their culture and language. Few regional films have been so popular that they had bypassed Bollywood films at the box office by selling more tickets in their respective states. E.g. A Tamil Super Star Rajikanths Film named Shivaji broke all records of Tamil film industry and at the same time breaking Indias Box office records. Even though the film was played on only 12 screens it was the first non-Bollywood Indian film to make it to UK Top Ten. Bollywood is mistaken as Indian Cinema by many non-Indian commentators and also by some Indians but the fact is something different. The challenge to bollywood is not only from overseas but also from the regional movies. (Stafford, 2008) The Integrated Marketing Framework Understanding Film Marketing Publicity: The strategic importance of publicity of any film is undoubted. It is oxygen for everybody who is connected in the film industry. It keeps you in the attention and guarantees the longevity of your career. An important role is played by both media and non-media public relations. Although here Bollywood lacks good publicist like they have in Hollywood. Publicist have failed to keep with pace of growth by the industry in past years. Publicist are increasingly becoming a necessity as the number of publication seeking coverage are increasing along with the technology which is expand bollywood beyond the borders. (Parimal et al 2009) Public always has an craving for gossips about domestic crisis, romantic linkages with a star or a sensational filmi story. So it always makes a sense for a film-maker to give media some masala news about the plot of the film, release of the music, clarification on controversies, celebration parties or location of the shoots. Film awards also boost chances of the actor/actress to get new films. For e.g. Producer Bimal Roys movie named Bandini was released in 1966. The film was running according to the course and was about to be take off the theatres, when suddenly the movie was nominated for Film fare awards and Presidents Silver Medal. It a new lease of life to the movie and the movie was a hit miraculously. (Bose, 2006) If a movie successfully touches the public emotion it is bound to be a hit. This happened with movies like Gadar and Laagan. These films touched the patriotic sentiment of the common man so got mouth to mouth publicity and enjoyed greater success after the first week of release. It is said that people from villages with trucks full went to the cities to watch these movies. Especially, Gadar. Quality of movie along with good music played an important role in success of these movies. (Pandey, 2010) Partner Brands: Over the years bollywood have successfully partnered with brands like Tag Huer, Rolex, McDonalds, Maybelline, Exide battery, Coca Cola, Pepsi, Hutch, Bournvita, Zandu, Ultratech cement, Nikon and so on. For e.g. In the movie Taare Zameen Par, In the drawing competition the participants were shown using colors of Fevicryl. The same color prints were gifted by the elder brother of the main character Darsheel Safari. (S Roy et al, 2009) Few e.g. of the brands partnering with the films are as under: Film Name Brand Name Om Shanti Om Mukta Arts-Production House, HMV, Exide Battery, Filmfare Awards, Tag Heur Watch, Maybelline Chak de India EXIM Bank, Australian Trade and Commerce, Aaj Tak, McDonalds, Britannia Marie, ESPN, Puma Partner Coco Cola, Marie Claire, Zoom (Media Partner), Pepsi, Pizza Hut, Toyota, ESPN, Boost, Hutch, Sony Vaio, Phuket (Tourism), Starbucks, Mercedes, Kawasaki (Water Boat), Nokia 6600, BPL, DFL, Bournvita, Sony Erickson Mobile, Go air, Nikon, Calvin Klein Namaste London Spykar Jeans, Western Union Money Transfer, Streax, MTV, Kingfisher, Bharatmatrimony.com, Indiatimes.com, HP (laptop), Bailey (Packaged Water), Ford (Tractor), Sony Camcorder Source: (Product Placement in Bollywood Movies, pp 56) Content of the movie: Most modern films that are high in style and locations but low in content fail to click at the box office. The movie-goer however motivated is no fool and can see through the content of the movie within the first 15 minutes of the movie. Honesty is the best policy. Honesty to the medium and honesty to the audiences does pay off. Audiences always prefer innovativeness in the content. Five Film on the freedom fighter Bhagat Singh was made in 2001 simultaneously, but only the one with protagonist Ajay Devgan in the lead role was a hit at box office mainly because of its narrative style. There are many such instances in bollywood where narrative styles of the movie have won producers accolades. (Bose, 2006) Star Cast: Making a film is all about team work. It consists of actors, crew members, technicians and artistes who contribute their skills and reputation to create a brand value for the film. These people used to be employees of the production houses hired on monthly fixed salary in late 50s. Time passed and so changed the working of bollywood film industry. With the wipeout of the studio system freelancing became the norm of the industry where stars soon began to call the shots. Their association with the production team and banner determined their success and reputation in the industry. Today the focus shifting towards the stars, camps have come up where Shah Rukh Khan belongs to the Karan Johar Camp. Actresses like Urmila and Antara Mali belongs to Ram Gopal Verma camp etc. They may be lucky talismans or loyalists to their respective camps but together they constitute a winning team that every distributor would like to bet on. The star system of bollywood signifies their value by their impac t on the industry. Lorenzen and Taube (2008) stress that inclusion of stars in the movie play a major role in the success of the typical film of the bollywood at the same time acknowledging that mere inclusion does not guarantee the success of the film at box office. The second largest movie industry of India is Tollywood which also has the same star system. At international level Nollywood the movie industy of Nigeria also has the same star system where the power is hold by the marketers and distributors. In contrast to most European film industries, Nigerian film industry is run on very industrial terms. (Kerrigan, 2010) Timing of the movie to be launched: As such there is no rule that films have to be released on Friday but the general reason behind is Friday is the last day working day giving the audiences to spend rest two days in recreational activities. Watching a movie is one of them. Another reason for timing a movie release is people dont come to theatres if there are exams or festivals or world cup event. Given an example is the current release of the movie Yeh Faasle. The current hysteria of World Cup and Board examinations the film is not having audiences in spite of strong star cast. (Pattni, 2011) Planning Campaign of Film Marketing: Film marketing is nothing but how the filmmakers and marketers position their film in the mind of the audiences in order to increase the consumption of their film. (Kerrigan, 2010) A marketing process must address few factors like PEST, cultural and competition to fit in the market place. The timing of this process is very important; filmmakers have realized its importance. Film marketing is done at three stages namely corporate branding, promotions events and traders and distributors.(Chand, 2011) Planning for a Movie: Film marketing starts at the moment the idea of particular film making is conceived. The target audience is also decided for whom the movie is made for. So effective planning is needed to contain all the section you need to address. More than 50% of all movie theatre tickets are bought by 9% of the population. The films first two weeks does the business of around 78% in the given market place. (Smith, 2011) The two key factors of your film planning are Positioning and Target Market: Positioning: Positioning is how a product appears in relation to other products in the market (Tutor2u, 2011) The whole marketing and communication strategy of the film is depended on the positioning of the film. The film positions itself in the mind of the audience through positioning. A target audience is to be pin-pointed by the marketers to appeal them through positioning elements (Kalra, 2002) For e.g. In Dharmendras Barsaat the film was intended to be the refreshing love story with two new star faces. But no key elements were expressed convincingly in the film. Two star faces were created in the industry but the film didnt do well in the box office. (Chand, 2011) Targeting: Every movie differs from other and so is the genre of the movie. The film cant be a hit unless the film maker knows it target audience. It is important for the film maker to know what the target audience want, what they have rejected in past and their habits. Target audience is defined by age, class, gender etc while elements like movie goers, race, socio-economic status, urban and rural audience are additional. Targeting can be done on the basis of: Age Gender Education Religion Ethnicity Nationality Geography Medium of Marketing: Be interesting, or be invisible. Andy Sernovitz There are so many options for marketing that marketers are confused over it. There are many boulevards for marketing in India. Many marketing tools are used for single film in the industry. Lets look at the most used platforms to attract audiences at the theatres. In the past the marketing campaigns were usually done by billboards designed to fit in magazines, newspapers ads, integrated into television ads and the same in theater trailers. Over the years the style of bollywood has changed so is its campaigning style the conventional marketing through billboards, print ads, TV ads and trailers have changed their approach. In todays scenario film campaigning is more targeted at various online demographics that suits the audiences demands and is more specific. (Miller, 2011) Gupta and Gould (1997) stated product placement as incorporating brands in films in return of money. Regional movies are also at par with Bollywood in product placements. E.g. A Telugu movie named Jalsa had a Coca-C ola brand incorporated in it. (Roy Bhattacharya, 2009) Print Advertisements: In contemporary India advertisements play many roles. Print advertisement are the most used and old techniques to reach the audiences. Full page ads and half page ads in a newspaper like Times of India, Dainik Bhaskar etc were regular norms till date. These ads are now shifting towards internet which has photographs usually taken during the shoots. To make the ad more effective and increase its credibility quotes from critics are added to the advertisements. (Chand, 2011) The Indian print industry is expected to grow at 7.4% over the period of 2009-14 and an estimated of Rs. 230.5 billion in 2014 from the current estimate of Rs. 161.5 billion in 2009. (PWC, 2010) Television Appearances: It was started just as an experiment by Yash Raj but this idea seems to be accepted by all in the industry to promote their respective films. Currently this medium is taken by film makers very seriously. Before it was reality shows on TV and now it is serials. Bollywood has found their new mantra to publicize their upcoming movies. Both big and small TV stars benefit from this new arrangement as this is the be

Arranged Marriage :: essays research papers

Relationships are the most important things in life. And marriage is one of the most important relationships. Having said that, it becomes even more important who arranges the marriage, whether its ourselves or someone else like our parents or friends. Th e issue has taken the place of an important social problem. Different people have different opinions coming from different age groups from the different parts of the world. Marriage as we can see is a commitment of spending the rest of our life with someone. This has a great impact on our life, career and personality. So, should we let our parents decide so much for us? To start with, it can be answered positively. They are more experienced and well-placed in the society. They understand people better and thus, understand us better than we do sometimes. Moreover, being our parents, they want the best for us all the time. It may seem to be as simple but in reality its not. The choice of our life partner should have our say in it. Of course! How can we marry someone who we don't know? Is it possible to stay along with the person and share everything that we have in our life ? From this point of view it mat not look sensible at all. Considering that all of us has the right to decide for ourselves once we are grown up and matured, the right of the choosing our life partner should be given to us and no one else unless of course we forfeit it to someone else. Coming back to the arguments, we can see around us and observe how many 'love marriages' have been successful? In some parts of the world they stay in but unfortunately in many other places the fail to develop into life-long relationships. The mostly youn g couples complain of misunderstandings, concealed truths about each other and making a 'hurried