Week 8 Discussion Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Week 8 Discussion - Research Paper Example as a result of the breach and more importantly, serve as a proof that the company is fully compliant with all applicable rules and regulations (Charlette, 1996). Basically, compliance starts with day to day compliance at the organizational level. The following are some of the benefits that accrue to an organization that implements an effective compliance program: 1) Good faith efforts in following the set rules and regulations whereby every organization that adheres to a compliance plan gives a good example of its efforts in compliance with set rules and regulations. 2) Sentencing guidelines whereby, if the government decides to sue a company for criminal offences, then a good record of compliance can act favorably for the company defense. 3) Proactive approach, whereby a company that voluntarily adheres to the compliance program portrays a good picture of both regulatory and statutory compliance. Every organization based in US and with a strong reputation for integrity and honesty must be fully compliant with the set plan. Therefore, such an organization must have a compliance plan within which to operate in pursuance of the organizational objectives. Further, such a plan could help an organization with investments across the borders to successfully conduct its business, therefore, not only the employees of local branches, but also those of foreign should comply with the set out procedures to ensure the overall success of the organization. As one of the largest energy companies, ExxonMobil have indicated on their website that environmental issues are of great concern. Further, by calling for extra vigilance to ensure environmental safety and protection, they remind us of the tragic incident of deepwater horizon, which led to massive oil spill (Engel, 1979). From their website, it is evident that the company has put in place measures that guarantee safety in their operations, emergency preparedness, environmental protection and management of climate change. More

Declining Milk Sales Essay Example for Free

Declining Milk Sales Essay According to a current study in Age and Aging, starting and continuing to drink milk at a young age can lead to improved physical ability and balance at an older age (â€Å"New study finds,† 2012). Because of milk’s inherent attributes of calcium, protein and vitamins A and B, milk has also been linked to bone strength, muscle strength and better eyesight, to name a few. So why have the US milk sales been slowly declining since the 1970s? A recent article on Forbes. com poses the same question. People are well aware of milk’s existence. The ‘Got Milk? ’ Advertising campaign was debuted in 1993 and won several awards for its ingenuity. It works wonders for getting people to think about milk, but that is only half the battle. The other half, and arguably more important, is getting them to drink it. Jonathan Baskin, the author of the Forbes. com article, believes this is what the dairy industry is failing to do by not compelling consumers to drink milk. â€Å"Memorable branding,† he states, â€Å"is not necessarily the same thing as compelling marketing†(Baskin, 2012). To illustrate this, Baskin offers a few ideas, including packaging innovation, partnering with companies and local sourcing. While I believe all three of his ideas are valid, local sourcing seems like it could be very beneficial, at least for the moment. Within the past few years, buying crops locally is becoming more relevant to many people. The thought of promoting local business growth and living a healthy lifestyle drives people to buy locally. So if a local distributor could deliver these local crops and bundle it with fresh local milk, consumers would be willing to pay for the convenience, healthy lifestyle and support of local businesses; at least that is the idea. Milk mustaches seem to be imprinted in our minds. We know milk is there, but we are not drinking it. In order to change this, the dairy industry needs to focus on giving consumers reasons to drink milk. Local sourcing and distribution of milk could be one solution to this. Proper research would need to be done to determine viability, and a new marketing strategy, possibly implementing the ‘Got Milk? ’ branding with a new local twist would need to be created; however, perhaps then we will finally be drinking more milk. Who knows, maybe cartwheels at 80 will be the new normal. References Baskin, J. (2012). Everyone ‘gets’ milk, so tell us why we should drink it. Forbes. com, Retrieved from http://www. forbes. com/sites/jonathansalembaskin/2012/12/17/everyone-gets-milk-so-tell-us-why-we-should-drink-it/ New study finds milk-drinking kids reap physical benefits later in life. (2012, November 15). Retrieved from http://www. prnewswire. com/news-releases/new-study-finds-milk-drinking-kids-reap-physical-benefits-later-in-life-179464301. html.

The Role of Religion in Roman Society Essay -- Religion Roman Gods Bel

The Role of Religion in Roman Society Throughout the history of Rome, from the monarchy to the late empire, religion had played a great role in it's society and was involved in almost every aspect of the life of the Roman citizen. It was common for each house to have it's own patron god/gods and ,on special occasions, the head of the house would make a sacrifice to the personal gods of the family. Also, great festivals were usually held in honor of certain gods and would include spectacles like chariot races and Gladiatorial fights. The religious practices of the ancient Romans are best remembered with grand temples, great festivals and Christian persecution to the final acceptance of Christianity within the Roman empire over the traditional pagan religions. The Roman religious practices can be divided into three phases which span from the founding of the city to the fall of the empire. The First Phase (753 BC to 500 BC) - The first phase of Roman religion dated from the founding of the city to the early republic. This phase occurred before the Roman civilization had really adopted the Greek ways and so the religious practices of this time consisted of only three gods and these gods were known as the Archaic Triad. The gods of the archaic Triad were Jupiter (Jove) ,Mars and Quirinus. These gods had their Greek counterparts and would later be identified with them. Jupiter was the supreme master god and so he was associated with Zeus of Greek mythology. Ares was the god of power and war and so he was associated with his Greek counterpart, Ares and Quirinus was the god of the Roman people in general and he had no Greek counterpart. Mars was valued and worshipped more by the conquering and warlike Romans than Ares was to the Greeks and ,as a result, he had The Fields of Mars named after him. The Fields of Mars was located outside of Rome and it is where the soldiers wou ld train. The Second Phase (500 BC to 313 AD) - Before the end of the 6th century BC Greek influence had begun to affect Roman religion and this resulted in the transformation from the Archaic Triad to the more Greek influenced Captioline triad. In this triad the gods Mars and Quirinus were replaced by Juno and Minerva. As time went on ,during the second phase, the Romans adopted more variations and the number of Roman deities grew as ,like the Greek counterparts, they had a god for alm... ... future leaders. As the Imperial system gained hold, it was common practice for the Emperors to accept divine honors before their deaths. These living gods, in some cases, required sacrificial rituals as signs of loyalty and ingrained themselves with the older more traditional pagan gods. The requirement of a sacrifice to the emperor, as well as the forced belief in the complete pantheon became a significant source of conflict with early Christians. As Christians refused to worship the emperor as a god, persecution of the Christians and conflict with the cult was a constant source of strife. Emperor worship would continue until late in the western Empire until the reign of Constantine. In the early 4th century AD, Constantine either converted to Christianity or made it an acceptable part of Roman religion, eliminating the emperor deification altogether. Later Emperors such as Julian attempted to revive the old ways, but the deeply rooted Mithraism, and Christian cults combined were firmly set within Roman society. By 392 AD, Emperor Theodosius I banned the practice of pagan religions in Rome altogether and Christianity was, without question, the official religion of the state.

American Express: Branding Financial Services – Essay

American Express: Branding Financial Services Introduction American Express is known worldwide for its charge cards, travelers’ services, and financial services. It is one of the best-known and most-respected global brands. As it grew from a 19th Centurynineteenth- express company into a travel services expert by the mid-1900s, American Express (AMEXAMEX) became associated in the minds of consumers with prestige, security, service, international acceptability, and leisure.Advertising for the company, which began in earnest in the 1960s, reinforced these associations. For example, the now-famous taglinetag line â€Å"Don’t leave home without it† was created to convey the essentiality of owning an American Express cardAmerican Express Card. As the company grew, it expanded into a variety of financial categories, including brokerages, banking, and insurance, and by the late 1980s, American Express was the largest diversified financial services firm in the world.The difficulty the company encountered integrating these broad financial services, combined with increased competition from Visa and MasterCard, compelled AMEXAMEX to divest many of its financial holdings in the early 1990s and focus on its core competencies of travel and cards. The company weathered a decrease in cardholdercardholders at this time by greatly increasing the number of merchants that accepted American Express cardAmerican Express Cards and developing new card offerings, including co-branded cards and a genuine credit card that allowed customers to carry over the monthly balance.By the end of the 1990s, American Express was again seeking to broaden its brand to include select financial services in order to achieve growth. Beyond the challenge of integrating these services, AMEXAmerican Express faced a number of issues in the 2000s, including a highly- competitive credit card industry, a slowing economy, and a subdued travel industry. American Express Builds a Financial Emp ire Early History of American Express The American Express Company was formed in 1850 when two competing express companies merged.The express business, which was less than two decades old, specialized in shipping packages that were smaller than the bulk freight that railroads handled but were over the U. S. Postal Service size limits. Before express companies began operating, stagecoach drivers and even civilian travelers were recruited to deliver packages. Express companies also carried packages that required special handling or were particularly valuable. Bank transactions involving cash, securities, and goldGold gave express companies much of their business. In response to losing business to express companies, the U. S.Postal Service created the money order, which allowed people to send a cash equivalent through the mail that could only be cashed only by a specified recipient. The cash delivery service was traditionally the domain of express companies, since because postal worker s would often steal cash sent through regular mail. To counter the Postal Service’s move into financial services, American Express created its own money order in 1881. The American Express money orders were easier to use than the Post Office money orders, and AMEXAMEX extended the line to include orders in foreign currency that could be cashed internationally.The money order was a great success, selling 250,000 in its first year and more than half a million the next. In the late 1880’s, AMEXAMEX president J. C. Fargo returned from a trip complaining about how difficult it was to use his letter of credit, used to obtain cash abroad, at foreign banks. To solve the problem of obtaining credit abroad, in 1890 American Express employee Marcellus F. Berry designed the â€Å"Travelers Cheque,† intentionally using the British spelling of check to give it an international flair.The Travelers Cheque used the same signature security system still in use today and had exchan ge rates guaranteed by AMEXAMEX printed on the front. AMEXAMEX also gave foreign merchants commissions to encourage them to accept the check. Aided by the network of international financial relationships established for support of the AMEXAMEX money order, sales of the Travelers Cheque quickly took off. From 1882 to 1896, Travelers Cheque sales quadrupled as travelers all over the world were using AMEXAMEX products more and more to make their journeys easier. In the meantime, AMEXAMEX’s express business was growing overseas.Federal antitrust regulation led to the separation American Express’s express business from its financial services and tourism businesses. By that time, however, AMEXAMEX was already booking tours, hotel stays, and steamship and railway tickets. Money orders were still popular and tTravelers check Cheque sales were constantly increasing. AMEXAMEX had also been investing the float – —the money that remains in the company’s accoun t during the interval between when Travelers Cheques are bought and when they are cashed – —and earning millions of dollars in interest.The Travelers Cheque was AMEXAMEX’s flagship product. The travelers Travelers check Cheque fees and its float investments were responsible for most of AMEXAMEX’s earnings and almost all of their profits. History of the Charge Card In 1914, Western Union, another express company, issued the first â€Å"charge card† in the form of a metal plate given to preferred customers that enabled them to defer payment for services. Charge cards required that the balance be paid in full at regular intervals, but did not charge interest on the balance.Soon, many different companies from department stores to oil companies issued charge cards that customers could use to purchase goods and services from the issuing company. In the 1940s, several U. S. banks began issuing a paper document – —similar to a letter of credi t – —that customers could use like cash in local stores. Diner’s Club introduced the first modern charge card in 1950, when it issued a â€Å"travel Travel and entertainmentEntertainment† card designed for use by business travelers. The card was accepted by a large variety of merchants, who paid a fee to Diner’s Club in compensation for the added business.The first bank card was issued by Franklin National Bank in Long Island, New York. The bank-issued card was accepted by local merchants only, unlike the Diner’s Club card. Shortly after Franklin National Bank debuted its credit card, several other banks across the United States. S. issued credit cards to their customers. â€Å"The Card† AMEXAMEX actually had considered issuing a charge card on several occasions before Diner’s Club unveiled its card in 1950. AMEXAMEX management discussed issuing a charge card as early as 1947, but then-president Ralph T.Reed refused because of security problems given the possibility of fraud. In 1956, when DinersDiner’s Clubs’ card charges began to cut into AMEXAMEX travelers Travelers check Cheque sales, AMEXAMEX initiated negotiations to buy Diner’s Club. Talks lasted for two years, but Reed ultimately declined, citing concern about the dilution of AMEXAMEX’s prestige. In late 1957, AMEXAMEX leadership decided that the company would issue its own card. The public clamored to possess an AMEXAMEX charge card. Even before the card was officially available, thousands of customers had written in or visited AMEXAMEX offices to apply early.By the launch date of October 1, 1958, AMEXAMEX had issued over more than 250,000 cards and signed on 17,500 merchants that would accept the cards. The American Express cardAmerican Express Card required the cardholdercardholder to pay off his or her entire balance monthly. The company also charged a six dollar annual fee, which was one dollar greater than the Din er’s Club fee, â€Å"for prestige. †Ã¢â‚¬ [1] AMEXAMEX’s worldwide network of offices, travel agents, and associated banks helped it build the card’s membership rapidly.Since Because the American Express CardAmerican Express Card was initially designed for the travel and entertainment expenses of businessmen and the upper class, it was known as a Travel and Entertainment (T&E) card. This classification puts it in a category with such cards as Diner’s Club and Carte Blanche. In 1958, Bank of America issued the first modern credit card, called the BankAmericard. The key feature of the BankAmericard and other credit cards was a â€Å"revolving† credit line, which allowed cardholdercardholders to pay their account balance in installments, with interest assessed on the remaining balance.The BankAmericard originally served the state State of California, but within a decade Bank of America was licensing its card services to banks throughout the co untry. While American Express earned most of its card revenue from annual fees and merchant discounts (the percentage of a dollar transaction the merchant was required to pay to American Express in compensation for the business brought in by the card), credit cards earned revenues from interest charges and a lower merchant discount. Another mportant difference was that AMEXAMEX issued its own cards while individual banks issued cards under license agreements from credit card companies. Neither AMEXAMEX management nor the accounting department had any experience with charge card operations. Rather than creating a separate accounting function for the card division, Reed had assigned AMEXAMEX’s existing comptroller’s office to handle all of the card transactions. This proved an overwhelming amount of paperwork, and within a few months of the introduction, the comptroller’s office was flooded with unprocessed transactions.Compounding the internal problems was the fa ct that customers were not paying on time, while AMEXAMEX was required to pay merchants within 10 ten days after a transaction. The card division had lost over more than $4 million dollars in its first two years and an additional $14 million by 1962. One of the Howard L. Clark’s first moves after becoming AMEXAMEX president in 1960 was to try to sell the card division, ironically enough, to DinersDiner’s Club. The negotiations failed because of antitrust issues and so AMEXAMEX kept its card. In spite of the card problems, though, AMEXAMEX as a whole was financially stable, with 1959 profits of $8. million from $69. 6 million in revenue and Travelers Cheque sales of over more than $1 billion. Clark instituted measures to help the ailing card division, such as requiring cardholdercardholders to pay their balance within thirty days, raising the annual fee to ten dollars, raising the discount fee (the percentage merchants had to pay AMEXAMEX every time the card was used at their business), and imposing stricter credit requirements for cards issuance. The card division finally achieved profitability in 1962. By 1967, the card business yielded a net income of $6. 5 million, or one-third of the company’s total profit.The American Express CardAmerican Express Card had surpassed the Travelers Cheque to become the most visible symbol of American Express. Marketing Strategy and Advertising The first AMEXAMEX President president to place a high priority on advertising was Howard L. Clark. Before he took office in 1960, AMEXAMEX’s annual advertising budget was only $1 million. Clark increased it every year thereafter and in 1962 replaced their ad agency, Benton & Bowles, with Ogilvy, Benson, and & Mather. The new agency designed AMEXAMEX’s first modern ad campaign with the slogan â€Å"The Company for people who travel. This tag line promoted AMEXAMEX’s travel and card products in a single campaign that conveyed AMEXAMEX’s one-stop travel shopping expertise. Campaigns The now-famous tag line, â€Å"Don’t leave home without it,† was developed by Ogilvy & Mather in the early 1970s. AMEXAMEX wanted a â€Å"synergy tag line† like the other Ogilvy-produced line: â€Å"The company for people who travel. † Ogilvy came up with â€Å"Don’t leave home without them† for the AMEXAMEX Travelers Cheque, â€Å"Don’t leave home without us† for AMEXAMEX travel services, and the â€Å"Don’t leave home without it† tag line for the American Express CardCard.Ads for the Travelers Cheques featuring screen actor Karl Malden speaking the taglinetag line ran for 21 years. In 1974, AMEXAMEX debuted its now-familiar â€Å"blue-box logo,† on which the words â€Å"American Express† are printed in white outline over a square blue background. Ogilvy & Mather tried several conceptual approaches to use with this tag line for the card, and eventually h it upon the idea of replacing everyday and unknown actors in the ads with endorsers whose names were famous, but whose faces were not as familiar. This was referred to as the â€Å"Do You Know Me? campaign. The ads typically began by showing the face of a moderately well-known celebrity, as with Neil Simon, and then showing a close-up of his or her American Express CardAmerican Express Card to reveal their his or her identity. The ads implied that using an American Express card Card would get the cardholdercardholder â€Å"recognized. † This was an obvious example of marketing the card as a status symbol. Acquisitions In the 1970s, American Express executives looked for ways to grow the business beyond Travelers Cheques and credit cards.The fact that Master Charge and the BankAamericard (later to become Visa) were already issuing cards themselves suggested that AMEXAMEX would soon lose market share of its Travelers Cheques and that the growth of its cardholdercardholder base would slow. AMEXAMEX also had been worried for some time that the company’s small size and high profits made it an attractive takeover target. A large acquisition would make a takeover less likely and give AMEXAMEX a new source of income. Clark chose a company three times the size of AMEXAMEX with the 1968 acquisition of Fund America Group, based in Novato, CACA.It included Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company and four mutual funds that were later sold off. Other relatively small changes by Clark included the acquisition of the magazine which was later of US Camera magazine (later renamed Travel & Leisure) and the creation of the Travel Related Services (TRS) division in 1971, which pooled the travelers Travelers checkCheque, the card, and other travel and tourism businesses. AMEXAMEX also organized its banking operations under the renamed American Express International Bank Corporation (AEIBC).The year 1977, in which Clark left as president, saw AMEXAMEX with $250 millio n in profits and 8 million cards generating $10 billion in charge volume. The American Express Company. had three divisions when James D. Robinson took over for Clark as CEO in 1977: Travel Related Services (TRS), American Express International Bank Corporation (AEIBC), and Fireman’s Fund (FF). Robinson pursued an aggressive acquisition strategy. In 1979, he purchased fifty 50 percent of a cable TV equipment and programming partnership with Warner Communications for $175 million with the idea of selling financial products through cable television.A few months later in 1980, American Express bought First Data Resources for $50 million. First Data was a computerized billing operation that processed Visa and MasterCard transactions for banks. This was only a warm-up for Robinson, and in 1981 AMEXAMEX merged with Shearson Loeb Rhoades Inc. , the second largest public brokerage firm in the country behind Merrill Lynch. AMEXAMEX continued its expansion into a financial conglomerate by purchasing two additional brokerage houses and a real estate company. The international investment bank Trade Development Bank Holdings S.A. (TDB) was acquired in 1983 for $520 million to shore up AEIBC and focus its operations on trade finance and international private banking. That same year, AMEXAMEX purchased Investors Diversified Services (IDS) for $773 million, a Minneapolis- based company that offered mutual funds, life insurance, annuities, and financial planning to middle- income consumers. The investment bank Lehman Brothers Kuhn Loeb Inc. was acquired in 1984 for $360 million, and AMEXAMEX again added to its brokerage cache by acquiring E. F. Hutton & Co. n 1987 for almost $1 billion. Marketing Strategy and Advertising American Express advertising conveyed the prestige associated with tthe he cards. CardholderCardholders are called â€Å"card members,† and the year they became members is on their card – —signaling membership to a club. American Ex press cards Cards were perceived by many as status symbols, signifying success and achievement. AMEXAMEX sought to maintain this elusive image through advertising, impeccable service, promotions, bonuses, special events, and so on.The introduction of goldGold and platinumPlatinum cards to the credit card industry further enhanced their special cachet. By 1985, AMEXAMEX was spending $500 million a year in marketing. â€Å"Marketing is our number one priority,† said Robinson. [2] Service Customer service was a key element of American Express’s marketing program. One of James D. Robinson’s favorite sayings was â€Å"Quality is our only form of patent protection. †[3] Before he became CEO, he Robinson developed a comprehensive system for measuring AMEXAMEX’s service quality.His goal was to have customer service employees handling more than 99 percent of the requests without any mistakes. AMEXAMEX measured the time it took a customer service representat ive to answer the phone and the time it took for a replacement card to arrive. The company established a Quality University in Phoenix, AZ, where customer service representatives and their managers were trained to deliver excellent service. In addition, AMEXAMEX set up a committee of managers from throughout the corporation that who met to discuss new ways of measuring and improving quality. â€Å"Quality Conferences† were even held to disseminate and implement quality initiatives throughout the organization. Besides the internal monitoring, AMEXAMEX constantly surveys surveyed its customers and merchants by mail and by phone to ensure that the level of service remains remained consistent. AMEXAMEX developed a database system, which was was updated weekly, of customer information that tracks tracked spending patterns, age, and 450 other characteristics. This database enabled enabled the company to target specific marketing efforts to the customer segments most likely to respo nd.AMEXAMEX also useds this system to recruit new merchants by demonstrating what AMEXAMEX can could do for their businesses using real customer data, not projections. For example, a customer that who shopped at a certain store might receive a discount for shopping there again based on an agreement between the merchant and AMEXAMEX. Throughout its lengthy history, American Express has earned a reputation for the highest level of customer service. One representative personally delivered a card in the middle of the night to a stranded cardholdercardholder at Boston’s Logan airport.Another case involved an AMEXAMEX representative in New Delhi who arranged for another representative’s brother (a military helicopter pilot stationed close to the caller) to deliver cash to an AMEXAMEX Gold Gold cardholder cardholder who was stranded in a remote village in the Himalayas. One Enterprise Robinson and his top executives envisioned a transformed company structure called â€Å"One Enterprise. † The One Enterprise vision would make AMEXAmerican Express a one-stop financial and travel services powerhouse with each division cross-marketing its products to the others.The cardholdercardholders could obtain travel services from TRS; property & and casualty, flight and travel, and life insurance from Fireman’s Fund; financial advice and other products from IDS; and brokerage and investment banking services from Shearson Lehman Hutton; while the wealthier international clientele would be pampered by AEIBC (renamed American Express Bank Ltd. or AEB in 1986). Each division would in turn push American Express CardAmerican Express Cards to any of their customers who weren’t already cardholdercardholders or higher- end goldGold or platinumPlatinum cards to those who were.Advertising in the 1980s The â€Å"Do you know me? † campaign was targeted at older successful, affluent businessmen that who traveled a lot. The campaign’s nine years h ad seen these cardholdercardholders quadruple to 12 million, a full 40 percent of that market segment. Fearing that growth in this segment would soon level off, AMEXAMEX looked to stimulate growth in other segments. In the 1980s, women were attaining more powerful business positions in large numbers. AMEXAMEX wished to target this segment of the population with ads tailored towards young urban professional women. In 1983, women comprised only 2. million of current AMEXAmerican Express card holders, only 20 percent of the women the company thought were eligible for the card. Testing had shown that women did not respond positively to the older ad campaign. Marketing data from the early 1980s showed that consumers thought that status and prestige came not necessarily from huge wealth or success, but from a varied and exciting life. Ogilvy & Mather came up with the â€Å"Interesting Lives† campaign. It aimed to position AMEXAmerican Express cards Cards as symbols of people with i nteresting and multifaceted lives, people with unusual hobbies or who have had unconventional careers.The AMEXAmerican Express cardCard, the ads indicated, gave these holders the opportunity to indulge in their varied interests, to be spontaneous by going to the Australian Outback or climb a mountain, for example. Rather than featuring celebrities, the ads showed confident independent women using the American Express cardAmerican Express Card to take their husband to dinner or their kids to lunch, bantering with a flirtatious man in a bookstore, or leaving a sporting goods store with a briefcase and a lacrosse stick. â€Å"The American Express cardAmerican Express Card,† the tag line says, â€Å"It’s part of a lot of interesting lives. The ad campaign included and featured women in ads, and soon the volume of female applicants doubled the number of men who applied for the card. By 1984, 27 percent of AMEX cardAmerican Express holdercardholders were women compared to t en 10 percent in the late 1970s. The â€Å"Interesting Lives† campaign also had an unanticipated, but positive, side effect: young men also started applying for the card in large numbers. This convinced AMEXAMEX to tailor some of the ads specifically towards them. One such ad was titled â€Å"Young Lawyer. It showed a father talking to his son over lunch about his decision not to join the family firm. The father was disappointed until the son got a job at the District district Attorney’s attorney’s office. The sons pays with the American Express cardAmerican Express Card and the father says, â€Å"The pay must be getting better over at City city Hallhall. † Even though these campaigns did very well, AMEXAMEX’s marketing strategy for their core potential cardholdercardholders had become stale. They dropped the â€Å"Do you know me? † TV ads in 1987 and Ogilvy & Mather devised a new series of print ads called â€Å"Portraits. Renowned photog rapher Annie Liebovitz was recruited to photograph celebrities rarely shown in advertisements. The ads showed these celebrities in a more intimate, playful light, without the pomp and circumstance that celebrity ads usually employed. America’s Cup yachtsman Dennis Connor played with a sailboat in his bathtub in one shot, while in another basketball center Wilt Chamberlain and jockey Willie Shoemaker were shown standing back to back wearing identical white suits. Another shot showed Christian rock singer Amy Grant walking on water while in yet another Tip O’Neill was shown at the beach under an umbrella.The only text was their names, the date they became â€Å"members,† and the taglinetag line that was to become one of AMEXAMEX’s most enduring: â€Å"Membership Has Its Privileges. † The ads received much praise for their ingenuity and quirkiness. That same year, AMEXAMEX unveiled its first major TV campaign for its goldGold card. The goldGold card a dvertising was handled by McCann-Erickson, and their ads for this campaign focused on showing successful businessmen in lavish surroundings. One businessman lounged in a jacuzzi complaining about an award acceptance speech he had to give.His wife told him to just enjoy the honor. Another ad featured a successful businessman taking time from his busy schedule to learn the piano. These ads were the subject of criticism for their celebration of the opulence and free-spending attitudes of the decade. A year and a half later they gave the goldGold card account to Chiat/Day. This agency’s approach was over the top compared to McCann’s more subtle ads. Chiat targeted a younger, more affluent clientele by touting excessive spending. One ad in particular showed a man in a Jjaguar, sprawled with his legs dangling over the side.A voice says, â€Å"For when you finally run into that 1953 XK120. † The phrase â€Å"Worth its wait† flashed on the screen while a sax play ed sensually in the background. The ads were supposed to increase the goldGold card base by targeting younger wealthy men. By 1989, AMEXAMEX was spending $250 million annually on advertising, more than twice as much as Visa’s and MasterCard’s budgets combined. This expenditure reflected the numerous marketing initiatives underway to expand the company’s cardholdercardholder base, including efforts to attract more women, students, senior citizens, and small companies.Additionally, the company developed a major ad campaign to get cardholdercardholders to use their cards at retail shops, not just fine restaurants and boutiques. Research showed that the majority of card purchases were made with other credits cards while only high-ticket items were charged to AMEX cardAmerican Express Cards. This campaign was developed by Chiat/Day, which in 1991 won the green Green card and Optima accounts from Ogilvy & Mather, AMEXAMEX’s agency of record for 30 thirty years. Chiat/Day immediately developed a new taglinetag line for the company: â€Å"The Card.The American Express CardAmerican Express Card. † The initial ads developed by Chiat/Day sought to convey the iconic status of the card, by superimposing oversized flagship green Green cards into images of a restaurant, a golf course, the tail of a Concorde jet, and the Easter Island monoliths. Cause Marketing Since 1981, AMEXAMEX has also embarked on many cause-related advertising campaigns where a percentage of the proceeds were donated to a specific charity. In fact, the company is credited with coining the phrase â€Å"cause-related marketing. Between 1981 and 1984, Amercian Express donated to more than 45 different charitable organizations. Most of these donation drives occurred at the local level, such as when American Express donated two cents to the San Francisco Arts Festival each time Bay Area card members used their cards. By encouraging card members to spend more to support the cause, AMEXAMEX profited from increased card usage. Similar campaigns around the country generated total donations in the tens of millions of dollars and increased card usage in locations where a cause-related marketing campaign was active by an average of 25 percent.The company’s first national cause-related marketing campaign was organized in 1983 to raise money for the Statue of Liberty Restoration Fund. To build awareness for the program, American Express developed an $4 million advertising campaign that included print, radio, and television advertising. Each time a card member used his or her card, a one cent donation was made to the fund. For every new account opened, AMEXAMEX donated one dollar to the fund. Donations were also made for Travelers Cheques and travel purchases. Between September and December 1983, American Express gave $1. 7 million to the Statue of Liberty Restoration Fund.Card usage rose 28 percent nationally in the first month compared with the previo us year, while new card applications increased 45 percent. [i] . 1 Following its early success with cause-related marketing campaigns, AMEXAMEX developed more than 90 ninety programs in 17 seventeen countries. One of AMEXAMEX’s best-known campaigns was the â€Å"Charge Against Hunger. † The Charge Against Hunger, begun in 1993, was a charity effort in which the company donated a certain amount of money to hunger relief agency Share our Our Strength every time a cardholdercardholder used an AMEX cardAmerican Express Card to make a purchase during the holiday season.The 1993 Charge Against Hunger raised $5. 3 million. To raise awareness for the campaign, AMEXAMEX produced a series of advertisements featuring information about the charity and detailing the specifics of the program. Between 1993 and the last year of the program in 1996, the Charge Against Hunger campaign raised more than $21 million. AMEXAMEX Success Due to the acquisition-based growth and cross-marketing concepts, which were fashionable corporate strategies in the 1980s, Robinson was hailed as a savvy CEO in building up AMEXAMEX in this fashion.By the end of 1984, AMEXAMEX had developed $61 billion in assets and posted annual revenues of $13 million. The TRS division, which supplied AMEXAMEX with almost three-quarters of its earnings, was selling $13 billion worth of travelers checksTravelers Cheques, while 20 million cards were generating $45 billion in charges. AMEXAMEX had name recognition of 75 percent and its services were used by 14 percent of the population, more than any other financial company. Credit Card Competition Heats Up By 1985, AMEXAMEX had issued over more than 20 million cards that were producing more than $47 billion in billings.That compared with Visa’s 115 million cards with $82 billion in billings and MasterCard’s 103 million with $62 billion in billings. About 3. 3 million of AMEXAMEX’s cards were GoldGold cards (first offered in 1966) an d about 60,000 were PlatinumPlatinum (introduced in 1984). Visa had 3 million higher- end â€Å"Premier Visa† cards and MasterCard had 2. 5 million â€Å"Preferred Customer† cards (both began issuing them in 1982) with annual fees of $55. In spite of their similar numbers, AMEXAMEX still had a clear advantage in the high-end market with GoldGold card charges totaling $13 billion while Visa and MasterCard only had only $7. billion combined. While Although most credit cards had features similar to AMEXAMEX’s charge cards, prestige still seemed to win people over in wanting AMEXAMEX’s cards and in using them for their more expensive items. One analyst said, â€Å"If you want to buy an expensive car, you tend to buy a Mercedes or a Cadillac, not a souped-up Honda. † For AMEXAMEX customers, the fact that MasterCard and Visa were accepted at over more than 4 million sites while AMEXAMEX was only accepted at only 1 million sites was mitigated by the fact that only AMEXAMEX had offices in many remote locations capable of handling almost any travel emergency.Indeed, prestige seemed to be so important to consumers that they signed up at twice the expected rate for AMEXAMEX’s $250 annual fee PlatinumPlatinum card Card and eventually numbered six times what AMEXAMEX expected. In the 1980s, the standard American Express Green card had an annual fee of $35 and offered $1,000 check cashing at representative banks and AMEXAMEX travel offices, the ability to withdraw $500 from ATM’s, and $100,000 travel accident insurance. For a $65 annual fee, GoldGold cCard members upgraded to $2,000 in checks cashed and a credit line of $2,000.The PlatinumPlatinum card Card allows members to cash up to $10,000 in checks, get $1,000 from ATM’s, $500,000 in travel insurance, and nonresident privileges in over more than 25 private clubs around the world. AMEXAMEX offered these cards to only about 5 percent of its American cardholdercardho lders who charged more than $10,000 a year and hadve good payment histories. Higher-end credit cards (e. g. , goldGold, platinumPlatinum) proliferated in the mid-1980s as the market for standard cards became relatively saturated.Credit card delinquency rates were increasing due to banks’ efforts to shore up profits by signing up more cardholdercardholders. The average cardholdercardholder possessed seven cards, so banks had to find other ways to compete. Many consumers were frustrated with banks because they maintained high interest rates on their cards (around 19 percent) in spite of the fact that the prime lending rate had dropped 14 points since 1982. The banks defended their card rates, citing the cost of processing millions of card transactions every week.In order to appease their customers, banks offered special perks like such as bonus points and cash back offers. They also began issuing goldGold and platinumPlatinum cards to attract more customers. These â€Å"eliteà ¢â‚¬  cards were used 50 percent more often than regular cards, and the average purchase with them was 150 percent greater than with a normal card. Visa and MasterCard gained enough GoldGold cCard members, 12 and 11 million, to beat AMEXAMEX’s 6 million. Optima Unveiled AMEXAMEX responded to the increasing popularity of credit cards by issuing its own credit card, called Optima, late in 1987.Not only would it compete head-to-head with the revolving credit bank-issued cards, but also it would do so with a much lower interest rate of 13. 5 percent. Even the annual fee was lower, priced about half what other credit cards charged at $15. Optima also allowed AMEXAMEX to greatly expand its card base without damaging its upscale image since because it was a separate card. AMEXAMEX only offered Optima initially to its 8 – to 9 million current AMEX cardAmerican Express holdercardholders. Since Because these customers were accustomed to paying their balance monthly, they were c onsidered the lowest-risk segment.Banks were worried that Optima cardholdercardholders would use the new credit card for regular purchases and the AMEXAMEX charge cards for their T&E expenses, dropping regular and high- end bank cards in the process. Citicorp, the nation’s largest issuer of bank cards with close to 15 million, countered AMEXAMEX’s new card by lowering its rates to â€Å"preferred customers† to 16. 8 percent from 19. 8 percent. Visa USA Inc. even urged its issuing banks to stop selling American Express Travelers Cheques in protest.AMEXAMEX replied with a Travelers Cheque ad that told consumers, â€Å"If your bank doesn’t sell them, go to one that does! † In order to compete, most of the charge and credit cards furiously began cutting prices and offering special incentives. Co-branded cards also became very popular. Visa had 768 affinity programs approved by the end of 1987. Most MasterCard and Visa silver Silver and goldGold cardhol dercardholders also got rebates on hotels and plane fare in addition to rental car discounts. WhileAlthough AMEXAMEX did not offer any affinity cards, it did continue to offer benefits and special offers.In addition to its Buyer’s Assurance program, which doubled the manufacturer’s warranty up to a year on items purchased with its cards, AMEXAMEX also began its Purchase Protection program, which insured these items for 90 ninety days against theft, loss, fire, or accidental damage up to $50,000. AMEXAMEX also offered its GoldGold and PlatinumPlatinum members free rental car insurance. By the end of 1988, after being out for only 18 months, Optima ranked as one of the top ten credit cards in terms of cardholdercardholder volume.Optima had 2 million cardholdercardholders with over more than $3 billion in outstanding balances. The interest and fees for Optima was were nearly pure profit sincebecause AMEXAMEX spent so little, only $100 million, in starting it. American Exp ress had the advantage of an established cardholdercardholder base to offer it to and merchants already willing to accept it. Thanks to Optima and improved marketing to young men, women, and students, AMEXAMEX’s domestic share of the card market increased to ten 10 percent by 1989, totaling 22 million cards (30 million worldwide).AMEXAMEX’s charge volume also increased to 27 percent or $69 billion, which lead all card issuers. Visa meanwhile had 52 percent cards hare with 115 million cards, and MasterCard had 38 percent with 84 million. The remainder was primarily Sears’ Discover card, which had about 28 million cards outstanding. Sears issued Discover in 1985 using its existing customer credit base of 40 million accounts, low interest, no fee, and a cash- back program as advantages. AMEXAMEX had signed up over more than 2. 5 million merchants to accept its card, compared to Visa’s almost 7 million merchants.Nevertheless, AMEXAMEX maintained that because consumers only charged only 15 percent of the possibley number of items that could be charged, its main competition was not the other card companies, but rather, cash. AMEXAMEX Applauded Success continued through the late 1980’s. Revenue and profits grew in every division and earnings topped the $1 billion mark in 1986. In 1989 AMEXAMEX grossed over more than $26 billion and netted $1. 2 billion with a travelers checkTravelers Cheque float of over more than $4 billion to invest.Compounded earnings and sales over the last decade had risen nine 9 percent and 13 percent every year, and AMEXAMEX had a return on shareholder equity of more than 15 percent a year. Their direct marketing department was the fifth largest in the nation selling electronics, furniture, jewelry, luggage, mutual funds, and insurance. AMEXAMEX’s publishing arm included â€Å"Travel & Leisure† and â€Å"Food & Wine† magazines, with having a combined circulation of over more than 2 millio n, and they planned on acquiring or creating more than ten more magazine titlespublications.Overall, analysts were recommending AMEXAMEX stock, saying it was undervalued based on its future earnings potential with AMEXAMEX being called â€Å"one of the great success stories of the last twenty years. †[4] AMEXAMEX STUMBLES Problems in Iits Subsidiaries James Robinson III had spent a total of $3. 5 billion in acquiring Shearson, IDS, TDB, Lehman, and E. F. Hutton, and in the process had built American Express into what was one of the most respected and well-known companies in the USUnited States. AMEXAMEX was rated by one poll as among the top three brands in America behind only Coca-Cola and McDonald’s.In the late 1980s, AMEXAMEX was the largest diversified financial services company in the world. But Ddespite the apparent success, however, signs of future troubles appeared as early as the early 1980s. In the latter years of that decade, the financial empire slowly bega n to crumble. While Although each subsidiary had its share of problems, consensus seemed to be that AMEXAMEX had expanded too rapidly without enough attention as onto how all the parts would fit together and so could not manage itself efficiently. AMEXAMEX’s first big problem with a subsidiary came in 1983.An insurance industry price war had caused Fireman’s Fund (FF) to lower its policy prices and add business. A surprisingly large number of claims on these policies caused AMEXAMEX to have to add $230 million to FF reserves causing a $141 million fourth quarter loss for the unit and a $22 million loss for AMEXAMEX. AMEXAMEX managers said they were blindsided by the losses while FF managers said they had tried to warn their superiors at AMEXAMEX but were ignored. AMEXAMEX profits dropped 11 percent in 1983 due to FF losses, breaking the much hallowed 35- year earnings record.AMEXAMEX later sold off Fireman’s Fund to the public, keeping the life insurance divisio n, but retaining only 27 percent of the property and casualty business. In spite of their magnitude, the problems at Fireman’s Fund had little impact on AMEXAMEX as a whole. They did, however, draw attention to AMEXAMEX’s management style and what impact it might have on the other divisions. Shearson Lehman Hutton, the nation’s second largest securities firm, was probably the biggest disappointment of all.After the acquisition, Shearson imposed its existing no no-bbonus onus policy for clerical employees at the investment bank where everyone was up to that point used accustomed to annual bonuses. Shearson also imposed its much less generous medical benefits plan on Lehman employees and even made them take lie detector tests. Most job openings after the acquisition were filled with Lehman employees in an attempt to appease them, but this wound up alienating Shearson employees. Lehman also lost many top clients after the acquisition including ABC, Chase Manhattan, and Uniroyal.Big M & A deals, the reason Lehman was acquired in the first place, never materialized. The loss of clients and internal talent was too big to overcome and only a trickle of small deals and its brokerage operations kept the unit going. Even with 1988 revenues of $10. 5 billion (same as Merrill Lynch), the unit’s earnings had dropped to 81 eighty-one cents from $4. 34 two years earlier. Robinson admitted he wanted to sell Shearson, but couldn’t because he wouldn’t get the price he wanted. Card CompetitionIn 1991,, AMEXAMEX debuted its â€Å"Membership Miles† loyalty program, which gave customers one point for every dollar spent on the card. These points could be exchanged for credit in frequent flier airline miles. The program had the dual benefits of attracting more customers and increasing the spending volume of customers who wanted airline miles. The success of this program’s introduction was offset, however, by problems with the Op tima card. Though Optima made the company one of the ten largest credit card issuer issuers worldwide, AMEXAMEX’s first offering in the credit card category was fraught with problems.The company’s decision to offer the card only to existing cardholdercardholders, who were accustomed to paying their entire balances monthly, led to millions of dollars in bad debt. AMEXAMEX failed to account for the fact that a significant portion of charges on their classic cards were business expenses for which the cardholdercardholder was reimbursed. Therefore, the majority of Optima cardholdercardholders used that card strictly as a credit device, and as a result only five 5 percent of Optima accounts paid the full monthly balance.The resulting losses rose to 10 percent of outstanding balances in 1992, which was double the industry average. In its first three years, Optima cost American Express $2. 3 billion. The company was forced to re-evaluate its Optima portfolio, and relaunched t he card in 1992 with a slightly different payment structure. In 1994, the company pared the number of Optima cardholdercardholders to 3 million from about 3. 5 million. By 1996, Optima’s 5. 2 percent annual loss rate was only marginally higher than the 4. 6 percent industry average.Other card companies were able to make up enormous ground on the American Express by offering bonuses, service benefits, and cheaper fees to both merchants and consumers. Bank cards certainly lacked the prestige factor, but, as one analyst noted, â€Å"Prestige is less of a Nineties concept than an Eighties concept. †[ii]2 AMEXAMEX’s traditional points of difference were service and prestige, but 1990s’ consumers appeared to place greater value on â€Å"function [and] utility. †[iii] Compounding problems was the launch of Visa’s brilliant ad campaign, â€Å"Visa.It†s Everywhere You Want to Be. † That campaign highlighted desirable locations, resorts, events, restaurants, etc. – none of which would take American Express. AMEXAMEX was under siege from a number of new competitors, such as Capital One, which in 1991 was the first company to issue so-called â€Å"teaser rate† cards with introductory rates well below the standard 19 percent. Other sources of competition came from co-branded or â€Å"affinity† cards, which were becoming increasingly popular with consumers seeking added value in the form of additional goods or services.AMEXAMEX had the opportunity to issue one of the first co-branded cards back in 1985, when American Airlines approached the company with a proposal for a joint credit card that would offer frequent flier miles for dollars spent on the card. AMEXAMEX rejected the offer and American Airlines inked a deal with Citibank instead, which that attracted 4 million cardholdercardholders within a decade and set off a co-branding trend. AMEXAMEX similarly declined to enter into a co-branding agre ement with AT&T in 1990.Within five years, the AT&T card had more than 11 million cardholdercardholders. Many corporations began to issue co-branded credit cards, including General Motors, Shell, all major airlines, and Sony. Other entities with co-branded cards included NBA basketball teams, the University of Alabama Alumni Association, Star Trek, and the National Wildlife Federation. Between 1990 and 1992, the number of American Express cardAmerican Express Cards in circulation dropped by 1. 6 million, or six 6 percent. The company was in danger of seeing its competitive advantage disappear.Attempts to diversify into financial services had largely failed, and the company’s flagship card business was faltering. â€Å"We were losing relevance with our customers,† said current CEO Kenneth Chenault. â€Å"We were trying to be all things to all people with a few products. †[iv] This developments led AMEXAMEX’s board to force James Robinson to resign as CEO i n 1993. AMEXAMEX FOCUSES ON ITS CORE BUSINESS Divestiture After forcing Robinson’s resignation, American Express selected Harvey Golub to succeed him as chairman and CEO in February 1993.Golub was a nine-year veteran of the company, having come to the IDS division from McKinsey & Co. consulting firm. He immediately initiated a series of divestitures to reduce AMEXAMEX’s holdings. Golub negotiated the sale of the Shearson brokerage operation and the Lehman Brothers investment bank. These sales, combined with other profit-saving cutbacks, eliminated 50,000 of the company’s 114,000 workers. Following these moves, the now-leaner company was in a position to focus on its core competencies: charge and credit cards, Travelers Cheques and travel services, and select banking and financial services.In the midst of these cutbacks, Golub pursued aggressive plans for high growth in the card sector. In mid-1994, he announced plans to introduce up to 15 fifteen different credi t cards. Ready to improve on the company’s first credit card offering – —Optima – —AMEXAMEX introduced its next card, called Optima True Grace, in August 1994. The Optima True Grace card Card featured a low introductory rate of 7. 9 percent and came with an automatic â€Å"grace period† of 25 twenty-five days after a purchase, during which time no interest would be charged to the cardholdercardholder.Additionally, the company would waive the annual fee for cardholdercardholders who used Optima True Grace at least three times per year. These features came as a result of a year-long research effort that included 4,000 consumer interviews. The Optima True Grace launch was accompanied by a $40 million marketing campaign starring lifestyle maven Martha Stewart. In its first year, Optima True Grace was selected by about 1. 4 million users, a figure that doubled the company’s membership predictions.The flexibility of Optima True Grace marked a departure from AMEX cardAmerican Express Card policies of the past. As bank-issued cards exploded in the 1980s by enticing customers with low annual fees, cash back offers, partnerships, points bonuses, and other special offers, AMEXAMEX continued to charge high annual fees and flatly refused to partner with other corporations despite offers from companies such as American Airlines. The gap in market share between AMEXAMEX and Visa and Mastercard only widened, and Golub reflected in 1995, â€Å"We should have seen what was happening. . . We were inflexible. We were arrogant. We were dreaming. †[v] To spur growth in the card category, Golub sought to greatly increase merchant acceptance of American Express cardAmerican Express Cards. In October, responding to the requests of over more than 14,000 card members, AMEXAMEX inked a deal with Wal-Mart stores to have its cards accepted at over more than 2,300 Wal-Mart locations. During 1995, other retailers such as Laura Ashley, S hopRite, Service Merchandise, and Vons Supermarkets signed on to accept AMEX cardAmerican Express Cards. That year, research by the ompany showed that based on card member purchasing patterns, AMEXAMEX customers charged 86 percent of their spending to AMEX cardAmerican Express Cards. Said CEO Kenneth Chenault, â€Å"If our customer wants to use the American Express cardAmerican Express Card at a hot dog stand, we want to be there. †[vi] In addition to adding merchants that would accept the cards, Golub worked to improve relations with the existing merchant roster. In the past, AMEXAMEX was able to demonstrate to merchants that its cardholdercardholders charged a higher volume with their cards.For many merchants, this mitigated the fact that AMEXAMEX’s merchant discount was considerably higher than Visa or MasterCard’s. Purchases by AMEX cardAmerican Express holdercardholders carried discount fees of over more than 3. 5 percent, compared to merchant discounts low er than 2 percent for Visa and Mastercard. By 1991, however, the case for accepting American Express was not as compelling. Not only were there a greater number of Visa and MasterCard goldGold cardholdercardholders, but also nearly 90 percent of all AMEXAMEX customers carried bank cards as well.AMEXAMEX needed to retain as many merchants as possible, since overbecause more than half of its annual revenues came from merchant discounts. The turning point came in 1991, with the so-called â€Å"Boston Fee Party. † A group of Boston restaurant owners coordinated a boycott of the American Express cardAmerican Express Card because they believed the discount rate to be too high. American Express worked rapidly to repair relationships with these and other merchants. By 1996, the discount rate for AMEXAMEX purchases was below less than 3 percent and all the Boston Fee Party boycotters had been re-signed.Golub also attempted to better relations with current cardholdercardholders. In Oct ober 1995, the company expanded its Membership Miles program to include points bonuses for retail merchandise and gourmet gifts, as well as more travel offerings such as car- rentals, hotel stays, and vacation packages. This revised program was named Membership Rewards, and points earned through the program had no limit or expiration date. The renewed focus on American Express’s core business led to the first new campaign for American Express Travelers Cheques in twenty years.Though still dominating the Travelers Cheques category with $64 billion in annual worldwide sales and a 45 percent market share, AMEXAMEX was looking to protect its lead against competitors like Visa. In 1994, a new $15 million advertising campaign updated the classic Travelers Cheques commercial, which traditionally featured hapless travelers falling prey to criminals while abroad and then experiencing firsthand the safety and security features of the Travelers Cheques. The new crop of ads focused on th e â€Å"Cheques for two† feature, which enabled the same checks to be shared between two parties.Instead of getting stolen, the Travelers Cheques in the new ads were only lost, and features featured lost-and-found employees in travel destinations describing the quirky items they encountered in the line of duty. The ads were intended to illustrate in a more lighthearted fashion the benefits of AMEXAMEX Travelers Cheques. In 1995, the company renamed its IDS division â€Å"American Express Financial Advisors† (AEFA) in an effort to provide with a more uniform image to its customers.AEFA, which provided financial and estate planning, annuities, mutual funds, life insurance, pension plans, 401(k) plans, and loans and accounting services to businesses and individuals, was part of the â€Å"select financial services† that contributed to AMEXAMEX’s core competencies. A One-third of AMEXAMEX’s net income in 1996 came from AEFA, which controlled $130 billio n in assets. After firing Chiat-/Day, AMEXAMEX re-hired Ogilvy- & Mather, who introduced a corporate ad campaign themed, â€Å"Do More. † This global ad campaign extended the company’s advertising to include financial services and travel in addition to its card businesses.The purpose of the campaign was to underscore the transformation that had taken place at American Express during the previous several years, given that the company had: 1)Sold or spun off subsidiaries and refocused on businesses operating under the American Express brand; 2)Broadened its traditional charge card business to include revolving credit, co-branded cards and other products aimed at specific customer segments, such as students and senior citizens; 3)Expanded its global travel network; )Begun a major expansion of its financial services businesses; and 5)Introduced new products to its corporate services customers. â€Å"For much of our history, our company’s brand was defined by our ca rd and Travelers Cheques businesses,† said John Hayes, executive vice president of Global Advertising. â€Å"Now we are extending our brand to a variety of other products and services to mirror both where our company is and where it is going. What will remain consistent is our vision— — to become the world’s most respected service brand. The new advertising campaign was designed to capitalize on several of American Express’s historical brand attributes: trust, customer focus, travel, and financial insight. â€Å"American Express is one of the very few global brands in the financial services arena,† Hayes added. â€Å"All over the world, people’s experiences with our travel services, card products, and financial advice have defined our brand’s characteristics, reflecting the reasons that both corporations and consumers are loyal to American Express. Themed, â€Å" American Express Helps You Do More,† the campaign attempt ed to bridge both the company’s historic strengths and, as well as its newer initiatives. The pool of advertisements included commercials that featured a range of American Express products and services, as well as those designed to focus on individual businesses, such as American Express Financial Advisors. It also included ads for the American Express charge cards, â€Å"Our advertising used to be about a limited number of products and services, and was often defined by the people who used them.This campaign stresses our growing number of services and what American Express can do for you,† Hayes said. The television spots will ruran on network, cable, and spot television, supported by newspaper and magazine ads in a variety of publications including USA Today, tThe Wall Street Journal, The the New York Times, Time, and Newsweek. Card Wars American Express launched its first co-branded card in 1995 with Delta Air Lines. The airline miles card was called the Delta SkyMi les Optima, and within two years of its introduction it was the number-two airline affinity card with over more than 1 million cardholdercardholders.American Express forged co-branding relationships with other partners, including Hilton Hotels, ITT Sheraton, and the New York Knicks. Beginning in 1992, American Express used comedian Jerry Seinfeld in advertising that emphasized the card’s flexibility and added humor to the personality of the brand. In 1997, as part of the â€Å"Do More†Ã¢â‚¬â€œ themed campaign, American Express used ads featuring Seinfeld to emphasize the card’s acceptability in locations such as supermarkets and gas stations. In one ad, Seinfeld stops at a gas station to fill up.The premise is that he aims to put an even dollar amount into the car, presumably so he can pay with cash without breaking change. Upon reaching the target amount, he gives the pump an extra squeeze that pushes the total a few cents over. Onlookers gasp in dismay, until he pulls out his American Express cardAmerican Express Card in dramatic fashion and pays at the pump. Another ad starred Seinfeld and an animated Superman. The unlikely duo were depicted walking along a city block, when Superman spotted Lois Lane in peril at the front of a grocery store line.When the two come to her rescue, Lois informs them that she has forgotten her wallet. Superman pats his suit where pockets normally would be located and sighs, â€Å"I can’t carry money in this. I’m powerless. † Seinfeld exclaims, â€Å"I’m not! † and begins spinning around in a blur brandishing an American Express cardAmerican Express Card. Again in dramatic fashion, he swipes the card and pays for the groceries. American Express signed one of the leading athletes in the world in 1997 when it inked a five-year, $30 million endorsement contract with Tiger Woods.That year, Woods appeared in print ads and television commercials that promoted American Express Fina ncial Advisors. In one television spot titled â€Å"Tiger Wants,† the phenom golfer discusses discussed personal aspirations, which included â€Å"tak[ing] care of the ones who took care of me† and â€Å"help[ing] people who need help. † The campaign also featured Tiger’s father, Earl, who explaineds that with the help of an American Express Financial Advisor, he was able to retire early and dedicate himself to helping Tiger reach his goals.John Hayes characterized the endorsement deal as follows: The appeal of Tiger Woods – —and, indeed, of his father, Earl – —transcends the world of golf. While Tiger’s tenacity, work ethic, and abilities are outstanding, we also recognize him as a person whose achievements are the result of perseverance and an incredible focus on a goal. That kind of earned success is a hallmark of financial success as well. [vii] In appraising AMEXAMEX’s position, Hayes also noted: The market b ecame very segmented, and we needed to catch up with that to become more relevant to more segments.So now we’ve gone from a brand that was basically represented by one card product to one that has 25 products. That’s a drastic change. [viii] Our toughest balancing act is not to lose our traditional core customers and our reputation for premium quality and service while we enact new initiatives to expand against other segments. We’re tracking that on a quarterly basis to make sure we don’t go too far in one direction or the other. [ix] Marketing and Advertising In 1999, American Express unveiled the biggest new card launch since Optima, with the â€Å"smart smart cardcard† Blue.Blue, which was launched with a $45 million advertising campaign, was considered a smart card because it contained an embedded chip that enhanced security for Internet purchases using a home-encryption system. American Express issued Blue cardholdercardholders a home card car d-swiper free of charge, which could be used for Internet transactions. The card targeted the 25 percent of Americans that owned computers and used sophisticated consumer technology, as well as another 25 percent of the population learning to use such technology. Unlike other American Express cardAmerican Express Cards, Blue carried no annual fee.One perceived risk of the Blue marketing campaign was the implication that the other American Express cardAmerican Express Cards were not secure for use with Internet purchases. Said Alfred Kelly, president of the American Express Consumer Card Services Group, â€Å"I would rather be cannibalizing myself than have the competition do it. †[x] Launch advertising involved television, print, and subway advertising, as well as event marketing. The introductory television ads focused on the technology aspect of Blue. One ad showed a sea of amoeba dancing and multiplying over a rock-and-roll soundtrack.This ad was intended to demonstrate th e â€Å"evolving credit† aspect of the card, which meant that Blue would improve as the company added new functions features to it. Another ad emphasized Blue’s payment flexibility – —unlike other American Express cardAmerican Express Cards, monthly balances could be carried into the next month – —by showing the card bent, pulled, and reshaped by robotic arms to the sounds of a classical score. In addition to major network broadcasts, these ads ran during television programs targeting young people, such as Fox’s â€Å"The X-Files† and â€Å"Futurama. Print ads appeared in newspapers and magazines, as well as in sports clubs and on restaurant table-top menus. The ads did not use the familiar Roman Centurion soldier logo associated with other cards, choosing a new look that suggested a compact disc with blue concentric circles bordered by white. American Express also sponsored a concert in New York called â€Å"Central Park in Blue. † The concert was promoted by a â€Å"street team† of sharply- dressed scooter riders, who used handheld swipers to enable cardholdercardholders to pick up free tickets at nearby Blue information kiosks.These marketing activities were designed to give the card â€Å"a different, modern, more hip feel,† said Alfred Kelly. â€Å"We wanted to break out. †[xi] American Express continued to market cards based on prestige. In 1998, it introduced the matte Matte black Black Centurion Card – —otherwise known as the â€Å"black Black cardCard† – —for elite clients. To obtain an invitation invitation-o

Inbound Tourism of South Africa

Inbound Tourism of South Africa There are two main factors in recent history that contributed to the increased number of Inbound Tourists to South Africa. The First would be because of the political history of South Africa. After the Second World war there were serious segregation laws implemented. Separating blacks from whites – they named it Apartheid. Play clip: http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=Rz4F_InsBeo If you were a tourist in South Africa and you weren’t white you would have to make use of the non-whites facilities – which were usually of poor standards.In an attempt to put an end to Apartheid, South Africa was sanctioned by the UN and naturally this put South Africa on the global stage. Shortly After ,the UK and USA boycotted South Africa with: * Economic sanctions * Military sanctions * Cultural boycotts * Sporting boycotts Later 23 countries joined in these boycotts. This meant that none of those countries traveled to South Africa . Musicians, actors, writers or other artists did not publish any of their material of South African nature.South Africa was isolated from the world, in the sense that foreigners did no longer invest or visit South Africa but South Africa was still getting a lot of attention internationally. The protests against the Apartheid movement became more violent and the political unrest even worse. Of course this made tourists skeptical of travelling to South Africa. 1990 marked the end of Apartheid; in 1994 South Africa had their first democratic elections. Nelson Mandela was voted the first black President of South Africa.Since 1994 South African Tourism growth has been exceptional Million people Year Only 16 years after being a democratic and free country , South Africa had the opportunity to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup . This event made the world even more aware of South Africa, everyone was talking about the Soccer World Cup and therefore South Africa as a country received even more publicity. Even wit hout the number of tourists that visited South Africa for the Soccer , the number of tourists still increased. http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=SPEG8Gn6Qxk&feature=relatedSouth Africa can cater for almost every type of tourist: * Business tourism * Cultural Tourism * Eco-tourism * Paleo-tourism * Adventure tourism * Sports tourism Today Tourism is one of the biggest industries in South Africa it even surpassed the Gold exports as the earner of foreign currency. Germany , the UK and North American countries used to make up most of the inbound tourist , but over the past year India and China have increasingly visited South Africa. The department of tourism is investing more into marketing in India and China.There are also a couple of strategies put into place to improve the Tourism market in South Africa as a whole. OUTBOUND TOURISM Since the end of apartheid the majority of the population is no longer oppressed. The people of South Africa no matter what race can get better education and as a result they can also pursue better careers. Since more and more South Africans earned decent salaries they could put more money aside for travelling. Although domestic travel is higher than Outbound Tourism , the number of residents Traveling out of South Africa do increase every year.Another factor contributing to outbound travel is globalization, people are getting more curious about the world and they want to experience different destinations first hand. There are also of course business trips as South African companies grow. Sources http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=WTiml3HNFtY (UNTWO) * http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=SPEG8Gn6Qxk&feature=related * http://www. statssa. gov. za/publications/Report-03-51-02/Report-03-51-022011. pdf * http://www. southafrica. info/travel/tourism-030912. tm#ixzz27Yai8HuF * http://www. southafrica. info/travel/tourism-030912. htm#ixzz27YaTs4rg * http://www. sagoodnews. co. za/tourism/tourist_arrivals_up_3. 3_. html * http://www. info. gov . za/speech/DynamicAction? pageid=461&sid=30329&tid=82144 * http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=Rz4F_InsBeo * http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_South_Africa_during_apartheidhttp://www. mongabay. com/reference/country_studies/south-africa/ECONOMY. html * http://www. euromonitor. com/travel-and-tourism-in-south-africa/report

12 important points to keep in mind while writing MBA application essays

12 important points to keep in mind while writing MBA application essays Test scores and grades are important, but admissions to business school is about more than getting good numbers. To compete successfully with a large group of high quality applicants, put in the work to assure that your essays are outstanding. After over fourteen years helping applicants with thousands of MBA application essays as an MBA admissions consultant, a dozen important points stand out as key to keep in mind when writing these key essays: 1. Answer what was asked. Surprisingly, most applicants think they answered the question asked but did not. Writing MBA application essays is a new challenge for most applicants, who have no basis on which to gauge their answers. An experienced MBA Admissions Consultant can help ensure you havent missed the mark. 2. â€Å"I’ll just write a few common essays, and use them for all my applications.†A typical MBA school requires a set of several essays, ranging from one to as many as ten for some European business schools. Top US b-schools typically require four or five essays. Many schools ask questions which have similar elements but are not exactly the same. To be competitive, each essay needs to be carefully answered as it is asked, which means school by school. And if you do use the same essay twice, be careful to change the school name everywhere, since many applicants overlook thata sure application killer! 3. Stay on track! As you add details about an example, it often becomes harder and harder to follow the line of your thoughts. The school wants to learn about you, not about the situations you’ve been in. Take the readers by the hand and guide them through to keep the focus on your main point, only sharing details that support that point. 4. Put extra effort into the question about your career. Be sure you powerfully portray your short-term and long-term career goals; how an MBA will fill any existing gaps between where you are now and reaching those goals; and (if asked) the level of research you’ve done to match the school’s unique offerings to your future career. Be careful to not simply restate your resume in detail herea common pitfall in many first drafts. 5. â€Å"I’m way over the word limit but there’s nothing that I can cut out!† Schools evaluate your ability to write concisely. An admissions consultant will help you focus on whats important and what isnt so you can stay under the word limit. Don’t give the admissions staff an easy way to choose someone else over you because you ignored the school’s word or page limit instructions! 6. â€Å"I changed my career goals for one school because that school is known for finance, whereas the other schools focus on marketing.† It is a huge mistake to completely change your answers based on what you think a school wants to hear. Schools are looking to understand the real you. It is true that certain characteristics are important for all applicants, such as leadership potential and communication skills. But more than anything else, schools are looking to admit diverse classes. If you try to change yourself to be what you think a school wants, you may be surprised to learn that they already had too many who fit that description and that your unique characteristics were exactly what they were looking for. 7. Do not use overly sophisticated language. Many overdo it, trying to impress a school, but it comes out reading stilted. Stay real and conversational. 8. Your essays should show Leadership, leadership, leadership. The number one quality to emphasize in your essays is leadership. Tell the admissions committee what your unique flavor of leader is. What doyour friends and colleagues say your greatest leadership talents are? Identify these skills as specifically as possible, and support them with examples from your professional (and possibly personal) life. 9. Don’t use examples of your experience prior to college. Schools will think you dont have anything worth talking about since then, and they dont want to admit people who did not (and will not) continue to achieve great things! 10. Never ask anyone, including an admissions consultant, to write essays for you. Schools will automatically reject you if it appears that you didnt write your own essays. 11. Never lie. Even if your personal ethics would allow you to lie in an application, you may be caught at some point, especially with schools now carefully checking out details. Never lie! 12. Never send in any essays with typos, spelling mistakes or grammatical errors. No one is perfect, but sending in essays with typos, misspelled words, or grammatical errors can give an admissions officer an easy way to rule you out. Do you have more ideas of what makes a great business school application essay? Please share your questions/comments below. Need guidance in your MBA/EMBA Application process? Maximize your applications with help from The Essay Experts MBA Admissions Consulting Services. Or feel free to email me directly at larryessayexpert@gmail.com. Larry Sochrin Category:MBA Admissions ProcessBy Brenda BernsteinJanuary 20, 2012

The Rise and Fall of Consumer Cultures Essay Example

The Rise and Fall of Consumer Cultures Essay Example The Rise and Fall of Consumer Cultures Essay The Rise and Fall of Consumer Cultures Essay Name: Lecturer: Course: Date: The Rise and fall of Consumer Cultures 1 The 2010 issue of the â€Å"State of the world† is purely dedicated to raising awareness on the need for the development of more environmental friendly habits that greatly influence the world in a more positive manner. The article indicated the human race currently faces many social problems that insightfully point to a much deeper systematic failing. The article refers to this failure as a prevailing cultural model that tends to promote the adaptation of lifestyles directly against the realities of finite planet. This model is referred to as â€Å"consumerism† where the world has adopted a culture of developing an avaricious appetite through the consumption of the worlds, finite recourses (Gray, 5). The article illustrates of how the current consumption levels are unsustainable both now and the future leading to the threat of the existence of humanity as we know it. The article further indicates that if the pattern is to proceed unchecked, then some of the problems such as climate change and other environmental problems could be impossible to solve. These environmental and climatic problems are definitely poised at altering the normal structure and survival of human civilization. Reversing the adverse impacts brought about by consumerism cultures and habits will require long-term efforts that are mainly aimed at altering the traditions. These efforts are focused on changing the traditions, social movements and institutions that mould the worlds’ cultures from their current consumerism states to that of sustainability. Since the world’s recourses such as land and minerals are finite, utilizing them without replacing them means that future generations will not have the privilege of experiencing and enjoying them unless of course through videos and other storage media. The article proposes institutions such as schools, the media, businesses and governments as effective and efficient ones for changing the current culture into a more sustainable one. These institutions will bring about a cultural shift that will lead to more sustainable culture as a natural lifestyle that will take control of underlying disasters. The sustainable culture will also go a long way in dealing with other related crisis such as income inequity, obesity and social isolation. State of the World 2010 illustrates a grim image of what the unchecked consumerism could lead to and details of how a more sustainable culture could look like. The article also illustrates on some already existing efforts that are aimed at making the shift in making the latter image a reality. The article provides some grim statistics on the current consumer levels of the human population. As an illustration, in the year 2006 alone, the worlds’ population consumed a total to thirty point five trillion dollars worth of goods and services. This indicated a twenty-eight percent increase from a span of only ten years. The article indicates that the dramatic increase in consumption leads to an increase of resource extraction. In illustration, up to one hundred and twelve Empire State Buildings worth of materials are extracted from this finite earth in a period of only twenty-four hours. On average, an American consumes close to eighty-eight kilograms of commodities on a daily basis. This amount is technically more that what an average person weighs. Were everyone in this finite earth to adopt consumerist culture, then the earth could only support one point four billion people. This is merely a fifth of the entire worlds’ population according to current statistics. 2 One of the micro foundations in economics is demand. Whenever demand for a certain product increasing without further increase in supply, then the price of the commodity is bound to increase. With this regard, if the world’s population will continue with its consumerist culture and increase its consumption of the already finite resources, then price of the commodities worldwide will end up being revised upwards. This would further mean that at a certain time, only the affluent few in the world would be able to acquire some of these essential commodities. The utility theory can be used in this case be used to explain the behavioral patterns of the world’s population. With this regard, the consumer has been playing the role of decision maker. In this process, the worlds’ consumerism society decides the amount of any commodity that is too consumed. This is mainly aimed at insuring the highest possible level of utility that is subject to the populations’ available income and the prices of the commodities. In accordance with the utility theory, we see production levels of non-essential commodities increasing as opposed to an increase in the essential commodities. Increased consumption levels allow diminishing marginal utility to come into play. With this regard, consumers have continually increased their intake to the point where additional consumption provides less utility than what was consumed before. This has the adverse effect of bringing about ailments such as obesity, cancers and an increase in waste production . The marginal private benefit is the increase in benefit derived from a commodity in the event of consumption or production of one extra unit obtained by the individual that is consuming the product. With this regard, the global marginal private benefit is bound to decrease in a consumerism culture since most of the excess is bound to be discarded as waste as opposed to optimal utilization. This is evidenced where studies indicate a change in the essential commodities. For instance, people in the United States of America now deem a mobile phone as a necessity whereas in Japan, items such as a fan and a washing machine are viewed as essential commodities. Different production levels lead the production company incurring different profit margins. Profit maximization is thus the process whereby the production companies evaluate the price and production levels that enable the company to reap the greatest profit. With this regard, increased production does not necessarily translate into maximized profits. A consumerist society leads to increased and unpredictable production levels thus rendering the production companies to fail to realize profit maximization. The marginal private cost is the cost incurred by a company after producing a given product or service. The marginal private cost normally increases with an increase in production. With this regard, an increase in demand will result in an increase in production and hence an increase in the marginal private cost incurred by the production companies. Supply is the amount of a given product that is available for purchase at a given time. Since the earth’s resources are finite, additional consumption of these products without replenishing the present ones will result in a time when the supply of a given product will be nil. 3 One of the steps to be taken in dealing with the prevailing environmental issues is the rolling out of a major sensitization program aimed at highlighting the need for conserving the present recourses by mainly checking the consumerist cultures. Although this seems like a daunting task, history indicates that traditional human cultures are generally sustainability oriented. This means that the human population needs not to be educated on a new lifestyle or culture but simply be reminded of the need to return to the past cultural habits. The worlds’ traditional cultures are in a way homogenous in that they have deep and ancient roots that enable people to realize sense of their lives and create a manageable relationship with other members of the society and the natural world. Anthropologists indicate that traditional cultures are deeply rooted in the mutual respect and protection of the natural environment that facilitates the mere existence of the human societies. Creating awareness on the need of reverting to the roots could be taken as the first step in dealing with the prevailing environmental issues. Another step is using schools as places of nurturing the younger generation. Since is hard to â€Å"teach an old dog new tricks†, then it could be consider wise to nurture a young generations that highly respects, appreciates and protects the natural systems that sustain their survival. The younger generation could be sensitized on the need of conserving the natural systems at a very tender age. This means that in fifteen to twenty years to come, a new generation will arise with the zeal of protecting the natural resources that sustain our very existence. With the help of the government and school heads, school menus could be changed and provided the student with menus comprising of healthy, local and environmentally safe foods. This leads into a change in the young generation’s dietary norms. Efforts such as the use of renewable energy sources such as wind power, solar and other will go along way in ensuring that culture aimed at sustaining the environment is developed. This will also go along way in curbing harmful carbon emissions and decreasing the worlds’ over reliance on fossil fuels. This is because this fuels, once consumed, they cannot be replenished for future use. Another means is through enacting laws that curtail the use of non-renewable resources. Paper and other industries that engage in the logging of trees must be forced by law to roll out measures aimed at replenishing the felled trees. The felling of hardwood trees should be kept at a minimum because even with tree planting measures, these species take a considerably long time to mature. With this respect, these efforts will act as double-edged sword by having the older generation adopt sustainable activities by means of the law and at the same time creating an ideal sustainable culture among the future generations. Assadourian, Erik, Linda Starke, and Lisa Mastny. State of the World, 2010: Transforming Cultures: from Consumerism to Sustainability: A Worldwatch Institute Report on Progress Toward a Sustainable Society. New York, NY: W.W. Norton, 2010. Print.

Biography of Artist Henry Ossawa Tanner

Biography of Artist Henry Ossawa Tanner Born June 21, 1859, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Henry Ossawa Tanner is Americas best known and most popular  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹Ã¢â‚¬â€¹African American artist born in the nineteenth century. His painting The Banjo Lesson (1893, Hampton University Museum, Hampton, Virginia), hangs in many classrooms and doctors offices across the nation, familiar and yet not fully understood. Few Americans know the artists name, and fewer still learn about his outstanding accomplishments that often broke through racist barriers. Early Life Tanner was born into a religious and well-educated household. His father, Benjamin Tucker Tanner, graduated from college and became a minister (and later bishop) in the African Methodist Episcopalian Church. His mother, Sarah Miller Tanner, was sent north by her mother through the Underground Railroad to escape the slavery she was born into. (The name Ossawa is based on the abolitionist John Browns nickname Osawatomie Brown, in honor of the Battle of Osawatomie, Kansas in 1856. John Brown was convicted of treason and hanged on December 2, 1859.) The Tanner family moved frequently until they settled in Philadelphia in 1864. Benjamin Tanner hoped his son would follow him into the ministry, but Henry had other ideas by the time he was thirteen. Smitten with art, the young Tanner drew, painted and visited Philadelphia exhibitions as often as possible. A short apprenticeship in a flour mill, which compromised Henry Tanners already frail health, convinced Reverend Tanner that his son should choose his own vocation. Training In 1880, Henry Ossawa Tanner enrolled in the  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, becoming Thomas Eakins (1844-1916) first African American student. Eakins 1900 portrait of Tanner may reflect the close relationship they developed. Certainly, Eakins Realist training, which demanded meticulous analysis of human anatomy, can be detected in Tanners early works such as The Banjo Lesson and The Thankful Poor (1894, William H. and Camille O. Cosby Collection). In 1888, Tanner moved to Atlanta, Georgia and set up a studio to sell his paintings, photographs and art lessons. Bishop Joseph Crane Hartzell and his wife became Tanners principal patrons and ended up purchasing all his paintings in an 1891 studio exhibition. The income allowed Tanner to head for Europe to further his art education. He traveled to London and Rome and then settled in Paris to study with Jean-Paul Laurens (1838-1921) and Jean Joseph Benjamin Constant (1845-1902) at the Acadà ©mie Julien. Tanner returned to Philadelphia in 1893 and encountered racial prejudice that sent him back to Paris by 1894. The Banjo Lesson, completed during that short period in America, drew from the poem The Banjo Song, published in Paul Lawrence Dunbars (1872-1906) collection Oak and Ivy around 1892-93. Career Back in Paris, Tanner began to exhibit at the annual Salon, winning an honorable mention for Daniel in the Lions Den in 1896 and The Raising of Lazarus in 1897. These two works reflect the predominance of biblical themes in Tanners later work and his stylistic shift to a dreamy, iridescent glow throughout his images. In Birthplace of Joan of Arc at Domrà ©my-la-Pucelle (1918), we can see his impressionistic handling of the sunlight on the facade. Tanner married the American opera singer Jessie Olsson in 1899, and their son Jesse Ossawa Tanner was born in 1903. In 1908, Tanner exhibited his religious paintings in a solo show at the American Art Galleries in New York. In 1923, he became an honorary chevalier of the Order of the Legion of Honor, Frances highest award of recognition. In 1927, he became the first African American full academician elected into the National Academy of Design in New York. Tanner died at home on May 25, 1937, most likely in Paris, though some sources claim that he died in his country home in Etaples, Normandy. In 1995, Tanners early landscape Sand Dunes at Sunset, Atlantic City, ca. 1885, became the first work by an African American artist acquired by the White House. This was during the Clinton Administration.   Important Works Sand Dunes at Sunset, Atlantic City, ca. 1885, White House, Washington, D.C.The Banjo Lesson, 1893, Hampton University Museum, Hampton, VirginiaThe Thankful Poor, 1894, William H. and Camille O. Cosby CollectionDaniel in the Lions Den, 1896, Los Angeles County Museum of ArtThe Raising of Lazarus, 1897, Musà ©e dOrsay, Paris Sources: Tanner, Henry Ossawa. The Story of An Artists Life, pp. 11770-11775.Page, Walter Hines and Arthur Wilson Page (eds.). The Worlds work, Volume 18.New York: Doubleday, Page Co., 1909 Driskell, David C. Two Hundred Years of African American Art.Los Angeles and New York: Los Angeles County Museum and Alfred A. Knopf, 1976 Mathews, Marcia M. Henry Ossawa Tanner: American Artist.Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1969 and 1995 Bruce, Marcus. Henry Ossawa Tanner: A Spiritual Biography.New York: Crossroad Publishing, 2002 Sims, Lowery Stokes. African American Art: 200 Years.New York: Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, 2008

The Impact of Globalization in Singapore, With Reference To American Essay

The Impact of Globalization in Singapore, With Reference To American Brands and Goods - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that the globalization phenomenon is one of the most widespread phenomena in the world.   In recent years however, with the expansion of globalized activities, Asia has acquired various qualities which are distinctly western. In the West, Asian influence has also become slowly apparent. Singapore is a richly diverse country. It is an industrialised and highly developed country which lies in the middle of a diverse Asian and Western mix of cultures and economic activities. In so many ways, Singapore has acquired various qualities which seem to be distinctly western; moreover, American brands have also become more popular in the country. This paper is being carried out in order to establish a clear and comprehensive evaluation of the impact of globalization on the Asian culture, especially the culture of Singapore. Body First and foremost, American culture and goods have become popular in the world because the United States of America is on e of the most powerful nations in the world, economically, politically, and culturally. Its economy is one of the most extensive and progressive economies in the world. It is involved in almost every enterprise in the world, and most of its multinational corporations have set up conglomerates and subsidiaries in different parts of the world. Politically, its membership in the UN Security Council as well as in other international organizations has ensured that its opinion and position on various political concerns would have to be heard. Its culture has also gained a strong following among the youth population in different parts of the world. The internet has also spread the American culture, economy, and politics in different regions, including Asia. American culture and goods have become popular in the world because it is a culture which appeals to the young and vibrant population. The current generation has been bred in the internet age, where the definitions and foundations of be ing up-to-date or of being part of the majority crowd are based on one’s patronage of Lady Gaga or of one’s habit of eating at MacDonald’s. American culture and goods have become popular because these also carry the identity of a powerful country, and many countries and citizens from other parts of the world seek to identify themselves with such a country. The fact that many American shows, movies, and songs have become widely available to most countries has also assisted in the spread of American culture. Emulation has become one of the primary motivators for the growth of American culture, and since the popularity and reach of the culture of other countries is not as pervasive as the reach of the American culture, by overwhelming default, the American culture has become dominant. The culture in Singapore consists of a rich mixture of Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Western culture.