Questions (team decision) Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Questions (team decision) - Assignment Example The business operations should be aligned with the mayor’s goals in order stay in the business while addressing the mayor’s concerns. For instance, the hotels should create policies that will ensure that the business operate in environmental friendly way. The policies should focus on the social responsibilities of the firm. This means that in order stay in the business, the hotel should ensure that it restores the natural environment that has been destroyed by the business operations. The hotel should also agree to pay fines that are equivalent the destructions they cause on the natural surroundings. In this case, one would justify the decision to fulfill the responsibility and face certain loss by focusing on the benefits of the natural environment in the community. The case can be justified if the benefits of the natural environment outweigh the benefits of the hotels. For instance, it is worthy to eliminate the hotels as a long term solution since this will allows the beach plant to grow. This will attract more tourists, which will benefit the whole community. The hotels only benefit the hotel owners. One would also justify ignoring the responsibility by focusing on the benefits of the hotel. For instance, eliminating the hotels would lead to the loss of employment in the community. In addition, share holders will incur huge

Understanding specific needs in Health Social Care

Understanding specific needs in Health Social Care Understanding the specific needs in Health Social Care Table of Content Acknowledgement Table of Content Introduction 1.1 Roles of the health care agencies 1.2 Epidemiology of non infectious disease Epidemiology of infectious disease 1.3 Effectiveness of different strategies and approaches 2.1 Regulate healthcare methods 2.2 Relationship of health and social care service provision 2.3 Current lifestyle choices lead to future health and social services 3.1 Health and wellbeing priorities 3.2 Encouraging behavioral changes 3.3 Changes needed for improving Health and wellbeing Conclusion Recommendations References Introduction Without any doubt, health is the most important factor for a living being. A person’s life is depended on the well-being of health, not to mention all the regular activities are centered towards this. But with the increasing difficulties in regular living is making this very health deteriorating each day. It is very important for mass people to understand the basic of health dynamics. With the changes in the natural spectrum, huge changes have also taken place in human needs regarding needs of health and social care services. Not only the pattern has changed overtime, but also the perception towards these is transformed drastically. 1.1 The core concept- health changes in perception regarding health and social care services The fundamental pattern of health and social care is changed due to revolution in the need regarding this. There are various macro factors contributing to this, alongside the micro ones. In various countries, there are mammoth changes in the demographic pattern and the health literacy which has changed the whole landscape of health and social care services. To understand the perception of changing health and social care services it is very important to understand the underlying concepts like normality, disability, illness etc. Normality: Normality which is also known as normalcy depicts the behavior which is consistent with an individual’s most common behavior in terms of health factors. It is very vast term to describe and it in many cases it changes with the context. When it comes down to the definition of health, this normality is a very significant concept. A healthy state generally stands for normal and sound process of all the functions that drives a human being. Clinically normality represents the consistency between the bodily and psychological functions. The reverse is generally known as abnormality. Disability: Disability means partial or total forfeiture of a person’s bodily function which could be motor functionality, walking etc. As mentioned earlier this loss could be partial or complete and this could even be from birth. A person might have one disability or he could have multiple disabilities which could be ostensible for instance loss of a limb or it could also be in hidden form for example epilepsy or post-polio syndrome. Some types of disabilities are multiple-sclerosis, spina bifida etc. There was time when there was a norm in the society which permitted the stigma and discrimination. People tend to avoid and stigmatize the person with illness, disabilities and it kept going on for a long period of time. The ultimate result of this was that it made the whole situation way more difficult for the affected person and consequentially, it becomes really hard for them to recover from the illness. The problem of mental illness is a common phenomenon for example at some point of life out of every four people generally experiences mental health problem. Still approximately one in every ten children faces various mental health problems. With the changes in the condition health and social care services have changed drastically. On the positive side, the stigmatization and discrimination have been reduced significantly due to continuous awareness in mass level. 1.2 impact of social policy, legislation and culture on availability of services In the sector of health and social care, social policy along with legislation and culture play a great role when it comes to availability of necessary service for each a group of individuals having specific needs. If the social policy does not support the support the specific needs and patronize it in favorable way then it will become impossible to lead life in a favorable way. The legislation, in this case, is very important both on individual and mass level. For example, right now it is secretary of state’s responsibility to promote comprehensive health service all over UK which will lead to significant improvement in physical as well as mental health of the individual; in addition to this, the service will aid in not only the prevention but also the diagnosis of mental and physical issues. The outcome of the health and social care services will be measured based on the effective, quality and the experience of the concerned persons. In this regard, only legislation and policy will not suffice in the long run. To make this kind of practice sustainable and craft the system in such flexible way so that the changes can be made whenever it is necessary. To attain this objective, the services required for the individuals with specific needs have to turned into a culture which people will adhere to follow, not for just the sake of legislation that has to be followed in formal manner. 2.1 the mechanism of supporting individual with specific needs To attain this objective, the services required for the individuals with specific needs have to turned into a culture which people will adhere to follow, not for just the sake of legislation that has to be followed in formal manner. There are been number of cases of where health and social care do not work in harmony when it is about the meeting the specific needs of the individuals. Every year total number of people in UK requiring both health and social care is on an increasing trend. Just for example, total percentage of individuals crossing eighty five will double in the next twenty years which will arouse the complex need https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/making-sure-health-and-social-care-services-work-together of health care as well as social care. By complex need of health care we refer to multiple health problem at the same time which need to be backed up by the social care services. So far the most glaring issue is that, these two are not collaborating as per expected level. And this is turning into a big problem for the service takers. For example, a person after staying a while in hospital requiring final treatment is trying to know how many days he might have stay after treatment. Over the period of time, being in hospital became a gruesome experience for him; but this mental issue is mostly overlooked. This is just a representation of common scenario taking place most often. In many cases, one important parts either health care or social care is missing. When health and service care is joined up and given properly to the people, that has the highest probability of meeting individual need. This concept should be put into model and later on, it will work as a guiding principal for the health care and social care service providers. 2.2 evaluaiton of currently available system services Generally it is perceived that, when two services- health care and social care are collaborated it must be very beneficial for the people who are taking this service as well as for the service providers. But yet this notion is to be supported by number of facts. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14629210 there is an study done by Brown L, Tucker C by to evaluate the efficacy of the currently available system of health care and social care to meet the specific needs of the individuals. This study more of less represents the current scenario of available systems. The study was conducted among a group of aged persons who were given both health care and social care. In the initial stage the result was very much aspiring. The health care and social care needs were assessed successfully and in a timely manner. This was like a one stop approach for two big aspects catering the individual needs. The whole process of communication of the issue, understanding the aspect and the exchange of required information was drastically improved but it comes down to implementation this seemed not to work properly. Even though the individual need assessed properly, the problem started in the implementation level. The implementation of the service was not satisfactory because of the duly implementation as well as the follow up process. Innovation in the phase of implementation can play a great role as well as the change in implementation process also. Even though two entities giving health and social care services have the same goal they have different organizational structure, ideology and working process. During the implementation phase, it becomes very difficult to accommodate both services in subsequent point of time. So far in nationwide analysis, the same problem is been observed. Even though the general perception is that, the outcome has to be good naturally the fact is quite the opposite. In many cases the efficacy of current model is questioned thoroughly. To make these two services more appropriate and effective for the individual needs it is very important to do the organizational and legal fixes rather than just focusing first hand coordination portion. 3.1 understanding approaches intervention strategies supporting individual specific needs There can be a number of ways to support the individual need with health care and social care, but it is very important to come up with the best strategy and blend it effectively. Here the challenge is, each individual aspect for example health care can be appropriate in its own stance but when it comes to collaboration the approach will be different. Let us consider a common scenario- Autism where it is very important to use the perfect strategy to meet the individual specific need. Since there is hardly any permanent cure for autism, the professional bodies use a number of approaches that aid the concern in different ways. The most challenging aspect in this case is, there are never two individuals with exact same case of autism where a approach might perfect work one person, whereas the same approach will fail with slightly different case. http://www.autism.org.uk/living-with-autism/strategies-and-approaches.aspx before coming up with the exact approach it is highly important to gather all the relevant data pertaining to the autism for that specific individual. In addition to this, dealing with this is a long term approach, so while choosing the method one must be very careful and plan down the line what might take place. One standard startup intervention procedure is health and service based intervention. Apart from the health and service based intervention The starting intervention could be like behavioral and developmental intervention, motor and sensory intervention, counseling etc. Health and service based intervention takes places in multiple phases and it needs to be planned beforehand. Standard Health and service based intervention is planned based on the focus to constantly uphold the well being of the individual with autism which will require a vast range of treatment and therapies as well as well a number of sociological approach. The common scenario is to use variety of approaches and methods which generally include professional therapists, speech, langue therapist along with psychological therapists. This panel of therapists will be working together to ensure the proper development of the concern. This combination of different therapies is used with behavioral, motor sensory, augmentative in addition to alternative intervention method. Among these, the standard procedure of health care includes standard operational procedures like medication, psychotherapy, physiotherapy, speech pathology aiming at the development of speech and language. On the other ha nd, service based interventions generally include aiding people in education, development of social skills, day to day basis development on social skills, accessing the needs and change in those and respond accordingly. This is just the beginning. The challenge with autism is the lack of awareness and when people do not admit to have the autism. It is a common barrier for autism. The autism is most cases is invisible because it just possess few signs; so it becomes really difficult what exact health and social care needs are required for he particular individual and how it can be tailored to maximize the benefits. Starting from the daily rituals to particular special activities, everything needs to be chalked out and it needs to done on a daily basis. This is one approach dealing with the individual with autism. Another approach could be, after assessing all the possibilities, figuring out two or three most potential route to deal with the scenario and start trying those out in a co ntrolled setting for smaller time being. After getting the results, the best method will be carried forward. The disadvantage with this approach is that the change could have negative impact on the concern. That it is very important to access the health and social care needs thoroughly at first and then act on this. The social care support might be very extensive here, starting from the education it could end up in finding appropriate works. The employment service are designed in such a way that it suits individual abilities and needs and to make the approach successful the team of health and social care need to work closely with the family members, at least at the very first stage they need to collaborate with the concerned family to understand the early stage development scope and devise the plan accordingly. 3.2 need for development and support for individual with specific need Specific development methods need to be applied for the individual with specific needs, more specifically showing different characteristics. Other than the social needs, the health and wellbeing need to be checked on a regular basis because at the end of the day, if he does not have the functioning body he won’t be able to do anything else. For this purpose, the health needs have to identified thoroughly and plan the acts based on that. There could be a number of activities which the person has to undergo and for convenience, these should be turned into a ritual format so that it becomes easier. Apart from these, health improvement needs to be monitored on a regular basis. Other than this it will not be possible to track the whether the approach is right or wrong. There should scope for adaptions and improvisations to make the process much better and updated. 4.1 Strategies for coping up with challenges, potential impact of challenges and strategies to cope up While working in health and social care there are a number of scenarios posing specific challenges. Below are two of them- With the increasing access to information, people are right now more knowledgeable in various subjects, even it could be to small extent but with the blessing of technology information is on the fingertips. But analyzing this information is totally different issue. In most cases being a part of health and social care I have seen that, the parents or relatives of the person taking services are intruding into the operational procedure without having sufficient knowledge on the subject. It is very much possible that it happens because of their extra cautiousness towards the wellbeing of their closed ones. Since we have deal with concern usually on a long term basis it becomes very difficult to experience this kind of intrusion. Another challenge is to tailor the service with the given agenda and financial constrain. In many cases, it becomes very difficult to meet specific need by tailoring it as per the agenda given. This is mainly because of the continuously changing demand and increa sing public expectation. Since there are multiple entities involved in this procedure, it is very difficult to accommodate minor changes if that are done on a continuous basis. The potential impact of the challenging behavior on the health and social acre is that the health and social care givers have to be pretty much through regarding their understanding of the all the necessities and act accordingly. Starting from the planning, collaboration and execution phase they have to be very much cautious and the same time flexible regarding the plan. All the works need to be functionally assessed all the time and regular evaluation has become mandatory for the efficacy of the work. The core strategy to keep up with challenge is support from all the entities, be it the party taking the service or the one giving this. While dealing with the challenges clear target need to be set regarding the timeline, deliverables and all other specific activities. For working the with the challenging behaviors regarding specific needs it is very important to clearly communicate with the involved member, share the course of actions along with other specifications clearly. The rewards and sanctions will be set in such a way that it best suits and eases the operational procedure.

Winter Dreams Essay -- essays research papers

Fitzgerald Essay- Prompt 5 Money may be able to buy ones happiness but not necessarily satisfaction in life. Fitzgerald's characters in â€Å"Winter Dreams† and Great Gatsby had money, but not satisfaction throughout their life. One can have satisfying materials, do satisfying things, and obtain satisfying qualities. Characters in â€Å"Winter Dreams† and Three of the most satisfying materials that a person could own is a home, money, and a car. At least one of these items is essential for a person no matter where they live. The home is the most satisfying material that a person could own. A home is a place that one can go to rest, eat, and just live. A home provides memories and a place for a family to grow. A home satisfies people with protection, an investment, security, safety, and privacy. The home is definitely a key item of satisfying materials. Another satisfying material that a person could own is money. Money is something that is very important to possess. Owning money can satisfy a person’s hunger, shelter, and just everything it takes for that person to live. A person would not be satisfied if they did not own any money. They would be depressed and have to live on the streets. Money alone cannot satisfy a person on a whole but it brings together the whole term of satisfaction. The last item that is satisfying is a c ar. A car is something that can satisfy ones need to get around. It is important to use to get to work, school, and places to far to venture on foot. A car is a machine with great power and can also satisfy one with air conditioning on a hot day. It can satisfy a person with ride to ones favorite place such as the beach. A home, money, and a car are all materials that a person can own to satisfy them. Not only can materials satisfy a person but so can activities such as sports, relaxing, and sleeping. Playing sports can satisfy a persons body and mind. Participating in sports keeps one in shape satisfying their heart and health. Also it can satisfy a persons stress level by focusing on the activity. Sometimes not playing sports but just relaxing can be satisfying. Relaxing and not working can give a person time to think, breathe, and their body to recuperate. Relaxing is a very satisfying activity. Another activity that is satisfying is sleeping. Curling up under the covers, closing ones eyes, and just clearing the mind is something very ... ...o was playing at that moment had been gay and new five years before when Dexter was a sophomore at college. They had played it at a prom once when he could not afford the luxury of proms, and he had stood outside the gymnasium and listened. The sound of the tune precipitated in him a sort of ecstasy and it was with that ecstasy he viewed what happened to him now. It was a mood of intense appreciation, a sense that, for once, he was magnificently attune to life and that everything about him was radiating a brightness and a glamour he might never know again.† Dexter would agree that being loving is a quality that gives one satisfaction. He felt this satisfaction when he was with Judy on her boat. â€Å"His heart turned over like the fly-wheel of the boat, and, for the second time, her casual whim gave a new direction to his life.† Dexter was in love with Judy and he saw that Judy was never honest to him. He didn’t mind that Judy was never honest, â€Å"When she assured him that she had not kissed the other man, he knew she was lying--yet he was glad that she had taken the trouble to lie to him.† Finally he wouldn’t agree that honesty is satisfying because he was just satisfied with a lie.

“Hunters in the Snow” by Tobias Wolff Essay

In â€Å"Hunters in the Snow† by Tobias Wolff, we see three characters who apparently appear to be close friends but then as the story moves they lose their patience with each other. In the story, the reader notices how the cold temperatures started to create an impact on each of the characters. It brings out the complexities in their character. In due course of time the reader comes across the true self of the characters. Their simmering resentment towards each other is aptly highlighted by the author amidst the appropriate setting of the cold bleak winter season. When concentrating on the conversation that takes place between the men the reader realizes that underneath all the friendship there is a cruelness of words that cuts to the deep as the men flaunt the others weaknesses and seem to be ignorant of the effect that the words will have on the emotional state of the other. The atmosphere plays a very crucial role in defining the theme for a story. When used to its full potential it can stir deep feelings in the reader that go beyond rational thought. Tobias Wolff in his short story †Hunters in the Snow† uses this factor to create atmosphere and a sense of crisis. The story craftly uses the setting and thereby makes it a fascinating study in self-absorption. Wolff draws three strongly distinct characters in a small space, and again manages to convey the ambiguities and complexities of human interaction and personal struggle. The story begins with Tub waiting for his friends Frank and Kenny â€Å"for an hour in the falling snow.† In the same paragraph we find Tub is walking down the street, carrying a rifle and seemingly, shooting the breeze. The cold and the waiting surely creates an impact in the mood of the character. Tub is restless from the wait and the cold adds on to it. Besides, aiming at the breeze fairly depicts that the character continues to be impatient and will later ironically reflect the true nature of Tub. The snow let up, but still there was no edge to the land where it met the sky. Nothing moved in the chalky fields. The cold bleached their faces and made the stubble stand out on their cheeks and along their upper lips. They stopped twice for coffee before they got to the woods where Kenny wanted to hunt.   Wolff builds up the story on the platform of cold weather and the impact of the cold on each character slowly builds up. As they ride together in Kenny’s truck, we learn more about them. They are traveling in an old truck with a hole in the windshield, making it a very cold journey.   Once again the cold seems to follow them throughout the journey. On the trip into the woods, and while they are walking around searching for tracks, we realize the fact that Kenny and Frank don’t seem to like Tub very much. Not only that, they seems to exclude him from walking with them in the forest, they make fun of him about his eating habits and even try driving off without him. Tub, had an overweight problem and because of the cold temperatures and the snow he couldn’t keep up easily with his friends. â€Å"When Tub crossed the last fence into the toad the truck started moving. Tub had to run for it and just managed to grab hold of the tailgate and hoist himself into the bed. He lay there, panting. Kenny looked out the rear window and grinned.† Kenny kept taunting Tub about his weight all the while. Even though he appeared to be the most sensitive guy in the group, the reader sees a changed character in him at the end. It is probable that Kenny tortured Tub to an intolerable point and that Kenny’s joke backfired. It is through misunderstanding that Tub shoots Kenny. The difficulty that he was going through walking in the cold weather and troubled with himself bothered him enough and made him more and more impatient with time. Apparently we find the nice guy ending up shooting his friend Kenny. This reaction wasn’t expected from him but the reader can feel the frustration that this character has in his life and how the need of keeping warm made him leave his friend behind. Later in the story, Tub finally reveals to Frank the truth about his gluttony. Tub admits, â€Å"I’ve even got stuff (snacks)†¦ He who is â€Å"self conscious about his weight and in denial about his gluttony† apparently ends up in a confession while he tries to keep himself warm during their journey towards the hospital. Frank, on the other hand, seems much more mature and emotionally stable then Tub, while also seems to be the parent figure of the group. He â€Å"doesn’t care about his wife, and is in denial about his lust.† Frank was troubled with his family. He liked a fifteen year old girl who was his babysitter. The freezing temperature and his confused thoughts kept running through his head all the while. This prevented him from thinking rationally and therefore it did not bother him after Kenny was shot and lay freezing to death in the back of the truck. His selfishness was so obvious when kept talking only about himself. This reached its limit when he tried to keep himself warm and thereby ended up taking Kenny’s blankets and let him back there without any regret. He seemed to be the toughest one among them but when Tub couldn’t take him anymore and confronted him he backed up and showed otherwise. In the beginning, he seems like a simple guy. He just basically does whatever Kenny demands of him, and seems to be the calm, undemanding one of the trio. He tells Kenny and Tub to stop obsessing over the hunting: â€Å"‘Relax,’ Frank said. ‘You can’t hurry nature. If we’re meant to get that deer, we’ll get it. If we’re not, we won’t.’† (142). However, later in the story, the plot of the story begins to prove that Frank is not so innocent. He follows whoever has the most power at the moment. After the â€Å"power shift† from Kenny to Tub, Frank beings to follow Tub’s lead. He seems to not even care that his previous best friend is dying in the back of the truck†¦The hunting grounds and the cold weather makes them invariably confide in each other secrets about their personal lives, and enjoy each other’s company immensely. As the story continues, Tub and Frank become more interested in patching up their differences and less concerned with Kenny, to an extent that becomes strange. Kenny, appears to be the comic character of the bunch, and is always in a kind of light-hearted mood, joking around, even while shooting the dog. He â€Å"doesn’t care about anyone or anything.† Kenny appears to be going crazy in due course of time. With all playfulness he keeps saying â€Å"I hate that tree,† and shoots a tree. Next, he approaches the farmer’s dog, and says, â€Å"I hate that dog,† and shoots the dog. Finally, he approaches Tubs and says, â€Å"I hate you Tubs.†Ã‚   And this was when he was shot in his stomach by Tubs.   This reaction of Kenny’s shows his sheer desperation to an unsuccessful hunting trip. Frank and Tub even lie to Kenny at the end, letting him believe that he is being taken to the hospital even though they had no intentions of doing so. Kenny in the story bears the impact of cold to the maximum. He is left at the back in cold for a long time since Frank and Tubs were busy taking breaks to warm themselves up. His blankets are taken away to keep others warm. The story ends in a highly un- dramatic way, with Tub and Frank changing paths away from the hospital, and Kenny freezing in the truck bed, thinking he’s on his way to safety.   He tried to keep himself warm by repeating constantly that he is on his way to the hospital thereby fooling his own self till the end. His world comes to a standstill and he turns quieter than his usual self in pain and cold. His   pain made his brains numb and therefore even though he knew that he was no where near to the hospital, yet he kept repeating that he was on his way to the hospital. The monotony of words provided him the comfort of warmth. The freezing weather made these characters act erratically in the story. With Frank and Tub being in denial of what is happening, they neglected Kenny to the point of his death. Kenny lay at the back of the truck while Tub and Frank pull off to the side of the road three separate times, once for coffee, once to warm their hands from the frigid cold and a third time so Tub could hoard some pancakes because Frank felt pity for his seemingly unchangeable diet. These stops are increasingly random and seem completely inappropriate seeing that there is a man possibly dying in the back of the truck. This inconsiderate attitude of the three men who apparently called themselves as friends and the effect of their words targeted at each others weak points makes for a rather perverse realization that under these men’s simple appearances lies a cruel complexity of human nature, which is as frigid as the snow on the ground.† The reader realizes how all their internal problems plus the weather got into them and showed unexpected reactions from a group of friends that went on a trip. Wolff has taken an ordinary setting and environment of the woods and the snow,   and turned it into an extraordinary event for the three men participating in it. Literary critic, Karen Bernardo mentions, that the different turn the three friends have taken is away from being human beings, and towards being no better then animals.†    References: http://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/26578.html Perrine’s Literature : Structure, Sound, and Sense (Hardcover); Thomas R. Arp (Author), Greg Johnson (Author) Bernardo, Karen. Tobias Wolff’s â€Å"Hunters in the Snow†. Storybites: A Taste of the World’s Best Short Stories. May 21, 2003.   

Dr. Pepper/7 up Inc. Squirt brand Case Essay

Introduction and Marketing Issues- Dr Pepper/7Up Inc., is one of the largest soft drinks company in the world. This company has its production in 200 countries. Most popular soft drinks are: Dr Pepper, 7 UP, RC cola, A&W Root Beer, Canada dry, Hawaiian Punch, and Squirt. Squirt, is a drink that was invented in the course of an experiment by Herb Bishop in 1938. It was a new carbonated soft drink that required less fruit and less sugar to produce hence it was quite famous during WWII. Later, in 1977, Squirt was bought by a bottler Holland Michigan. The company updated Squirt’s logo and positioned the brand as a mainstream soft drink. Squirt joined A&W Brands in 1986, which was later purchased by Cadbury Schweppes PLC in 1993. Responsibility for manufacturing, marketing, and distribution of Squirt was assigned to Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc, which had been acquired by Cadbury Schweppes PLC in 1995. It still remains under the Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc. branch. Nowadays, Squirt is bottled and sold by some 250 Bottlers in the US. Since 1990 Squirt’s unit sale volume has been stable until recently. There is a huge volume of carbonated soft drink consumption in the US. American consumes 849 eight- ounce annually. CSD are popular among individuals aged 20 – 49. Consumption of diet drinks is popular at the age group of 25 and over. Today, Squirt’s product line consists of regular, diet, Ruby Red, and Diet Ruby Red. Diet Squirt and Diet Ruby Red account for 20% of Squirt’s total sales. The study of Squirts sales volume has shown a slow decline in recent years, although squirt remains one of the best selling brands among citrus flavored drinks, still the competition due to better marketing budgets and techniques from the two main competitors Coca cola and Pepsi and changing market trends can bring the market share down for Squirt. The flat sales of Squirt need to be boosted before competing brands begin to erode the market share enjoyed by Squirt, therefore to safeguard against this Kate Cox, brand manager at Dr. Pepper/ seven up inc began to develop plan for market targeting and product positioning as prescribed by Foote, Cone and Belding that is brand’s advertisement agency. In the mid- summer 2001, Squirt Brand management team, had to begin drafting annual advertising and promotion plan for Squirt in the US to chart a right marketing plan the team had to come up with answers for the following questions: Q1: What should be Squirt’s target market? Or what target market to choose? (FCB recommendations) Q2: How should Squirt be positioned according to the target market? Q3. Is it beneficial to follow recommendation of Foote, Cone and Belding of targeting and positioning Squirt or should old methods be followed or there should be some new innovative methods to increase sales and promotion of Squirt? Situational analysis- Squirt has been advertised in all the mediums of media like newspapers, television, and radio. Although squirt remains one of the best selling brands among citrus flavored drinks, still the study of Squirts sales volume has shown a slow decline in recent years. The competition due to better marketing budgets and techniques from the two main competitors Coca cola and Pepsi and changing market trends can bring the market share down for Squirt. Squirts advertising agency Foote, Cone and Belding suggested market targeting and brand positioning as two ways for Squirt to come out of this problem. Following their suggestion and considering that the answers to the questions mentioned above will serve as main decision making tools we analyzed the market situation for Squirt. Competitive market- Carbonated drink industry is highly competitive industry As mentioned previously this industry of carbonated drinks is dominated by three companies, Coca cola, Pepsi and Dr. Pepper/ 7 up inc These three companies also represent the top ten selling brands in the United States market. Squirt brand of Dr. Pepper is the best selling carbonated grapefruit soft drink brand in the United States. It is a caffeine-free, low-sodium carbonated soft drink brand with a distinctive blend of grapefruit juices that gives it a tangy, fresh citrus taste. Hence it has a different market then other caffeinated drinks but it has competitors in form of Fresca, citrus, mellow- yellow and surge from Coca – cola and mountain dew from Pepsi. Consumer research conducted by Dr. Pepper/ 7 up inc. in taste testing of Squirt and Citrus of coca-cola group indicated that Squirt scored higher on the thirst quenching attribute. Compared to Dr. Pepper/7up inc. Coca- Cola and Pepsi show more aggressive for of adv ertising and promotion of products Consumer. Buyer Behavior and customer segmentation- Data suggests that in U.S the consumers drink more carbonated drink then tap water. In 2000 alone, consumers on average drank 53 gallons of soft drinks per person a year. This statistics shows that there is a huge market for carbonated drinks in U.S. It was observed that age and ethnic/racial angle played an important role in growing consumption of soft drinks. Hence changing demographics have been critical factors in the growing popularity of these flavored soft drinks. Age- Previous target market for squirt has been between 18 to 44 yrs old. According to the research by Foote, Cone and Belding, Squirt was more of a thirst quenching product then refreshing. They suggested that youngsters would identify with this â€Å"thirst quenching attribute of Squirt, and the research also suggests that this group is supposed to be the large consumer of soft drinks. Therefore, they recommended targeting youngsters between 18 -24 year old. Ethnic/ racial- In U.S 25% Americans are under 18 years of age and one quarter of U.S population is Hispanic and African- American. By a census in 2000, it was predicted that soon 17% out of youth under the age of 18 will be Hispanic; also they will amount to 45% of all minorities in U.S thus surpassing African Americans to become the largest ethnic group in U.S. It was also observed that per capita consumption of flavored soft drinks is higher in Hispanics and African- American than the other racial groups. This information prompts a wise decision to target these ethnic- racial groups to increase the market share of the squirt flavored carbonated drink. If the census of 2000 is accurate then it is a fact that to target this huge population of Hispanics and African- Americans as future market for Squirt will be very beneficial. Squirt has already been exposed to many Hispanics, primarily those of Mexican decent because of the popularity of the beverage in Mexico. It is one of the largest selling brands of soda in Mexico, and Squirt has large brand recognition there. Competitive market- Carbonated drink industry is highly competitive industry As mentioned previously this industry of carbonated drinks is dominated by three companies, Coca cola, Pepsi and Dr. Pepper/ 7 up inc These three companies also represent the top ten selling brands in the United States market. Squirt brand of Dr. Pepper is the best selling carbonated grapefruit soft drink brand in the United States. It is a caffeine-free, low-sodium carbonated soft drink brand with a distinctive blend of grapefruit juices that gives it a tangy, fresh citrus taste. Hence it has a different market then other caffeinated drinks but it has competitors in form of Fresca, citrus, mellow- yellow and surge from Coca – cola and mountain dew from Pepsi. SWOT analyses – SWOT analyses of the Squirts market potential, is as follows: Strengths- Squirt is the best selling carbonated grapefruit soft drink brand in the United States. It is already has brand name recognition in the Mexican market, hence while targeting the Hispanic population Squirt will have a competitive edge over his competitors who are also targeting the same market fiercely. Weaknesses- Squirt brand has budget restrictions for advertising and promotion, which is not the case with its competitors like Coca- cola and Pepsi. Opportunities- Squirt has a huge opportunity to successfully expand its brand by targeting young because their grape flavor attracts more youngsters because of its unique thirst quenching attribute and. penetrating Hispanic groups and African – American market to target them as guaranteed consumers for future, as it is predicted that Hispanics are going to be the most populous ethnic group with more number of youths as compared to other minority groups in U.S. Threats- There are no threats specifically, but depending too much on particular ethnic group and particular age, in short narrow targeting criteria can prove to be disaster if it backfires due to certain reasons, anchoring the target consumers because they are the main source and they dictate the location to get the soft drink, also dominate taste preferences because soft drinks is an elastic product. Considering the above mentioned information, it is clear that the recommendations of Foote, Cone and Belding for targeting and positioning of Squirt are rational and by targeting Hispanic and African – American, young population of 18 to 24 yrs of age will be beneficial for Squirt in a long run. Problems and Opportunities: Young Hispanics are considered to be the target market for positioning of Squirt for brand promotion. Also, considering the fact that Squirt is already popular among the Mexicans, can be used as a positive sign for this venture. Facts mentioned above in the situational analysis like that Hispanics are fast growing ethnic group in U.S, it is predicted that maximum number of youth is going to belong to the Hispanic community, Hispanics, does not like hard sell messages and likes messages that are real and relevant to them, they like shop closer to home in mom and pop stores, also the majority would prefer ads in Spanish (50%) while 30% prefer English and the rest have no preference. Positioning and specific targeting is the main issue for the Squirt brand. The advertisements are not appealing to the suggested new modified target audience which should include Hispanics (specifically in the states of California and Texas). The advertisements should focus more on real life moments while showing Squirt being consumed by individuals. This will allow the target audience to connect with the Squirt brand. Also, Squirt should show advertisements in Spanish as well as English. Also, budget for advertising should be expanded. Strategy: Using the above information and the research provided by FCB’s presentation, it is clear that Squirt should focus on the age demographic of 18-24 year olds. An effective marketing campaign targeted towards 18-24 year olds has a two potential results: 1) a short term solution of increasing sales of squirt to 18-24 year olds and 2) a long-term solution of positioning squirt as a staple beverage for 18-24 year olds such that as consumers of squirt move out of the targeting age demographic they will continue to be loyal consumers of Squirt, thus increasing squirt sales in the 25+ market within a few years. Kate Cox has a few options in how she markets Squirt to the target audience of 18-24 year olds: †¢ A â€Å"multicultural marketing mind-set† approach †¢ 18-24 year-olds (regardless of race) †¢ A hybrid approach 1) A multicultural marketing approach would appeal to the increasing amount of Hispanics and African Americans in the 18-24 age range. It would also provide for the popularity of Squirt in Mexico to filter in to the U.S.’s Mexican population. The concern with such a strategy, however, is that Caucasian’s are still the largest consumer of Squirt. The risk with a multicultural marketing mind-set is that such a marketing campaign has the potential to isolate Caucasian consumers. The benefit of such a campaign is to increase the consumer base to those who are not Caucasian, trusting that Caucasian’s will continue to consume Squirt, a wider appeal of the beverage to consumers would increase sales. 2) An 18-24 year old marketing campaign would target all consumers in the 18-24 demographic. By identifying Squirt as a popular beverage amongst consumers in this age range, regardless of race, Squirt has the potential to both increase sales within the age demographic as well as within the Hispanic and African-American demographic. Such a campaign would have to be carefully thought out and the recommendation is for Cox to identify a celebrity or fad that is popular amongst 18-24 year olds, regardless of race. Such a campaign could be aligned with an event. For example, a Squirt campaign that is aligned with the Olympics with Olympic athletes as spokespersons could appeal to 18-24 year olds regardless of race. Another strategy that could work is partnering with a popular television program or event. For example, Coca-Cola’s sales increased with it being the official beverage of American Idol judges. Such alignment with a popular TV program is sure to increase sales amongst all races within the targeting age-demographic. 3) A hybrid approach would, perhaps, be the most expensive, however, if nervous about leaving out the Hispanic and African-American populations through an overall marketing campaign targeting towards all 18-24 year olds, Squirt could do a â€Å"spin-off† campaign with commercials and packaging in Spanish. Such a campaign would reach all 18-24 year olds as well as all Hispanics, regardless of age. The initial costs are the initial down-fall, however a successful campaign could re-define Squirt in two needed demographics, all Hispanics and all 18-24 year olds. Recommendation: A Hybrid campaign is the best option for Squirt. As 73% of Squirt consumers are Caucasian, redefining Squirt as a drink popular amongst 18-24 year olds with celebrity or event backing popular amongst the targeting demographic is the best option to create a brand for Squirt that will create consumer loyalty amongst 18-24 year olds, securing a place in the 25+ market within a few years. A smaller, geographic specific side campaign targeting towards Hispanics with Spanish ads and packaging will help Squirt capitalize on its popularity in Mexico and will see an increase in sales in border states, such as California and Texas.