Politics surrounding Main character V in movie V for Vendetta Essay

Politics surrounding Main character V in movie V for Vendetta - Essay Example He nurtures tactics of surveillance and detection. He can turn deceptive to catch to attack the opponent. The sad experiences that V encounters prepared him, for the fight against the oppressors. He puts on a mask that acts a means of defense against his opponents. There are solemn political issues in the movie that drive the V to undertake his missions. Character V is unsatisfied by the nature of control by the British government in the movie. His reactions, therefore, have their basis on political concerns. The way through which the government leads the people is stressful and initiates opposition from the citizens. Character V is a representative of all the citizens forced to endure the atrocities of the oppressive government. Through his tactics, V fights against the forces promoting the oppression of citizens. The violent strategies applied by V in the movie are not to promote destruction in the country, but the desire to bring change. Political environments are inconsiderate of the rights of the people. The government does not grant the citizens civil liberty, for instance. Several curfews created by the government restrict the free movement of the citizens and deny them the freedom to interact and socialize. Such environment prompts the decision by V to oppose the regime by killing officials who are inconsiderate citizens' rights. There is a notable lack of interest by the public, which allows the government to violate the civil rights of the citizens. V calls on the society members to rise against to condemn the political actions in the society. The oppressors do not recognize the privacy of the citizens and undertake surveillance over their conducts without their awareness. According to V, the government does not administer freedom and liberty according to its officials claims. The nation is poor, and the citizens are suffering. All the plight of the citizens, according to V, result from failure by the government to protect its citizens. The control of the government is brutal, a condition that V would never tolerate as a condition in the country. In his opinion, there is a need for citizens to have a collective resistance against the government and oppose the oppression. The attacks by V and destructions are to sensitize the people to gain courage and advocate for their rights. V intends to have the citizens to launch full support for his actions that oppose the oppressive regime of the government. In V’s view, the continued idleness that the citizens have in addressing the various inhuman conducts of the government is a reason for their prevalence. That should the citizens continue with the reluctance to address the issue, the government is most likely to continue oppressing the citizens. There are scenes of torture that depict the extent of disregard for human rights by the government. Some of the tortures conducted result from political motives. The viewers get an insight of how unwillingness to advocate for change in the society can affect the government’s operations and create an oppressive regime. The government can disregard any right of the citizens when not under serious opposition from the citizens. Citizens, therefore, would continue to suffer. Citizens must have a unitary cooperation that can express their feelings about the government’s ways of conducting normal business. It condemns apathy of the citizens

Using The Internet In Hospitality And Tourism Industry Research Paper

Using The Internet In Hospitality And Tourism Industry - Research Paper Example Present-day travelers are hyper-interactive, who are texting, tweeting, emailing, communicating with friends via Facebook and commenting on their current or previous travels. The advent of social media and mobile Web means that potential guests for the hospitality industry have continuous access to multi-channel interaction and sharing opinions. Thus hotel websites have to be designed in order to handle this hyper-interactive user. Thus hotel websites can no longer be static brochures with stale and boring context. (Max Starkov). The Holiday Inn hotel is a subsidiary of the IHG group of companies. It is a brand which remains consistent towards the board. Guests at the 1874 Holiday Inn hotels around the world know that they will be treated well and have a certain level of expectations regarding the service. In fact, the idea for the Holiday Inn hotels came into the mind of its founder, Kemmons Wilson when he was disappointed with the consistency of roadside motels during a trip to Washington DC. Consistency is a great advantage when it comes to providing services. The art of total quality management lies with the hospitality greats like Marriott, Hilton and of course Holiday Inn but when it comes to social media policies and the ever-changing world of the internet consistency has a huge downside. Consistency is not the only key feature of the Holiday Inn hotels and resorts. Innovation goes side by side with consistency. Holiday Inn hotels were the first ones to introduce the Holidex reservation system giving its competitors a run for the money. Holiday Inn hotels also initiated the idea for indoor pools, termed Holidromes, turning its hotels into resorts.

Literature Review Celebrity Chef Essay Example for Free

Literature Review Celebrity Chef Essay This review should bring all relevant facts about the subject and facilitate practitioners and highlight areas for further research. In short celebrity endorsement is about endorsing products with the help from a celebrity. Consumer association towards a celebrity endorsed produced increases their purchase intention as many see the celebrity as a role model. However, it is important that the consumer can identify with the celebrity and that the celebrity? s image fits with the produced he or she endorses, only then will celebrity backing be an effective advertising strategy. . 2. Background and Definition Nowadays, celebrities are used in advertising in almost every context. Athletes such as Michael Ballack (Adidas) or Tiger Woods (Rolex) or models such as Cindy Crawford (Omega) or Heidi Klum (Katjes) endorse several products. These celebrities act as a spokesperson in order to advertise and promote products (Kambitsis et al. , 2002). Celebrities can create more positive responses towards advertising and greater purchase intentions than non-celebrity endorsers (Byrne et al. , 2003). Using celebrity as an endorser for a given product can either be positive or negative for a company/brand. A campaign that turned out successfully was the campaign with Jamie Oliver as an endorser for the supermarket chain J. Sainsbury. The successful format of the TV production â€Å"The naked chef† provided an ideal platform to use for the advertising campaign within a context relevant for J. Sainsbury? s desire (Byrne, 2003). An example of a campaign that did not turn out successful was when J. Sainsbury used the actor John Cleese in the â€Å"value to shout about† campaign in 1998. Employees and customers alike felt that Cleese was not the right personality to personify the supermarkets quality image (Whitehead, 2003). In the literature there are two different definitions of celebrity endorsers used. The definitions used are: â€Å"A celebrity endorser is an individual who is known to the public (actor, sports figure, entertainer, etc. ) for his or her achievements in areas other than that of the product class endorsed†. (Friedman, 1979, p. 63) â€Å"Any individual who enjoys public recognition and who uses the recognition on behalf of a consumer good by appearing with it in an advertisement†. McCracken, 1989, p. 310) In other words these definitions says that an individual who is known to the public in different ways. The individual is famous and utilizes his or her publicity to advertise a product that does not have anything to do with the individual fame. I consider McCracken? s definition as the most informative one as it is short and concise. The definition gives a clear view of what a celebrity endorser is. Previous studies have been done on consumers? response to celebrity endorsement in advertising. Results of these studies show that celebrities make advertising believable and enhance message recall. Furthermore, when celebrities are recognized with brand names, it creates a positive attitude toward the brand and a distinct personality for the endorsed brand. In the following chapter the method used for this review will be introduced. The chapter will start with how a literature review is defined, followed by the literature search, method problems and quality standards. 2. 1. Definition of literature review Conducting a literature review is about understanding a topic that has already been addressed, how it has been researched by other authors, and what the key issues are (Hart, 1998). According to the author Chris Hart (1998) the definition of a literature review is the selection of available documents; both published and unpublished (in my review I will only study published academic documents), on the topic, which contains information, ideas, data and evidence written from a particular standpoint. 2. 2. Literature search, methodology used When searching for articles I used the databases Emerald, Ebsco and ProQuest. These databases were used because of the highest ranked journals in the field of marketing were listed there. I used the article Journal quality list (2008) issued by Harzading. com, research in international and cross-cultural management. High ranked journals increase the validity of the thesis, as validity is defined as â€Å"The ability of a scale or measuring instruments to measure what is intended to be measured†(Zinkmund, 2000). I also tried to find books relevant to the topic by using the library here at Les Roches International School of Hotel management as well as the library database google. scholar. . 3. Description of sub-topics Purchase intentions: Describes what impact the celebrity endorser has on the consumers purchase intentions. A consumer is more likely to purchase complex or expensive products which are endorsed by celebrities rather than by non-celebrities. Daneshvary and Schwer (2000) point purchase intention as an environment of associations between endo rsement and consumer, depending if the consumer can identify with that association and purpose. Consumers? association to celebrity endorsement/endorser: How consumers associate/have a connection towards the celebrity endorsement/endorser. If a company want a consumer to associate to an endorsed product it is important to choose an endorser who uses the product and where that use is a reflection of professional expertise (Daneshvary and Schwer, 2000). A formula 1 driver endorsing helmets is good, while a tennis player endorsing car polish is less good (ibid). Consumers? attitudes towards the endorser: The consumers? often have a positive attitude towards the product and the celebrity, despite the fact, that it is well known, that the endorser earned a lot when promoting the product (Cronley et al. 1999). Effectiveness of celebrity endorsement/endorsers: How effective is the usage of celebrity endorsement. It is, most likely, more effective to use celebrity endorsement constantly to increase the strength of the link between the celebrity and the endorsed brand. It is also more effective to use a celebrity who is not associated with another product (Till, 1998). Positive/negative effects of celebrity endorsement: the usa ge of celebrity endorsement can be both positive and /or negative, which can influence the company / brand in the end. For example, using celebrities can be very costly; also, celebrities might switch to a competitor, which would then increase the risk of a negative impact (Agrawal and Kamakura, 1995). However, in can be said that celebrities in advertising are widely spread and persistent and the marketing executives continue to utilize celebrity endorsement as an advertising strategy (ibid). Profitability of celebrity endorsement: The use of celebrity endorsement will hopefully lead to increased profitability. A study indicates that there is a positive impact of celebrity endorsement on the expected future profits, which recommends marketing managers to use celebrity endorsers in their advertising campaigns (Agrawal and Kamakura, 1995). Friedman/Friedman (1979)Does effectiveness of celebrity endorsement depend on the product? Interviews with 360 house wives Celebrity endorsements are not effective for all products Till (1998)What are the effects of celebrities endorsing more than 1 product? Case study with 99 students, who were shown different advertisings using the same celebrity endorserThe use of the same celebrity endorser to advertise for various products has got a negative impact on the efficiency of the ad, the product and the endorser. Atkin / Block (1983)Is celebrity endorsement effective in advertising and how does it influence customer purchase intentionsExperiment with 196 test persons, where each participant was shown 3 versions of an ad. Each version featuring a celebrity endorser and a non-celebrity. Advertising using celebrity endorsement is under special conditions more effective than using non-celebrities. Choi et al. (2005)How can celebrities be used successfully in advertising? How effective is the recall-value and the emotional response to celebrity advertising? Experiment with different groups of test persons. Advertising with celebrities is more effective than using non-celebrities under special conditions. Sanbonmatsu / Kardes (1988)How does the credibility of a celebrity affect the consumer purchasing intention? Interviews with 542 persons. Consumer purchasing intentions are more effected using celebrities than using non-celebrities. Tripp et al. (1994) How do consumers judge the celebrity endorsement, the ad and the brand, if the celebrity endorses various products? What are the effects on purchasing behaviour? First Study: interviews with 461 students. Second Study: Interview with 10 test persons. Simultaneous advertising trough the same celebrity has a negative effect on the ad, the product and the celebrity. Agrawal/Kamakura (1996)Which economical effects on advertising are there when using celebrities? Event-Study in regards to the effects on share prices trough the announcement of celebrity endorsementCelebrity endorsement can have a positive and a negative effect on share prices. Agrawal/Kamakura (1995)Can a single celebrity have a positive effect on the company? s value? Analysis of the share price of a company after announcing a celebrity endorserCelebrity endorsement can have a positive and a negative effect on share prices. Charbonneau / Garland (2005)How does a company find the right celebrity endorser for its products? Which criteria should be considered? Questionnaires: 414 marketing managers at 148 advertising companies.

Female Versus Male Homosexuality In Romantic Literature English Literature Essay

Female Versus Male Homosexuality In Romantic Literature English Literature Essay In Romantic poetry, there is a distinct disparity in the representation of male and female homoeroticism. Male homosexual poetry generally constitutes an intricate synthesis of personal feeling and Hellenistic-like homosocial tradition. Female homoerotic portrayals, however, are typically torn between either a sexually sublimed romantic friend ideal or a voyeuristic heterosexual male fantasy pervaded with panic induced by female sexuality. In other words, explicitly lesbian poetry undergoes heterosexualization that dilutes, and in some cases entirely overturns, any liberating potential the poem would otherwise possess. Moreover, while gay male narratives are often privileged within mythologized Hellenistic context and therein become purified and legitimized, lesbian poetry is denied access to a parallel Sapphic tradition. Thus, lesbians become de-Hellenised in Romantic poetry, alienating the reader from a positive tradition of female homoerotica. In To Lady Eleanor Butler and the Honourable Miss Ponsonby Wordsworth writes of the scandalous and infamous romantic friendship of the Ladies of Llangollen, two women who ran away from conventional marriage pressures and started a life together. The poem is saturated with a sense of close friendship and kinship without being blatantly sexual, and this deters reading the poem as a male fantasy. It seemingly advocates the security of the women, but neglects to portray the reality of the relationship as sexual. This reflects the general view of such relationships in the period: female pairs might, if they maintained a faà §ade of genteel respectability, be acclaimed, after the fashion of the day, as idealised romantic friends(483). Accordingly, the relationship between the Lady Eleanor and Miss Ponsonby is described primarily through euphemism and code. For example, Wordsworth describes the womens house as a Vale of Friendship(10) for the sisters in love(13). This conscious use of deli cately-worded expression and naming of the vale acts as a sort of cipher in the poem; it uses a platonic term like friendship in naming the location, suggesting that friendship is what exists there, but then uses a kinship term to describe what the reader familiar with the story knows is not real; the women are not, in fact sisters. Therefore, for them to be in love, the reader infers a similar hint that there is nothing sisterly about the love. Wordsworths construction of space in the poem also significantly influences its portrayal of the lesbian relationship. By addressing the ladies together in the title and referencing the vale, he creates a well-defined spatial framework in which this poem operates. He connects the space with nature and therefore keeps it in line with Romantic tradition: In Natures face the expression of repose(4). More than this, however, he illustrates this space as being a rare refuge for expression of lesbian desire, such that the ladies love can be allowed to climb . . . above the reach of time'(13). Therefore, the poem essentially addresses its own homophobic theme and by designing safe space for the lesbian lifestyle, it also draws attention to the dangerousness of it. In Christabel and Geraldine (lines 236-277 from Christabel), Samuel Taylor Coleridge designs a representation of female homoerotics that is, in many ways, different from Wordsworths. Outwardly, the lines are an empathetic exploration of tortured and repressed lesbian desire through the arrangement of Christabel and Geraldine as lovers. However, it is important to note that this reading can never go beyond compassion due to the omnipresent male presence. This presence, if the reader is to understand it as being Coleridge himself- that is, a heterosexual and very probably homophobic male(#)- therefore influences the readers analysis of lesbian desire in the poem. Accounting for the male persona, two potentially contradictory moods coexist in the poem-heteronormative panic and male voyeuristic fanstasy. The physical descriptions of Christabel and Geraldine act to deconstruct, and thus objectify, the women by mentioning their body parts: Her gentle limbs(stanza 20), her lids(stanza 21), her elbow(stanza 21) and ultimately, her breast(stanza 21). Obviously absent from these bodily descriptions is any mention of female genitalia, a conscious avoidance on Coleridges part; he wishes to circumvent the mention of phallic-barren sexual satisfaction of the lesbian couple. Since the poem is ultimately governed by a male persona, lesbian sex cannot exist as a valid coital act; a focus on parts of the female anatomy that are traditionally and acceptably sexualized like limbs and breasts without mentioning the genitalia maintains the idea that true sexual intercourse is between a man and a woman. Accompanying this denial of implied true sexual satisfaction are descriptions of mental and physical anguish. Christabels brain is described as one of weal and woe (stanza 21) while Geraldine describes the mark of [her] shame, this seal of [her] sorrow(stanza 23). Depicting lesbians as tormented may serve several purposes. In one sense, Geraldines declaration of shame indicates indicative self-hatred, reflecting the contemporary belief that those who engaged in homosexual activity are constantly aware of their insolent perverseness and therefore more likely to continue to self-harm. This punishes lesbian sexual interaction and therefore shields consequent male arousal in the form of acceptable persecution. Furthermore, Geraldine communicates a sense of frustration when she says to Christabel: But vainly thou warrest, For this is alone in Thy power to declare, That in the dim forest Thou heardst a low moaning, And foundst a bright lady, surpassingly fair: And didst bring her home with thee, in love and in charity, To shield her and shelter her from the damp air. (stanza 23) Geraldine expresses contempt that Christabel sought her out merely under the pretenses of platonic assistance, and that lesbian sexual interaction had not been the primary motivation, implying that sexual acts between women are inherently secondary to heterosexual sex. Despite the apparent conflict of the representation of female homoerotic activity in Wordsworths and Coleridges poems, there are key similarities that provide understanding into Romantic homoeroticism. For example, though lesbian desire in the poems is treated differently, both poets use the natural world as a conceptual framework for their particular representations of female homoerotics. While Wordsworth uses nature as a space in which lesbian desire is safely expressed, Coleridge uses the dim forest to essentially neutralize female sexuality and set Christabels pursuit of Geraldine explicitly as non-erotic motive. The poems also share the presence of a male presence which, in both cases, biases them, a characteristic that is ironic given the female-centered content. Although the male presence may not explicitly attempt to negatively represent female sexual relationships, female homosexuality becomes disemboldened and portrayed as less legitimate as a result. Contrary to female homoeroticism, there is a distinct freedom in the portrayal of male homoerotics in two poems The Cornelian and the To Eddleston (from Childe Harolds Pilgrimage, stanzas 95-96). These poems are about Byrons relationship with a choirboy named Eddleston, written years apart, and though the former shares similarities with the sexual vagueness of Wordsworths poem, it, unlike the other, is allowed to be reflected in Greek Love and the Hellenistic tradition. The Cornelian references specifically Greek pederastic tradition. One example of this is the use of the term pledge, a traditional Athenian approach to pederastic relationships. This allows the subject matter an known association with homosexuality, though to further ensure social acceptability, Byron does not focus explicitly on physical or sexual attraction between the two men. In fact, this early homoerotic poem in Byrons repertoire models a conservative euphemistic approach in the portrayal of its content much lik e Wordsworths poem. The only real capability of a sexual encounter between the Byron and Eddleston occurs in a safe pastoral setting where lovers can isolate themselves from the disapproving society: But he, who seeks the flowers of truth/Must quit the garden for the field. PEDERASTIC POWER STRUCTURE. which is characterized by a disparity in desire, To Eddleston, however, composed years after The Cornelian, is more explicit in its homosexual relationship between Eddleston and Byron. In it, Byron avoids euphemism and sublimation into friendship, such as that which occurs in Wordsworths To lady Eleanor Butlerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. A comparison of the titles themselves begins to describe the difference in the poems. In The Cornelian, the content centers on a cornelian stone given to Byron by Eddleston around which Byron can employ Hellenistic structure. In To Eddleston, however, Byron focuses explicitly on his personal feelings regarding the death of Eddleston. While the first poem most easily implies friendship, the second poem describes Byrons lover as being now, more than friend. In contrast to a pederastic power structure, the power relationship in To Eddleston is implied to be more balanced between the two men. The most significant difference between the two poems, however, is the degradation of the boundary between homoerotic and the homosocial with differences in imagery. While this poem reflects notions of ideal love between men it also problematises this ideal through its use of sadomasochistic imagery. The 96th stanza is characterised by the use of violent metaphor. Byron describes himself as being pierced by arrows, an image that invokes both notions of romantic love through the tradition of Eros and also sadomasochistic penetration by the phallus in the tradition of Saint Sebastian, thus sexualizing the wounded male body. Thus, in what may be viewed as a tame evolution of the Hellenistic tradition represented in The Cornelian, Byron uses To Eddleston to express both the emotional and sexual relationship between he and Eddleston. The starkest difference between Wordsworth and Coleridges lesbian poetry and Byrons male homosexual poetry is that the representation of homoerotics is directly informed by the Byrons personal experience. His poems about male homosexuality are framed by the male presence of an author who is, himself, a character in the poetry, distinguishing these poems from the heterosexual voyeurism explored in the analysis of the lesbian poems. Byron has the freedom to approach homoerotic material with more sensitivity and nuance without objectifying the sexual and emotional attraction between the two lovers. Furthermore, the manner in which female and male depictions of homoeroticism explore Greek homosexual tradition is greatly inhibited by male writers of lesbian poetry verses male writers of male homosexual poetry. Byron utilizes a particular version of Greek mythology to portray and legitimize male homosexuality; in contrast, the women of Romantic poetry are denied access to Sapphic mythology and thus their Greek homosexual tradition. Though Romantic poetry does address the issue of same-sex love, it approaches male and female homosexuality in contrasting ways. Through the construction of lesbian desire in Coleridge and Wordsworth, the reader is positioned to read the narrative through a decidedly heterosexual discursive framework. Thus, female homoerotics must become either sublimated to a romantic and desexualized ideal or degenerate into male voyeurism characterized by ambivalent heterosexual fantasy and phallocentric panic. These disparities in construction are summarized in the way in which the concept of Greek Love is incorporated into the homosexual narratives of Romantic poetry. Hellenistic homoeroticism it remains important to Byrons justification of homosexual tradition and forms an integral element of his construction of homoerotics. Contrastingly, female homoerotics are decontextualized and through the denial of a specifically lesbian tradition, become demonized.

Smoking Essay -- Tobacco Cigarettes Essays

Smoking In the year 1973, 11 years prior to my birth, my grandfather made one of the most important decisions in his life. In the cold wind of March, my grandfather stood outside of Coon Rapids Bayard High School and smoked his last cigarette. That fall my mom and her sister Eileen had made a deal with my Grandpa that if their team made it to the Iowa Girl’s State Basketball Tournament he would give up his addiction to nicotine. This addiction to nicotine had haunted him since his days as an American soldier in World War II. My mom’s team, Elk Horn-Kimbalton, was up by 19 points at halftime, and it was quite evident they would reach the destination they had worked so hard for. Next to the â€Å"victory bell† my Grandpa decided to make this one special night for his immediate family as his daughters would see two of their dreams come true right before there eyes: Their dad to quit smoking and for their basketball team to play at the state tournament in Des Moines. My grandfather has been one of the most influential people in my life. Both my Grandma and him raised me for the majority of my childhood. He taught me the foundations of hard work, discipline, and dedication. The support he has given us grandchildren has been outstanding. Together they have never missed the biggest sporting events or tribulations that us grandkids have encountered in our short lives. He is in great health, but could he be in even better health if he had continued his addiction to nicotine? According to Peter Brimelow, in his article â€Å"Thank You for Smoking†¦?† he believes that you can receive many benefits from smoking, including the avoidance of many diseases that haunt our nation today. Could my Grandpa have continued to receive benefits... ... without end. Smoking now and never will be valuable to an individual’s health. The bottom line is that the drug nicotine can be very harmful to one’s health. This has been a wide range fact for quite some time. The health risks of smoking are displayed through advertisement’s daily. Despite scientific value related to smoking, the risks and dangers are too strong to make a valid argument in favor of smoking. Works Cited Brimelow, Peter. â€Å"Thank You for Smoking†¦.?† The Genre of Argument. Ed. Irene L.Clark. Boston: Thomson-Heinle, 1998. 141-142. American Lung Association. 2003. Fact Sheet: Smoking. 17 Mar. 2004 . Carroll, Bill. Smokers Health and Stop Smoking Information Center. Just How Dangerous is Smoking? 2000. 17 Mar. 2004 .

The True Tragedy of AIDS :: AIDS

The True Tragedy of AIDS Â   When I was in South Africa, I spent some time in a township called Crossroads, which essentially began as a squatter camp for immigrants looking for work near Cape Town. In the late 80s and early 90s, to make room for an alleged development project, the apartheid government tried to relocate the settlers. Whatever the reasons, entire sections of the settlement were razed. Many people did not want to move and, consequently, their resistance was met with arson and both random and targeted violence; many of the victims were women and young children. The settlers' sense of security, albeit loosely bound with wood and corrugated iron, was destroyed. In 1994, as democracy came to South Africa, the settlers who remained began to rebuild their community out of the wreckage of apartheid, only to be confronted by a powerful new enemy: AIDS. Â   For me, Crossroads became an example of the conflicting reality in South Africa today - destruction and resilience, hope and continual struggle. Â   Crossroads is now home to Beautiful Gate, a home for dozens of children living with HIV/AIDS whose parents are either unable to take care of them or have already died. Converted from what was once a place for troubled youth, Beautiful Gate is surrounded by an imposing fence; I thought this was unusual to have around a place for sick children. On the windows are metal bars, which I originally thought were there to protect the children from violence caused by the stigma surrounding AIDS. I was wrong. In fact, the bars are there because people had tried to steal food...because in Crossroads only half of the people can find work and they are desperate to support themselves. Some of us were able to visit Beautiful Gate a couple times, and I remember talking to Francis Herbert, the social worker there. I asked her why she continued to work there. How could she continue to work when essentially no one was listening, when the government was faced with so many problems it couldn't pay attention, when she knew that for every child that stays at Beautiful Gate, dozens, actually thousands, more have no place to go. Why? Francis looked at me with a puzzled face. She does what she does because it has to be done. I see now how obvious that answer was. And I realize now that Francis and others working in similar conditions will keep hitting a brick wall unless people like myself use our knowledge of the severity of AIDS to mobilize international support.

Activision: Case Study Essay

Activision was established in 1979 as a third party video game developer-publisher. Formation of Activision has been one of the most significant events for gaming industry. Activision is publisher of one of the most famous game publisher today. Games like Call of Duty, Guitar Hero and Pitfall series are published by Activision. Currently Activision is merged with Blizzard (creator of world’s most played subscription based game) to form Activision Blizzard World’s largest gaming company in a deal worth ? 9. 15 billion. Around the time of formation of Activision, companies used to dominate market place. Gaming industry was not stable. But the things have changed today it’s a global multibillion dollar business. In the starting days of Activision, they had to compete with Atari in games. But later both companies came to understanding that availability of more game for Atari platforms meant more sales of hardware. And both companies kept building games for Atari platforms competing with one another and being benefited from competition. Creating games is a long and expensive process as normal games take about 2 year and $20 million while MMOG’s may take from $50 to $100 million in five years. What Activision and Atari started as co-operative competition still prevails in gaming industry and has helped a huge deal in development of gaming industries. In 2010 there was 8% loss of packaged goods sales of consoles game but online revenue was booming. Activision was able to predict this change in gaming industry market and locate itself in front of customers. In 2010, around 50% of total revenue made by Activision came from digital sources. Since its merger with Blizzard, Activision is becoming more and more console independent. Starting as publisher for console games, today Activision publishes games for anything that can play games like ipad, iphone, phone social gaming (facebook), etc. And the ability to adapt to changing market has kept Activision in top of the gaming industry for so long. There is an argument that more than half of Microsoft’s xbox live subscribers are there for Activision’s Call of Duty. This raise an issue should Microsoft be the only one being benefited from this while Activision only gets paid once during sale of game disc. This makes console gaming dull in compared to World of Warcraft’s online subscription payment (Activision Blizzard charges fees for playing World of Warcraft online in PC). Activision’s competitor EA games seems to have found a simple solution, In order for online multiplayer, gamer have to either buy new disc or buy online registration code that allows them to go online using old disc whose online code is already used. Activision could use this strategy restricting people who bought used games and people who borrowed games to get online hence focusing only on customers who paid for online. For first time ever, in 2008 Activision was the number one US console and handheld game publisher in dollar. In 2008 it published two games: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock which were number second and first best selling game in US and Europe in dollars during fiscal year. Net revenue earned by Activision in 2008 was $2. 9 billion. Activision’s stage gate model â€Å"Greenlight Process† has helped in development in its product a lot. This process includes analysis of new products in development stage before entering market in four stages as concept, prototype, first playable and alpha. Making sure that product functions properly and is as demanded by current market customers is a very important step in product development which is carried out by high-level cross functional team. Keeping your product polished and problem free is very important. Gaming industry is product based market. Even though there will be customer grouping making your product fit and well is the most. If the product is good customer from another group can be attracted by this (RPG players are different than first person shooter players). In July 9 2008, Activision finally merged with Blizzard entertainment. Blizzard is owned by French conglomerate Vivendi and is the owner of World of Warcraft, world’s largest subscription based MMORPG. This merging helped Activision expand its reach in the industry. Instead of diversifying product Activision move toward merging has proven rather useful. Gaming industry is one of the fastest growing industries. Changes occur daily in market place. Gaming industry started with text games then moved to cartridge based platforms to today’s next gen consoles. And research shows that any gaming device staying in market for more than 10 years is considered to be outdated. So the change is obvious and Activision has to be aware of these changes. Transition period between one generation of console to another generation of console hugely effects gaming industry. Activision’s performance record shows that gaming industry faces a huge halt at these times. During recession Activision was able to maintain its sales and profit curve but in 2005 when all console developers like Sony and Microsoft were preparing for launch of their new consoles gaming companies like Activision and its rival EA has to face depreciation in their business as customers are waiting for newer version of game and gaming consoles.