Communication in the marketplace

Posted: October 17th, 2013

Communication in the marketplace

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Communication in the marketplace

Question one

In the first chapter of the book, Good to Great: Why some companies make a leap by Jim Collins, he opens up with a quote by Beryl Markham that says “that’s what makes death so hard, implying unsatisfied curiosity” (Collins, 2001, p. 158). Collins does make a connection between this book and his previous work, Built to Last. This represented his findings of a six-year research into factors that would determine a new company survival for the long-term. He first contends that to achieve the long-term, sustainable success companies are supposed to set their core values in order. His argument was that companies exist for a higher purpose than profit generation in order to go beyond the category of good. According to Collins, purpose does not have to be specific but sufficient as long as the team of members is equally dedicated to the same course. Therefore, company should adamantly focus on developing the foundation required to work toward greatness. Then, apply the principles of permanence that are described in Built to Last (Collins, 2001).

Question two

The great merchants of early eighteenth learned to exploit on aspirations and dreams. Helen Landon Cass in a display convention in 1923 mentioned, “Sell them their dreams. Sell them what they longed for and hoped for. Sell them this hope and you won’t have to worry about selling the goods”(Collins, 243). This strategic seduction of masses was engineered and fueled by three A’s namely advertising, air conditioning and art. The most recent messages of hope are from Hillary Rodham Clinton during her previous campaign “As we take the next steps in our journey, I know you’ll be right there with me, as always, in my heart and by my side” (Collins, 259). This alluded the presidential running tenure. In addition, the statement caused a compulsion in different states in America. Another aspect of hope in a speech is found in 1978 when Harvey Milk delivered a message that is very much relevant to the present day. His message not only challenged our willingness to embrace difference but offered hope for the future (Collins, 2001).

This refers to In Praise of Consumerism. James B. Twitchell says, “When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping. And sometimes even get happy” (Twitchell, 148). Helen also quotes “Sell them their dreams. Sell them what they longed for, hoped for, and almost despaired of having. Sell them hats by splashing sunlight across them. Sell them dreams; dreams of country clubs and proms and visions of what might happen if only. After all, people do not buy things to have things. They buy things to work for them. They buy hope; hope of what your merchandise will do for them. Sell them this hope and you won’t have to worry about selling them goods” (Twitchell, 326). She was a female radio presenter in a convention of salespersons in Philadelphia. Her insights and invocations were recorded with no surrounding explanations. This is because it encouraged business venture and entrepreneurial spirits that had to be tapped then. The reason why most producers splash magical promises over goods is directly linked to consumers’ need of demand (Twitchell, 2000).

Question three

            For one to consume a product without consuming its meaning, ignoring modern consumerism and commercialism notions in imperative. The difficulty is increased by the association created through advertising between certain products and lifestyles. For the consumer, certain products present certain lifestyles usually the one’s considered desirable. Advertisers sell a lifestyle more than a product since the former is appealing to the consumer in this age of commercialism. Every event whether scared holiday or not, every product whether luxury or basic, has an associated lifestyle and social presentation thus it is impossible to disassociate a product and its meaning.

Question four

Memes in Dawkins ideology refer to every cultural entity that observers may consider a duplicate of certain ideas or a number of complex ideas. His hypothesis was that people could observe many cultural entities as capable of such replications, through human exposure. Eventually this has evolved as efficient duplicity of information and demeanor. However, since memes are not copied perfectly, and might indeed become refined, efficient replicates than their predecessors will provide a framework for a hypothesis of cultural evolution. Hence, this is analogous to the theory of biological evolution based on genes. In our daily lives, memetic patterns are portrayed in mathematics and the international stock exchange arenas. The formulae may change from time-to-time, but the outcome is expected to be an improvement of the previous outcomes. Memetic patterns are also seen in software development and computer hardware engineering aspect. There is a constant improvement over the previous products and new inventions are being exploited (Twitchell, 2000).

Question five

Online Culture: In human communication history, no other medium has made it possible for so many people to interact with each other virtually instantaneously, irrespective of the distances between them. There are online chat logs and a number of different emailing services that encouraged it. This has also incorporated the aspect of online transactions that keep business ventures and accounts easier to handle. On my thoughts about this aspect, it is an opportunity to expand and lay a competitive platform for business ideas and solutions. This sure reverberates a lot in the present economical standards through general produce internally (Danesi, 2008).

References

Collins, J. C. (2001).Good to great: why some companies make the leap… and others don’t. Random House Business books. New York, NY: Random House Business.

Danesi, M. (2008).Of cigarettes, high heels, and other interesting things: an introduction to semiotics; Semaphores and Signs. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

Twitchell, J. B. (2000).Lead us into temptation: the triumph of American materialism. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.