Bankruptcy of Businesses Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Bankruptcy of Businesses - Research Paper Example In such cases, when businesses run out of cash and are unable to cope with their debts and costs, they may be declared bankrupt or may declare bankruptcy themselves (White, 2011). This is a very crucial time for a business and is a state of emergency for their debtors as they may be unable to recover most of their debts. Such situations ruin a business’s reputation, their chances of gaining future credit, and their chances at being able to survive in the market. However, bankruptcy is an ever-increasing phenomenon for most new businesses and many older businesses as well (White, 2011). There may be several reasons for a firm to go bankrupt, which include overspending, high advantage on loans, losses in business, mismanagement, and sudden economic disasters, which may completely change a business’s circumstances. Hence, when debtors provide businesses with loans they usually make a point to see whether the business is highly leveraged and how much earning potential the b usiness has before they grant the loan (White, 2011). Accordingly, when a business declares bankruptcy, several legal issues involved must be settled before a business can go into proper liquidation. The proper legal definition of bankruptcy and the legal implications that businesses must face before/ during their bankruptcy stage will be discussed in detail. The psychology of the management of businesses that are going through the stages of bankruptcy will be explained within the paper and the history of bankruptcy of businesses and the situations that prevailed will be discussed. The paper will continue to discuss the possible causes of bankruptcy, how they affect the businesses in question, and the way such situations can be prevented. The paper will conclude with an analysis of the future prospects of businesses that suffer from such circumstances and provide possible means of improving the situation (Vinten, 2002). BANKRUPTCY The legal and appropriate definition of bankruptcy i n the case of businesses or corporations is when a business is unable to repay its outstanding debts and thus files a petition in order to reduce the amount owed or remunerate its creditors by paying off a portion of their debts and putting their business into a state of liquidation (Vinten, 2002). The common proceedings for filing bankruptcy usually begin with the filing of a petition by the debtor in which the business shows its financial position and proves that it does not have enough cash nor sources of finance to repay its creditors. In this situation, the businesses assets are usually evaluated to determine their saleable value and then their assets are liquefied in order to be sold or auctioned. The money obtained from this sell-off is then given to the creditors in return for the debt that the debtor owes them as a full settlement of the debt. The amount paid to the creditor may be less than what the creditor has paid to the business initially. However, the creditor will ha ve to settle for a portion of the debt owed to them in the situation of bankruptcy as the business has officially shown that they do not have the ability to

Time Capsule Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Time Capsule Assignment - Essay Example The Baroque time capsule, on the other hand, will contain objects of a far different type. The items in this time capsule will reflect an intellectual and an artistic time period in which classical forms were ignored or developed in important ways. The symmetry of the Renaissance, in many different fields, was supplanted by artistic endeavors characterized by a lack of symmetry, by an insertion of figurative rather than literal forms, and by a more emotional and colorful intellectual background (Wellek, 1946). Understanding the nature of the Renaissance is critical in this endeavor; it is critical because the Baroque, being a break from this intellectual tradition, cannot be understood in isolation. From a visual perspective, using art as an example, it would be wise to consider representative paintings such as The School of Athens by Raphael and the Vitruvian Man by Leonardo DaVinchi. These works are both illustrative and representative because they identify classical sources as inspirations and because they are used in such a way as to encourage future learning and development. This time period is hardly anti-learning; quite the contrary, the intellectuals simply chose to rely for political and social reasons on generally accepted classical forms and modes of inquiry. In the field of music, representative samples would include Ludwig Senfl's work, which maintained classical beats and patterns, and Johannes Lupi's work, which used repetition and imitation to distinguish his compositions rather than variations of style or structure. Representative drawings in the field of architecture, based on a revival of classical designs borrowed from classical Greek and Roman ideals, would be similar to those drawings and plans used to construct the Tempio de Visa in Rome and the Palazzo Farnese in Rome. Renaissance architecture is characterized by columns and pilasters, arches, and a very specific fitting together of pieces in a symmetrical and well-patterned way. The precision is apparent. Finally, in the fields of literature and philosophy, two representative samples would be The Divine Comedy by Dante and Utopia by Sir Thomas More. Classical sources, as with Dante, were used as foundations upon which to explore questions of religious faith, science, and philosophy more generally. In short, in all of these fields, the Renaissance is characterized by a heavy reliance upon classical sources, upon a preoccupation with symmetry and precision, and by repetitions rather than deviations. 1.2 Guidelines: Baroque Time Capsule As a preliminary matter, art provides a helpful introduction to the Baroque period; this is because art illustrates the departure from strict classical forms. Two highly representative paintings would be Adoration by Peter Paul and Aeneas Fleeing Burning Troy by Federico Barocci. Rather than employing the strict symmetry and compartmentalization of Renaissance painters such as Raphael, these paintings are characterized by overflowing colors, bodies and objects which merge rather than remaining separate, and which display a much

Assessing The Marketing Plan Of Accenture Commerce Essay

Assessing The Marketing Plan Of Accenture Commerce Essay Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. It boasts of a unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the worlds most successful companies,. The main aim of the company is to collaborate with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. Thus this company is a good company for study. Here I am analyzing their market strategy and how they could increase their customer base round the world. Keller, K (1998) Competitor Analysis One of the major competitors of Accenture is IBM company. The financial and company statistic of both have been compared below. Both are into similar business and specially compete in the area of consultancy to key corporate clients. DIRECT COMPETITOR COMPARISON ACN Pvt1 Pvt2 IBM Industry Market Cap: 27.28B N/A N/A 167.26B 111.07M Employ ­ees: 176,000 N/A N/A 410,830 810 Rev. Growth (ttm): -11.20% N/A N/A 0.80% 16.10% Revenue (ttm): 22.45B N/A N/A 95.76B 192.40M Gross Margin (ttm): 30.01% N/A N/A 45.73% 36.21% EBITDA (ttm): 3.32B N/A N/A 23.66B 12.47M Oper. Margins (ttm): 12.59% N/A N/A 19.49% 6.97% Net Income (ttm): 1.55B N/A N/A 13.43B N/A EPS (ttm): 2.375 N/A N/A 10.009 0.12 PE (ttm): 18.03 N/A N/A 12.86 18.81 PEG (ttm): 1.16 N/A N/A 1.3 1.06 PS (ttm): 1.22 N/A N/A 1.75 0.83 Pvt1= Deloitte Consulting LLP(privately held) Pvt2= HP Enterprise Services(privately held) IBM= International Business Machines Corp. Industry= Management Services Direct customer contact has made Accenture one of the most successful companies of the1990s Accenture is following the strategy of what called Direct business Model. The meaning of their model is -It is actually get to have a relationship with the customer, and that creates valuable information, which, in turn, allows them to leverage their relationships with both supplier and customers. Along with that information with technology, and they have the infrastructure to revolutionize the fundamental business models of major global components. Keller, K (1998) Accenture competitive strategies are speed to market; superior customer services; a dynamic commitment to producing consistently high quality, custom-made systems that provide the highest performance and the relevant technology to their customers; and an early exploitation of the Internet. The companys extraordinary growth and profitability en route to becoming the second largest consultants in the world. Accenture used different marketing strategies to sell there services around the world making them the most successful company in the world. Through its build-to-order manufacturing capability, Accenture has been able to cut many of the risks of the business. The company can persists on lower inventories and take advantage of price cuts more quickly than competitors. Selling service directly to customers also reduces costs by eliminating dealer markup. Brooks, I and Weatherston, J. (1997) Market Analysis Accentures pinnacle to market leadership is the result of a persistent focus on delivering the best customer experience by straight away selling products and services online and through catalogs.They put a great deal of emphasis on understanding what drives the customer satisfaction, whether it was response times on the telephone, quality of products, valuable features, or the ease of experience in using the product. Engaging the entire company from service providing to sales to support staff in the process of understanding customer requirements became is a constant focus of management, energy, training, and employee education.Accenture Computer Corp. has used the Internet to trim costs and boost sales, both of which were becoming increasingly difficult to do in the saturated consultancy market of the late 1990s. It made possible for customers who previously had placed custom orders via the telephone to place them on Accentures Web site. Customers selected configuration options, ge t price quotes, and order both single and multiple systems. The site also allowed purchasers to view their order status, and it offered support services to Accenture owners. Given below is how Accenture has been operating in the market in the year 2009 . Environmental Analysis Accenture helps organizations create and implement breakthrough operational and transformational solutions. This is critical for any company today. There are many environmental factors which become crucial in the environment in which Accenture is operating. The economical environment has a crucial impact on consumer behaviour. This factor becomes all the more relevant t in the recession period. Security of a good job and a regular income to spend on goods are factors that effect consumer behaviour. Marketing and advertising do influence consumers in helping them to purchase a particular product or service. Brassington, F and Pettitt, S, (2000), Peoples social class will also effect their behaviour. The role of society is critical. Be it the profession based influence like Actors, Doctors, engineers, low grade staff, and mothers and fathers also effect the purchase decision. Also being parents affects consumers buying habits based on the age of the children, the nature of job .Say if you are a highly paid official you could buy consultancy more easily than a lower class of corporate consumer. Also many other characters influence the consumer buying decision. The persons personality be it extrovert (out going and spends on luxury and fun) and introvert traits (keeps to themselves and purchases with online or mail order) again has an impact on the types of purchases made. Brassington, F and Pettitt, S, (2000), Customer Analysis One study which is vital when studying the consumers of Accenture are the reference groups in the corporate clientele. Reference groups are close groups of people consumers may look up towards to that have an impact on consumer behaviour. They could be celebrities like Brad Pitt or your immediate family members. Other influential people like Opinion leaders are those people that you look up to as you honor their views and judgments and these views may impact consumer decisions. Also the type of consumer need of Accenture consumers can be explained by the motivation theory of Maslow. Abraham Maslow hierarchy of needs theory was targeted to explain what motivated individuals in life to achieve. This was explained in the form of a hierarchy. He explains that consumers aim to meet basic psychological needs of hunger and thirst. When this has been fulfilled they then go up to the next stage of the hierarchy, safety needs, here their key needs are job security ,home security and the emphasis that an income will be available to them regularly. Booms, B.H. and Bitner, M.J. (1981) Social needs come in the third level of the hierarchy, the need to attachment to someone ,to be loved is a normal human desire and people do work for this belonging. Esteem need is the ext in the hierarchy and means the need for status and recognition among peers in the society, status of people, the recognition to have a good job title and be known are all needs that add to the symbol of status. Self-actualization or the realization that an individual has reached his potential in life is the top most in the need pyramid. The need of self-actualisation is critical to the individual, as he only know when he has reached the point of self-fulfillment. This concept helps an Accenture trying to sell a product or service to a consumer. it is known to all that marketing is about fulfilling needs and providing benefits, Maslows need concept suggests that needs differ as move along our path of striving for self-actualisation. Accenture customers are also looking for the status and self esteem need to be fulfilled among the higher class purchasing services . Maslows concept is useful for firms as it helps to understand and work for consumer needs and wants. Internal Analysis Accentures corporate philosophy is elite and quite different from many a companies. The same has helped it form a goodwill among prospective customers. Below are the core elements of the Soul of Accenture as they state their corporate culture summary heading: Customers: They believe in creating loyal customers by providing a superior experience at a great value. They are committed to direct relationships, providing the best products and services based on standards-based technology, and outperforming the competition with value and a superior customer experience. Blythe, J. (2001) The Accenture Team: They believe our continued success lies in teamwork and the opportunity each team member has to learn, develop and grow. They are committed to being a meritocracy, and to developing, retaining and attracting the best people, reflective of our worldwide marketplace. Direct Relationships: They believe in being direct in all they do. They are committed to behaving ethically; responding to customer needs in a timely and reasonable manner; fostering open communications and building effective relationships with customers, partners, suppliers and each other; and operating without inefficient hierarchy and bureaucracy. Global Citizenship: Booms, B.H. and Bitner, M.J. (1981) They believe in participating responsibly in the global marketplace. They are committed to understanding and respecting the laws, values and cultures wherever they do business; profitably growing in all markets; promoting a healthy business climate globally; and contributing positively in every community they call home, both personally and organizationally. Winning: They have a passion for winning in everything they do. They are committed to operational excellence, superior customer experience, leading in the global markets they serve, being known as a great company and great place to work, and providing superior shareholder value over time. Blythe, J. (2001) (Source Accenture.com) SWOT analysis: Strengths: One of the best consultancy providers.  Ã‚      It has been more than fifty years in the market.    A wide range of coverage in corporate clientele areas..     Promotions are very strong and effective Weakness: Pricing is a little high Has a premium range of services Customers service is to be worked upon Opportunities: Wide world wide coverage . USP is the hold of loyal consumers Provide new services for new corporate companies Growing consultancy services Prominence in the mind of the key consumers Recovery from recession of the customers. Baker, M. (2000) Threats:   Ã‚   Recession, has decrease disposable income in people Other competitors like IBM. Changing mindset of customers Lack of loyalty of brand among this segment consumers. Marketing Plan Phase 2 (Objectives and Strategy Development) : Executive Summary The strategic management literature is far from clear in explaining how firms choose to formulate strategy and implement it. Indeed, there are many different schools of strategic management that help to explain the manner in which firms engage in strategic decision-making and action. These include the design, planning, positioning, learning, entrepreneurial, cognitive, power, and cultural school, to name just a few. There is no right school of strategic management that should be followed, but different firms tend to subscribe to different schools depending on the industry in which they compete and the nature of the firm. The planning school is appropriate for such firms because of the nature of the industry in which they compete. At the same time, significant investments are required to back up any strategic or tactical decision made by such companies. In addition, the futures of the consultancy companies are highly changeable and unknown, with factors such as prices fluctuating grea tly. As a result, these firms tend to adopt principals from the planning school of strategy because these help the firm to focus on the external environment in which it competes and devising strategies based on such an environment. As such, when examining what guides the strategy of a firm like Accenture, it is also important to examine the school of strategic management that best explains its choice of strategy. In Accentures case, this is the positioning school, as discussed next. Brassington Frances and Pettitt Stephen (2006) Marketing Objectives The positioning school of strategic management views the strategy process as an analytical one in nature . Whilst many scholars have written about this school, the dominant proponent has been Porter (1980, 1985). In this regard, the purpose of firm strategy is to establish a position within the industry that is profitable. According to Porter (1980, 1985) this requires a firm to examine the industry within which it competes in terms of the five forces: the intensity of the rivalry amongst competing firms, the threat of substitute products and services, the threat of new entrants, and the relative bargaining power of buyers and suppliers. On this basis, it is possible for firms to select on of three generic strategies overall low cost, differentiation or focus that help it to capitalise on a position within the industry that provides for above-average industry profitability. In order to know which of these strategies is the most appropriate for a firm, it is necessary to look at its various parts. In this respect, taking a broader and deeper picture of the firm is important in understanding the context within which it competes because as Porter (1980, 1985) notes: competitive advantage cannot be understood by looking at a firm as a whole. It stems from the many discrete activities a firm performs in designing, producing, marketing, delivering, and supporting its product . As such, the value chain is an important way of assessing the Accenture primary activities its inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales, and service as well as its support activities firm infrastructure, human resources management, technology development, and procurement and assess areas of independence and mutual dependence. Accenture is a low cost provider, but also manages to use its design of the supply chain to provide a differentiated offering. The estimated earning od Accenture as doen by analyst has been shown in the table below: Earnings Est Current Qtr Feb-10 Next Qtr May-10 Current Year Aug-10 Next Year Aug-11 Avg. Estimate 0.61 0.71 2.70 3.01 No. of Analysts 19 18 21 20 Low Estimate 0.59 0.67 2.61 2.78 High Estimate 0.68 0.75 2.79 3.26 Year Ago EPS 0.63 0.68 2.68 2.70 Targeting and Positioning Segmentation: Accenture concentrating on upper-end customers. They have different segments and different USPs. While there are many possible avenues to exploit in terms of sales opportunities for these companies, the market is highly segmented in such a way that it is important for Accenture to engage in target marketing. This is the point where the particular companies must decide whether they will individually follow a niche market or a full-line strategy. Accenture thus caters to a vast market that too individually. Brassington Frances and Pettitt Stephen (2006) Branding: Accenture is a well known brand. Although its sales have been falling but it has been one of the key players in the consultancy market. Its name and use of service is associated with many a known names in its market. It is the leading brand in the world, with a focus on performance and international presence. Positioning analysis: Accenture sees positioning as a key factor in growing the brand in developing markets of Asia like China, Korea, and Malaysia. Moreover, Accenture already had marketing tie-ups in Asian market segments. Competition: While Accenture build product lines and marketing campaigns the major competition is from IBM. Thus the promotion strategies of these two companies being similar, the joint advertising and promotion cost are sure to be reduced as of their independent cost. They can target a wide range of segments which includes consultancy and solutions for the corporate client. While both these brands make use of a differentiation strategy to attract its customers, IBM concentrates its efforts on a broad cost strategy approach. The differentiation strategy of the Accenture can be seen in action by examining the various productions of this company.  In looking towards the future, the company seems to place into a position to steadily increase its market share and brand value to better compete in the consultancy business and to help in transformations of clients. Hoyer, W.D. and MacInnis, D.J. (2001) Segmentation: Accenture can now really focus on premium service full of design and innovation-the kind of service people with too much money like to buy. Accenture have their own USPs. Growth Strategies (if the objectives set refer to growth/improvement of current position) BCG analysis Here I would say that Accenture is in the cash cow position. Thus it should now harvest its product that is the Accenture company should now stop investing money in mass promotions of Accenture and wait for the right time for the market to take up dynamism. Hoyer, W.D. and MacInnis, D.J. (2001) Thus it is suggested that Accenture should not just get back and wait for this cash cow to give returns. It has been listed as a cash cow because the amount of revenue which can come from this product is now saturates. Another strategy that it can follow is that it should make this brand and launch it in the Asian market where recession hasnt taken such a big toll. There it can be launched as a question mark and will need high amount of promotions and distribution to be established in a new country. This is a strategy that Accenture should take on to survive in a global market like that of today. This is by far the only way in which it can cover up the market saturation the company has reached at present. Ansoffs Matrix:   According to the Ansoffs Matrix there are four major strategies that Accenture can follow. However the strategy that is recommended is Product /service development. This strategy is recommended for Accenture as they have still got basic problems with their product that is differentiation form competitors.. This is to be improved. Aaker, D and Joachimsthaler, E (2000) Innovation in technology needs to be added to these products to bring in more business in the current markets. Global Customer wants value for money that is cheaper prices and good quality. Also in this field new technology and luring the customer with the same is very important a suggested to Accenture. PESTLE Analysis PESTLE Analysis or survey of the marketing environment include history of firm, macro/micro factors that are relevant including a stakeholder analysis . It is critical to understand the toothpaste too through these points of strategy. This classification distinguishes between: Political factors. These refer to government policy such as the degree of intervention in the economy. What goods and services does a government want to provide? The liberalization by the government has of course helped out the business in consultancy companies to survive in recession too. Economic factors. These include interest rates, taxation changes, economic growth, inflation and exchange rates. These include higher interest rates may deter investment because it costs more a strong currency may make exporting more difficult because it may raise the price in terms of foreign currency inflation may provoke higher wage demands from employees and raise costs higher national income growth may boost demand for a firms products It is seen in recession times that many delegate have been shown the pink slip.. But the same phenomenon has also lead those who could start purchasing this product to deter and not buy it due to the conservative nature that has seeped in the consumer after recession round the world specially to the consultancy business sector.. Social factors. Changes in social trends can impact on the demand for a firms products and the availability and willingness of individuals to work. For example the consumer of the Accenture service may vary form one country to another. Technological factors: new technologies create new products and new processes. Online shopping, bar coding and computer aided design are all improvements to the way we do business as a result of better technology. As far as Accenture is concerned, it will have to incorporate these in its portfolio of services too for the ease of the customers. Environmental factors: environmental factors include the weather and climate change. Changes in temperature can impact on many industries including farming, tourism and FMCG. With major climate changes occurring due to global warming and with greater environmental awareness this external factor is becoming a significant issue for firms to consider. Legal factors: these are related to the legal environment in which firms operate. In recent years world has been many significant legal changes that have affected firms behaviour. Legal changes in a country can affect a firms costs (e.g. if new systems and procedures have to be developed) and demand (e.g. if the law affects the likelihood of customers buying the good or using the service).Thus the same are critical in the analysis of Accenture. Aaker, David and Joachimsthaler, E. (1999). Selection of Competitive Advantage As far as the competitive advantages is concerned Accenture has to work on the following areas in 2010 The company is loosing its growth in the market The company is apprehensive to spread to other countries The stress of the company has always been consultancy no other service The company has priced its product at a very high price as compared to the near competitors. Also the fact that competitors like IBM are present in the market ,it becomes all the more important to bring up a very strong competitive advantages. Accenture should do this by a good supply chain management across the world. Understanding the strategic choices of Accenture is important in supply chain management (SCM) because it helps to establish the focus on the companys activities. Indeed, SCM reflects the management of the interconnections of organizations that relate to each other through upstream and downstream linkages between the processes that produce value to the ultimate consumer in the form of products and services. SCM is a critical component of this. Through SCM Accenture can examine ways of being more efficient, especially for an overall low cost strategy, and well as adding more value to end customers, important for a differentiated strategy. In the case of Accenture that adopt an overall low cost strategy, the goal is to increase sales volume whilst also reducing unit costs because this helps to improve the margin achieved by the firm. Over time, a firm can capitalise on economic of scale through investment in infrastructure, as well as learning curve effects and perhaps more effective purchasing decisions, supply chain efficiencies and better logistics management. When adopting such a strategy, it may also be pertinent to not simply optimise individual links within the supply chain, but examine how efficiencies can be made across the supply network since it can easily be possible for a distant supplier in the supply network to disrupt the entire supply chain . Nonetheless, many efficiencies are likely to be found in the immed iate supply chain because the firm has greater control over this part of the supply network . Marketing Mix Programme As far as the pricing of Accenture is concerned ,it is little on the premium side. As compared to IBM it should reduce its prizing to competitive level. Whilst controlling costs is still important, focus is placed on the Accenture intangible assets and its ability to leverage these within the value chain. Product wise Accenture has a good range of services to offer backed up by a good customer care. More so it could forward integrate to technology making in various fields to expand business and profits. In the case of Accenture pursuing a differentiated strategy, these aim to focus on those aspects of their products or service provision that add most value in the eyes of the consumer. A critical component of this strategy is to understand which parts of the supply network should be kept in-house and which should be outsourced, or perhaps even acquired. In-house activities are those that add greatest value to the firm and where its has particular competence, whilst the outsourcing of supply chain activities should take place for more peripheral activities within a Accenture value chain. In reality, just as Accenture do not always follow one of the three generic strategies, but a hybrid corporate strategy, so should they look for a hybrid approach to business. The key point, however, is that there is alignment between Accenture corporate strategy and its marketing mix approach Theory building in MARKETING MIX based strategic research has focused on two areas: international marketing mix management (MARKETING MIX) and decision-making in stock management. MARKETING MIX research has focused on the potentially virtuous and vicious cycles that are evident in Accenture . The overall analysis of this is that Accenture were generally facing reinforcing loops that led to either successful or unsuccessful MARKETING MIX. One of the major issues in MARKETING MIX is service management, with the general problem that individuals do not understand the feedback mechanisms that lead to failure in the marketing system. Accenture tend to focus on inventory management, demand amplification, marketing mix re-engineering, and marketing mix design .This work is particularly appropriate to the bullwhip effect and the marketing mix redesign that has been taking place at Accenture . The notion of the bullwhip effect in marketing mix which is followed by Accenture came from work by Procter Gamble, a fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company that had a large, complex international marketing mix. During the process of managing their marketing mix, the company noticed that as information went up the marketing mix, the distortion of that information increased. The market negative effect is the term used to describe this effect. It results from a lack of synchronization between members of a marketing mix, which is amplified the greater the number of members and the larger the number of defaults in the slae system linkages through which information passes. The problems that Accenture face is that since supply characteristics do not match demand characteristics, inventory starts to accumulate at the different stages of the marketing mix. Accenture is striving with the problem of delivery and supply and demand mismatch since 2004. Marketing mix management is the oversig ht of materials, information, and finances as they move in a process from supplier to manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer to consumer. A marketing mix is the group of organizations, people, technology, information and resources consisted in transferring the product or good from the producer to the end consumer.. Supply chain helps in the marketing mix in moving the raw material to the manufacturer , the final good or ready product to the wholesaler and from their to the consumer.. It is important to have glance at the component of the marketing mix management to understand the relevance of integration planning and management of the same. . There are six key elements of the company that are critical to any business: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Production à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Supply à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Inventory à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Location à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Transportation, and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Information. Accenture try to deal with the dangers of the marketing defaults through the forecasting of demand. This is important because demand is rarely stable. Such variability often means that Accenture need to keep a degree of safety stock; effectively an inventory buffer. The further up the supply chain towards raw material producer, the greater the observed demand, and therefore the greater the safety stock that is required. When demand rises in a given period, downstream suppliers increase their orders, whilst during falling demand, the converse occurs. Since fluctuations in demand are more pronounced up the supply chain, this increases the size of the oscillations faced through the supply chain. This is something that Accenture has to manage. No consumer should go unattended. There are a number of factors that contribute to the negative marketing mix effect. First, forecast errors can easily occur simply because Accenture are unaware how demand many change over time. Even for goods that have a common demand pattern there can be instances where demand suddenly changes because of unknown factors. Second, there can be an overreaction to backlogs in supply of service by the company. In the diagram below of the companys supply chain; the arrows are for supplier-relationship management, internal SCM and customer-relationship management . A supply chain starts with ecological and biological regulation of natural resources. This is then taken on to supply of raw material, many production links before one moves to several layers of storage facilities of various size and remote geographical locations. Then on it finally reaches the consumer. Here the service to be delivered although is the price which also has to be followed up for customer care after sale. Thus this as a whole can improve the sales of the company to bring in an effective marketing mix strategy for Accenture.

The Feminine in William Butler Yeats Poetry Essay -- Poems Women femi

The Feminine in William Butler Yeats' Poetry William Butler Yeats had a long history of involvement with women. He was deeply affected by all types of women; from love interests with Mrs. Olivia Shakespear, Maud Gonne and her adopted daughter Iseult, to a partnership and friendship with Lady Gregory, to marriage with Georgie Hyde-Lees, and finally the birth of his own daughter Anne Yeats. These relationships are reflected in his poetry on many different and multi-layered levels. The mentions of women in his work gives the readers some historical content as well as show the development of his feminine idea. As different as his many relationships with women were, so was his reflection of them in his writing. Yeats took people he knew and transformed them into images and patterns of order (Unterecker 12). In this case, it is important to notice Yeats's use of biography within his poetry. In 1889, Yeats was introduced to Maud Gonne who became a central part of his life and major theme in his work. She was an adamant Irish nationalist and a beautiful woman to Yeats. He pursued her much of his life, only to be rejected repeatedly by her. In 1894 he met Mrs. Olivia Shakespear whom he regarded as a confidant, despite their short affair. Yeats found friendship and maternal caring in Lady Gregory. "She became for him an image of aristocratic courtesy" (Untereker 14). Yeats spent time at her estate, Coole Park, and traveled often with Lady Gregory and her son Robert. He became director of Abbey Theatre with Lady Gregory in 1906. In 1911 he met George Hyde-Lees and due to the encouragement of Mrs. Shakespear and Lady Gregory he proposes. Yeats married Georgia Hyde-Lees and on February 2 4, 1919 their daughter Anne was bo... ...ess. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Jeffares, Norman A. A New Commentary on the Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1984. Keane, Patrick J. Yeats, Joyce, Ireland, and the Myth of the Devouring Female. MO: University of Missouri Press, 1988. Kline, Gloria C. The Last Courtly Lover: Yeats and the Idea of Woman. Ann Arbor, MI: UMI Research Press, 1983. Stubbings, Diane. Anglo-Irish Modernism and the Maternal: From Yeats to Joyce. New York: Palgrave, 2000. Unterecker, John. A Reader's Guide to William Butler Yeats. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1996. Whitaker, Thomas R. Swan and Shadow: Yeats's Dialogue with History. Durham, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1964. Yeats, W.B. The Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats. Ed. Richard J. Finneran. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996.

Family Essay Essay

Bridge to Wiseman’s Cove – Freedom Essay by Callum Powell 8A The phrase to â€Å"set himself free† is used a lot throughout a bridge to Wiseman’s cove, whether it is to do with family issues or just common everyday tasks. Carl is constantly trying to let himself free and sometimes succeeds but other times doesn’t. Some examples are that if he’ll see his mother or every stop looking after his little brother Harley. Throughout â€Å"A bridge Wisemans cove† he goes through a mental journey facing evil family member (usually Beryl) and friends. An example of setting himself free is at the end of the novel where throughout the book where he has been looking after Harley, feeding him, caring for him and most importantly keeping him out of trouble. Such as when Harley is caught stealing from the local store, by the time he gets back to Aunt Beryl’s house she lashes out and threatens to kick Harley out but Carl intervenes and give Beryl some of the money that Sarah gave him earlier on in the book so that she can be kind to Harley. So by the end of the book when Harley moves in with the Duncan’s. Carl feels a sense of relief and freedom, because he no longer has the responsibility for Harley and he no longer has to worry about him. â€Å"â€Å"When Beryl chains Harley up, Carl finds the courage to confront her at the bowls club where she has been all day playing the pokies. If you’d stayed with him, kept an eye on him, if you cared about him, he wouldn’t get into trouble. † This is another part of the book where Carl â€Å"sets himself free† he finally sets free how much he despises aunt Beryl, she has been mean and cruel to them and trying to find any reason to kick them out. So this is when Carl sets free how he feels and puts his foot down. Another example of setting himself free is also at the end of the book when Carl finds out that whilst on her way home from her ‘holiday’ Kerry died in a bus crash. â€Å"Carl Matt opened up too, letting go and feeling a freedom flood into him †¦ he knew at last that he was alive to feel it† (page 241) this moment was probably one of the biggest revelations for Carl as he finally felt the sense of freedom as he was always wondering when his mum would return or if she would return. So when he finally finds out that his mother had died of course he felt sad and depressed but at the same time he felt closure and freedom as he didn’t have to worry about her or didn’t have to always be thinking of if she will come and pick him up. This is a very important part of the novel as the premise of the book is based on family and love but Carl and Harley don’t have either all they have is each other so when they find out their mum is dead it hits them hard but also sets them free. One last example of letting himself free is whilst Carl is working at Skips barge. Because working on the barge helps Carl get away from all his troubles and more importantly the people that don’t accept him such as Beryl. Whilst working on the barge Carl finds the freedom to try a lot of new things. â€Å"You love that barge, don’t you, Carl? †¦You’re the best thing that could have happened. † Finally people were starting to notice Carl, then he had the freedom to show himself. Throughout the book he was shown as a very shy, lonely and awkward kid who didn’t know many people and didn’t really talk or try to communicate with them. â€Å"Carl shared in†¦the freedom of the bird itself. Elation, freedom. He felt them both† (page 158) in some sense Carl wished that he was the bird so that he could fly away from all of his problems ad just leave them all behind. Although Carl keeps working at the barge by the end of the book he still senses a feel of freedom being away from everyone and having somewhere just to relax and forget all of your troubles. To conclude Carl found many ways to find freedom whether it was mental or emotional freedom. The ways he exampled freedom in the text were standing up to Aunt Beryl for Harleys sack, working at the local barge and finally he having the freedom to stop worrying about is mother as he didn’t know she died on her way back home. So by the end of the novel Carl found the freedom for a lot of things and didn’t regret any of the decisions he made.

Claudius Speech †Hamlet Essay

Claudius, the former ruler, husband of his sister and brother of the recently perished king gives a speech at the beginning of Act I. II of Hamlet. Shakespeare’s use of literary devices allows the reader to comprehend the intentions behind Claudius’s figurative language within his coronation speech. The opening scene in Hamlet portrays Denmark to currently be critically unstable and with militaristic chaos; however, in Claudius’s speech he disposes that idea and conveys confidence in the stability of the nation. This chronological set up introduces the theme of appearance vs.  reality as Claudius efforts to manipulate the kingdom into trusting that he has everything under control is carried mischievously yet successfully throughout his speech. Aware of the presence of the rightful king, young Hamlet, Claudius commences his speech with an ambiguous line that strikes the attention of Hamlet. Once he is aware of young Hamlet’s attention, he continues to approach the courthouse. He seemingly shows a state of grief as he acknowledges his dead brother. â€Å" My dear brother’s death† the use of alliteration makes us aware that Claudius has used that line several times before in order to show a sign of loss. He wants to appear that has suffered too from this death, he mentions that â€Å" the memory be green† this metaphor is placed to represent the idea that the memory is fresh and it has not been long since he perished, while also leaving a gruesome image of the old kings decomposing body. His first use of anti-thesis is then exposed in line 6, when he mentions â€Å" the wisest sorrows† in that line he is understanding those in grief but reminding them to think of themselves and the future of Denmark instead. After respectfully mentioning the death of Hamlet, and expressing his condolence to the kingdom he deceitfully moves on to the second important announcement: his wedding. Uneasy, Claudius is trying to go about his speech like a metaphorical obstacle course hoping there is no interference or opposition, while still being able to appear as confident. Efficaciously, he presents his marriage â€Å" Therefore our sometime sister, now our queen, Th’ imperial jointress to this warlike state. † Using the state of war as his alaby to the marriage of his brother’s wife he is able to convince the courthouse that it is for the greater good and that his actions are a form of self-sacrifice for the nation. Continuing to justify his marriage as a cause and affect matrimony instead of acts of incest he mentions the â€Å" mirth in funeral † and â€Å"dirge in marriage†. This literary device is important within his speech because it is his second antithesis, and a paradoxical clause. In this he is suggesting that he brought happiness to this sad event for the benefit of his people. â€Å"In equal scale, weighing delight and dole† Claudius is trying to banish the aura of unsteadiness and declares balance. He makes up for the sorrow of his dead brother, by marrying his sister. Even though it is an obvious unusual event, Claudius reflects enough confidence as king and successfully manages avoid any opposition. A good strategy used was his the frequent use of â€Å" we†. This indicated that the king was not only speaking for himself, but he was speaking for everyone like a good statesman would. In reality however, he was doing so to make everyone aware that it was of â€Å" better wisdoms† to agree with him, and that those with worst wisdoms would not face good consequences. Claudius gently expresses his supreme control over Denmark and threatens anyone who dares oppose him in a non-aggressive way. He later finalizes the topic of marriage by dismissing the awkward topic of the table like a typical political â€Å" For all, our thanks† As king, Claudius then addresses the issues with Norway. Assertively, he informs the kingdom of his plan of action. He repeats the line â€Å" dear brother’s death† giving it little sentimental value. He then quickly states that Norway believes that Denmark is â€Å" disjoint and out of frame. † He assures the courthouse that the case is not so, and that they will successfully deal with Fortibras. The irony behind that is that Denmark is weak, regardless of what Claudius wants his people to believe. In order to seem like a man of action Claudius puts his future plan forward â€Å" Thus much the business is we have here writ to Norway, uncle of young Fortibras. † By doing that he convinces many that he is a potent king. Writing to Norway makes him seem like he is aware of what he is doing and that the nation does not need to worry. To complement his assurance he appoints two messengers to deliver a letter, this is significantly important because his objective is to prove to the court that he trusts his officials, ironically thought, he is purposely sending two people incase of a betrayal. Claudius’s speech had a successful outcome. He was able to gently hide his inner insecurities and expose himself as a good statesman and valiant leader. His word usage was essential to the deliverance of his speech as it allowed him to get his awkward points across like unusual marriage to his sister. His use of antithesis did make the reader question the sincerity of his grief, but it did not seem to affect the opinion of the courthouse. He showed clear superiority over everyone within the courthouse, especially Hamlet, while making himself clear that he would not tolerate any disagreement of his coronation. Most importantly, he put an action plan forward and proved himself as king.

How to Expand Your Organic Growth on Facebook and Twitter for Free

How to Expand Your Organic Growth on Facebook and Twitter for Free When it comes to social media, every brand wants in on the action. It’s no secret that social media marketing works only if a brand actually has fans or followers. Amassing a respectable audience on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ (is that still a thing?), Linkedin, Instagram or any of the other platform du jour  is tough. Many brands and small businesses want their social media presence to be organic, meaning no money invested. Having a good, or great, social media presence can help any   business grow like wildflowers. But, this will only happen after it develops a large following and then works consistently to engage, educate, and cultivate this audience. Brands want the growth and audience, but aren’t willing to pay for it. Seems like a catch 22. Can a brand simply grow their social audience organically?   Is that even possible in today’s pay-to-play landscape? Here are some metrics. Here’s a 10 step recipe for growing an organic audience on Facebook and TwitterHow to Get 129% Organic Growth on Twitter and 239% on Facebook With 100% Organic Tactics No, this isn’t a fairytale in the land of make believe that is social media. It’s actually the metrics after recently (within past two months) concluding a relationship with one of my first social media clients ever. The client, let’s call them DFX (name changed), works in the financial sector so the competition is high, with tight regulations in terms of release of specific information, and it just so happens to be that within this aspect of the industry, some brands are known for tactics that fall within the â€Å"grey area† of digital marketing. After closing up with the DFX, it’s pretty clear that brands can still boost their audience even without investing money. Will it take time and effort? Absolutely, but the euphoria of surviving numerous Facebook algorithms and outperforming your competition is worth it all. Trust me, I’ve been there. So, how did they succeed in growing organically?   Here’s a 10 step recipe for growing an organic audience on Facebook and Twitter (and it even worked a bit on Google Plus too). Here’s a 10 step recipe for growing an organic audience on Facebook and TwitterKnow the Fundamentals to Grow a Social Media Audience the Right Way Organic growth is based on three fundamentals: Consistency Knowledge Being real (authenticity) Brands must be consistent. If any brand attempts to implement any of these strategies for even a month and then gives up, I guarantee that they will fail. Social media is a long-term game. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Limited on time? No problem, just pick a few of the strategies and be relentless in executing them. Brands must know their audience (we all know what happens when we assume things about people)? Understand their patterns, their preferences, their input. Social media is always about being real. There’s no room for bots, auto responders, auto DM’s, and egg heads. It’s about conversation. Organic growth on social media is just as much about knowing, educating and maintaining current followers as it is about gaining new ones. Recommended Reading: The Six Types of Social Media Content That Will Give You the Greatest Value With that introduction, here’s how DFX grew their social media audience organically (all images and screenshots of content are used with permission). With this information in hand, any brand can launch an organic growth campaign. Recommended Reading: Facebook Marketing Strategy: Why You Need One (And How to Build It) 1. Perform a Social Media Audit After vowing to embrace the fundamentals, an important step in growth is to first assess what’s been done. Conduct a social media audit of your existing process, strategy, and flow. Calendar of content: Yes, this is number one on an audit. Without a content calendar that stresses consistency, valuable brand focused and industry relevant content the entire social media and digital effort will be sloppy. Audience mapping: Identify leaders, influencers, and key figures in the space. Content should be shaped and guided by the conversations of these industry figures. Focus the brands engagement efforts and optimize content to this audience. Additionally, the content style of others in your space should offer insight into what resonates with the readers. Timing: Content should be posted at optimal times based on the highest concentration of readers. The easiest method to start an audit about timing is to use Facebook Insights   which will highlight the trends. Frequency of content sharing and use of hashtags: Posting content at the right time is one aspect of timing. The frequency of sharing relevant content to these audiences is also important. It does take a bit of trial and error. Using hashtags can also boost reach of your content. How often is content posted? When are hashtags, if at all, used? How many hashtags? Image Quality: Unfortunately, this is a problem that many brands confront (more about this later). This should be as important as the rest of your content. Is the image shareable? Will it look right when shared across digital channels? Has it been tagged on the CMS backend? Word Choice: Brands often auto share their content without being mindful of what will actually engage their readers. Engagement vs Automation: Every brand schedules content. Automation helps, but it can’t replace human interaction and engagement. How often is content scheduled and pushed out and how often does the brand engage with its users, those who share its content? After conducting a detailed, unbiased, social audit it’s time to move on to the fun part: successful organic growth. Note: The above audit served as the ongoing reference point for the DFX social team to refine and revise its strategy. Any brand can use this audit style. 2. Build Out Your Content Calendar In order for a brand to truly grow its organic audience and, by default, its reach, it needs to be strategic about its posting of content. Creating a proper schedule that drills down to the topics, the word choice, timing, style on each social platform, what call-to-action (only one per post please), awareness of important calendar dates within the industry or relevant holidays, will focus all marketing and communication efforts. Synchronizing these efforts is the most important. Why? Knowing these critical pieces of information eases the entire flow of content to be a deliberate process. A complete content calendar spans over a few months and includes all of the postings and themes that will be focused on during this time frame. The calendar should be amenable to change, as trends shift and brands need to modify accordingly. A calendar should not only include campaign themes, but also any events, sponsorships or webinars. offers a very detailed content calendar  for free. A content calendar should not only include campaign themes, but also any events, sponsorships or...3. Try Reverse-Engineering Hashtags For several clients, I’ve found that the best way to identify which content should be posted on what days, was to reverse engineer the calendar based on hashtags. How can hashtags define an entire content calendar? Hashtags simply let a brand associate their content, tweets, or posts with a larger conversation on a global scale? Yes, global. So a brand can easily grow their page by using a hashtag? Yes!   It's like adding keywords to your message to make it globally searchable. Which hashtags are right for your brand? Use Hashtagify to identify the relevance of a specific hashtag and other relevant ones associated to the main one. Once identified, brands can then leverage this information for competitive research, content curation, and influencer mapping. Every industry has hashtags. Remember, they’re like keywords. Recommended Reading: How to Use Hashtags Effectively Without Being Annoying 4. Search For Relevant Twitter Chats Once a brand has mapped the right hashtags, go one step further by searching for relevant Twitter chats. These weekly or bi-weekly online conversations on Twitter are a secret way to grow an organic audience. Use the Twubs  to search the extensive calendar for relevant conversations: Access a global network of relevant people, engage in meaningful conversations within its industry, and identify active users all organically. For the sake of example, a company working in the travel industry. Every Tuesday, there is a conversation called #ttot, travel talk on Twitter. On this day, travel professionals from around the world engage in industry related conversations. Why not leverage this to grow your audience? Bam! Your brand has just created its content bible by reverse engineering a content schedule framed around relevant conversations, industry topics, and optimal engagement.Tuesdays are now set in terms of branded content. Continuing with the travel theme, any destination is rich with history. Why not use the popular #TBT (throw back Thursday) to highlight the changing landscape of a location over time?! With two days of content framed around hashtags, the rest of the week should be much easier to plug in. Recommended Reading: 30 Social Media Engagement Tactics That Will Boost Shares And Conversions 5. Know that Timing is Everything Once you know what to post, now it’s time to determine when to post it. Organic growth starts with knowing when your brand’s audience is online. Timing for each platform does vary. We even wrote a post the best times to post on each platform, which digs deep into the topic of timing content for optimal viewing. For a day-to-day analysis, conducted extensive research  on optimizing the timing of content for best engagement. For DFX, Sundays, an otherwise slow time in the trading/ financial sector, was a chance for the brand to offer valuable information that is relevant to the upcoming week. It was also a time to highlight some key figures and personalities in the industry. Get more social media engagement by offering valuable content during off-peak times.Why? By offering valuable content on a slow day, DFX positioned itself as an active participant in the online conversation. It also presented itself as community-minded brand since every week the content on Sundays was focused around other brands. The proactive content and engagement approach, during an otherwise quiet time in the industry, significantly grew the brand’s organic audience. 6. Get Your Frequency Dialed In Once your brand knows when to post the content for optimal viewing, now the question is how often should a brand post its content. Guy Kawasaki is famous for his unique social media content strategy, sharing the exact content four times a day, eight hours apart. Why? Simply stated, why get 600 views when you can get 2400 by sharing it multiple times? Besides, if your audience sees your content more than once then they’re probably sitting in front of their computer for way too long. Recommended Reading: How Often to Post on Social Media [Proven Research From 10 Studies] A twist on the Guy Kawasaki method, which has helped many clients, is to share the same piece of content on Twitter four to six times a day and on Facebook two to three times a day, but each time either the image or the content (not the link) varies. How does a brand repurpose its content for multiple sharing throughout the day? Think about each blog post as a newspaper article. Every article has multiple angles that may interest a reader. Why not offer them as ‘new’ content options? Here’s a sample of the same link being shared three times in one day. This link got over 120 views in one day. When it comes to social media success, timing is everything.7. Understand Audience Mapping Organic growth on social media can be as simple as mapping your target audiences. Start by telling BuzzSumo  the category of content that best suits your brand, BuzzSumo will produce a list of the most influential people in the space, it will also share a list of content pieces that have performed extremely well. This makes your job a whole lot easier. If you have a BuzzSumo subscription, start by logging in. Then, select Influencers: Next, enter a keyword related to your industry, and click Search: Now, start following these people: For DFX, we mapped over 3,000 influencers and brands that we’d like to work with and engage in meaningful conversations (more on that later). 3,000. It took a long time to map them but the ROI was impressive. Once a respectable list is generated, sort each member of the audience, especially competition, by their social following. Next, is to follow these brands on Twitter and Facebook who share content that resonates with your brand profile. What will most likely happen is that top ones will rise to the top. Use their metrics as a benchmark. At DFX, we followed them across social channels, like Facebook Pages to watch, signed up to their newsletters, and subscribed to their RSS feeds. Watch your competition's Facebook pages, get their newsletters, and subscribe to their RSS feeds.Use a service like Nuzzel to do scour the internet of your main audience and their best performing content. They will email the most-shared content from your audience. If the list of influencers is really good, then the results will be super relevant, making organic growth a cinch. Guess what? Your brand has just mapped the right people and now it also knows what content is doing well. Once you know what’s doing well and what others are writing about, wouldn’t it make sense to add some value to the conversation by writing a content piece about the topic and mention these people?! Of course it would! Then, post the content and tag these brands. Unique, valuable content, targeted to your audience, and garnered by the leaders of your space. Organic growth was never so easy. Want to take the audience mapping to the next level? Create an interview series with these influencers as the guest contributors offering their thoughts on the industry and their vision on certain topics. Influencer marketing does work (for proof, here’s how Huawei rocked  their influencer marketing efforts). Now it’s your turn to share it and engage these people. Recommended Reading: How to Find Your Target Audience to Create the Best Content That Connects 8. Automate Content Unless your brand is Superman, there’s never enough time in the day to post content around the clock. Automation helps with making social media growth more efficient and effective. It’s not intended to be the only form of social media. Automation is half of the solution. Care to guess the other? Yup, engagement. See number 6. Once a brand understands that automation and real conversations are both  important, that real organic growth can take place. Looking for automation tools? Here’s a list of 9 social media management tools  that cross all platforms. Recommended Reading: Best Time Scheduling is the Easy Way to Get More Engagement [New Feature] 9. Engage Your Audience Social media is a behavioral shift. It’s not a broadcast platform. Engaging an audience and a community is one of the toughest aspects of social media marketing. Finding the right balance between branded content and audience generated content is not easy. For every brand it will vary.   For some it can be funny pictures, memes, videos, gif’s, or a white paper. Once a brand does have a following it means engaging, supporting and sharing their content, responding to their comments, and helping them if necessary. Social media is a behavioral shift. It's not a broadcast platform.How do you get more people talking about and interacting with your brand on social media? Stop talking about your brand! Yup, that’s right. Avoid being overtly promotional. The more narrative based content or industry related content and interesting pieces of information that aren’t brand focused will show the community how real the brand is. It may sound counterintuitive but it works. Want to engage an audience? Find a conference. No brands don’t have to attend every industry conference. Why not use the conference specific hashtag (there’s that reverse engineering thing again) as a means to engage in conversations?! Here’s a targeted conversation with a global influencer from DFX before a conference: Look at that! The brand engaged in a meaningful way and landed a meeting (face-to face) and took the conversation offline. 10. Take it Offline That’s right, one of the best ways of growing an organic social audience is to find ways to take it offline. That could be a phone call, a webinar, a meeting at a conference (via the hashtag), or webinar.   Bridge the online offline gap and a put a face to the brand. Make it happen. Tweeting and posting can be done all day, but until a real connection is made, the deal won’t be sealed. one of the best ways of growing an organic social audience is to find ways to take it offline.11. Aesthetics is Everything Visuals can make the entire difference in organic growth. It can boost brand visibility while supporting all digital efforts.   With such a cluttered social space, high quality, attractive visuals make a brand memorable. Visual content is easier for humans to process and is an easy way to generate more views, click throughs and followers. Rather than just use the same text, or the default image that comes up when putting a link to Facebook or Google Plus, why not be creative? Recommended Reading: How to Design Blog Graphics With Free Tools Consistent style of content and embedding of images that are high quality and relevant can make all the difference in organic growth and brand awareness. Social media marketing is a marathon. It will take time. The best metric of success in social media is the quality (not quantity) of your networks. Any brand that approaches social media from an organic perspective, the quality of their community will be a natural progression of the effort put in.