Reading Responses Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Reading Responses - Essay Example Authors have successfully articulated the difference between the two and how gender has been manipulated to suit the interests of the powerful. ‘Doing Difference’ by West and Fenstermaker is interesting in its concept and proposes that socially constructed differences in gender produce social inequity across society. It shows that race, class and gender are intrinsically linked and together are responsible for social inequity across gender. I do agree that in the absence of race and class, the need for gender differences would have remained non-competitive. The race promotes culturally diverse roles of genders and the class differences prompt gender inequity in order to dominate the other, resulting in subjugation of women across all strata of society. Pascoe’s article ‘‘Dude, You’re a Fag’: Adolescent Masculinity and the Fag Discourse’ is highly relevant within the sociological conceptualization of gender inequity that focuses on the ‘fag’ identity of adolescent boys. The article raises the issue of emergence of sexuality across gender, especially the relationship between homophobia and masculinity that tends to lower the impact of masculinity of boys. The penetrated boys or the ‘faggots’ tend to lose their masculinity and become gay. Thus, the homophobia of losing heterosexual prowess that is strongly embedded within adolescent boys becomes an important epithet for harassment which may cause long term psychological problems for the boys in their adulthood. (words:

Brand Positioning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Brand Positioning - Essay Example Brand proposition in the Xerox products Brand proposition is a statement which clearly identifies the benefits of the products to consumers. It is a promise to the consumers and the buyers of the benefits they would achieve if they are to buy these products. The brand proposition should include a unique tag in the marketing strategy that would draw consumers to the product. The Xerox Corporation has used various brand proposition techniques in order to market its products. For example, the Fuji Xerox printers carry a statement â€Å"true colors†. This brand propositional method ensures that a customer associates this printing machine with production of high quality print out hence boosting its sales. The Xerox Company also adopted the statement â€Å"simplicity by the numbers†. By this catchy phrase, a potential buyer would therefore associate the Xerox products with product efficiency. Since consumers tend to buy high quality and efficient products, the statement assis ts to improve on the sales of the Xerox products. In addition, the brand proposition may also mean that the service delivery of Xerox Company is fast due to the large numbers of personnel. Hence, there fast delivery would attract customers to their stores. The brand propositioning of the Xerox Corporation has helped to convince new buyers that indeed Xerox offers cheap products. In the process of sales promotion, Xerox has frequently used the phrase â€Å"we offer a better pie† to mean cheaper prices. The customers would therefore prefer high quality products but of cheaper price hence they would consider visiting the Xerox stores. Just recently, Xerox Corporation has used the brand statement â€Å"environmental friendly† on some of their newly developed solid ink. Since the whole world is careful about the effects of environmental pollution, the customers are compelled to buy this newly developed ink for their printers hence the brand proposition has helped in improvi ng of sales. Relationship between brand proposition, brand awareness and brand value in Xerox Corporation Brand awareness is the degree with which the consumers can relate precisely with a certain brand. It is a situation where the consumer is given necessary knowledge about the availability of the product, the advantages and benefits of using this product. The Xerox Corporation has achieved this by using effective methods of sales promotion so that the target groups are made aware of the product. Through brand awareness, the Xerox Company has been able to affect consumers’ decision-making, ensure customer loyalty hence saving the customer additional costs that could be used when looking for a similar product. Brand value is similar to brand equity and it is the present value of the estimated cash flow estimated to the brand (Lindstrom 2004). It is measured through customer loyalty, staff retention and recruitment. For example, the Xerox products have a higher value because t he brand has been created for a longer time hence has customer loyalty. The success of the brand awareness technique and the brand value can be attributed to the effect of brand proposition. Through the brand proposition, the customer is able to associate the brand statement with the quality of the product hence able to consider it. This plays a big role in the brand awareness because the customer is advised of the product usage and its features. In addition, the brand proposi