The Indigo Spell Chapter Nineteen

SOMEHOW, I STILL LOST. If Adrian were capable of on-the-fly calculations, I'd swear he was using his powers to affect the way the dice rolled. Most likely, he either had some innate and inexplicable Monopoly skills I just couldn't understand – or he was very, very lucky. But through it all, I had fun, and losing to him was a lot better than having Veronica haunt me in my sleep. He continued the dream visits for the next few days, and although I never felt completely safe from her, I at least didn't have her occupying the forefront of my mind at all times. That honor was saved for my weekend trip to St. Louis, which came around more quickly than I expected. Once I was on the plane, the reality of what I was about to attempt hit me. This was it, the point of no return. In the safety of Palm Springs, I'd been able to maintain a somewhat cool and collected attitude. St. Louis had seemed far away back then. Now the tasks ahead of me seemed daunting and kind of crazy. And dangerous. There was no part of this that wouldn't get me into serious trouble. Lying to Stanton. Breaking into top secret servers. Even charming information out of Ian could have repercussions. And really who was I to think I would have any ability to lure secrets from him? I wasn't like Rose or Julia. They had men fawning all over them. But me? I was socially awkward and pretty inept when it came to romance. Maybe Ian liked me, but that didn't mean I'd have some magical power over him. Of course, if that part of the plan with him failed, then I'd be free of my other tasks. Every single part of this was overwhelming, and as I stared out the plane's window, watching St. Louis grow closer and closer, my feelings of dread grew. My palms were too sweaty to hold a book, and when I refused food, it was because of the queasiness in my stomach, not some obsession with calories. I'd gone back and forth on whether to get a hotel room or stay at the facility itself, which provided guest housing for visiting Alchemists like me. In the end, I opted for the former. The less time I spent under the watchful eyes of my masters, the better. It also meant I didn't have to worry about my outfit attracting attention. I hadn't exactly followed all of Adrian's suggestions, but the dress I'd purchased for this trip was a bit racier than my normal business casual wardrobe. Okay, a lot racier. It would have been completely out of place among the modest and neutral-colored attire Alchemists usually wore. But when Ian met me in the hotel's lobby for dinner, I knew I'd made the right choice. â€Å"Wow,† he said, eyes widening. â€Å"You look amazing.† Apparently, his Alchemists sensibilities weren't offended by my outfit. It was a form-fitting minidress that went about to my mid-thigh, with an open back and a disconcertingly low V-neck that gave me cleavage I hadn't even known was possible. Any demureness the dress's long sleeves might have offered was undone by the fabric combination: a beige underdress covered in black and maroon lace. It gave the illusion that I was wearing lace with nothing underneath. The saleswoman had assured me that every part of the dress was supposed to fit that snugly (for once in my life, I'd actually suggested a larger size) and that I needed at least four-inch black heels to make it all work. With the help of a lot of hairpins, I'd even managed to pull my hair up into a bun, which wasn't easy with my layered haircut. I felt conspicuous walking through the lobby, but no one gave me any shocked looks. The few I did get were admiring ones. The hotel was pretty posh, and I was just one of a number of women dressed in holiday cocktail dresses. Nothing scandalous or out of the ordinary. You can do this, Sydney. And wearing a revealing dress wasn't nearly as difficult as breaking into a server, right? Right? I smiled as I approached Ian and gave him a quick hug, which was weird both because it was with Ian and because I felt naked in the dress. This femme fatale thing was harder than I'd thought it'd be. â€Å"I'm glad I got to see you again,† I said. â€Å"I know what an inconvenience this must be, with no notice.† Ian shook his head so adamantly that I almost expected to hear rattling. â€Å"N-no. No trouble at all.† Satisfied he'd gotten a look, I slipped on my coat, a mid-length black trench, and gestured toward the exit. â€Å"Time to brave the elements?† He hurried ahead of me to open the door. A scattering of snowflakes drifted down, resting on my coat and hair. My breath made a frosty cloud in the air, and I had a momentary flashback to traipsing across that field with Adrian. Little had I known that search for Marcus would lead to me running errands for him in a tight dress. Ian had parked in the hotel's front circle drive. He drove a Toyota Corolla, which was made even more boring by the fact that he'd chosen it in white. A little air freshener shaped like a tree hung from the rearview mirror, but rather than the usual pine scent, a small label declared it to be â€Å"New Car Scent.† Mostly it smelled like plastic. I put on a brave face. Marcus really owed me one. â€Å"I made us a reservation at this really great seafood place,† he told me. â€Å"It's close to the facility, so we can head on over to the service right away.† â€Å"Sounds great,† I said. I never ate seafood in any landlocked state. The restaurant was called Fresh Cache, which didn't improve my opinion of it. Still, I had to give it credit for attempts at a romantic atmosphere. Most of the lighting came from candles, and a pianist in the corner played covers of easy-listening songs. More well-dressed people filled the tables, laughing and chatting over wine and shrimp cocktails. The host showed us to a corner table, covered with burgundy linen and decorated with a scattering of green orchids. I'd never seen any up close and was actually quite taken with how exotic and sensual they were. If only I was here with anyone but Ian. I was hesitant to take my coat off. It made me feel exposed, and I had to remind myself of the consequences of Alchemists and Warriors working together. As soon as the dress was unleashed again, I had the satisfaction of seeing Ian melt once more. I remembered Adrian's advice about confidence and put on a smug smile, hoping I gave the impression that I was doing Ian a great favor by allowing him to be in my presence. And, to my complete and utter amazement, it seemed to work. I even allowed myself to indulge in a dangerous thought: maybe it wasn't the dress wielding such power here. Maybe it was me. Opening the menu, I began skimming for a beef or poultry option. â€Å"What do you recommend?† â€Å"The mahi mahi is great here,† he said. â€Å"So is the swordfish.† The waiter stopped by, and I ordered a chicken Caesar salad. I figured they couldn't really mess up the anchovies in the dressing. We were left alone to wait, with nothing to do now but move on to small talk. Ian picked up the ball. â€Å"I suppose you still can't tell me much about where you're at, huh?† â€Å"Afraid not. You know how it is.† I buttered a sourdough roll with what I was pretty sure was exactly half a tablespoon. I didn't want to go too crazy, but I could allow myself a little indulgence since I ordered a salad. â€Å"I can tell you I'm in the field. I just can't say much else.† Ian's attention shifted off my neckline as he stared into the candle's flame. â€Å"I miss that, you know. Being in the field.† â€Å"You used to be, right? What happened?† I hadn't thought much about it lately, but when Ian had accompanied Stanton and me to the Moroi court, he had been pulled from his post to make the trip. He'd been assigned somewhere in the south, Florida or Georgia, I thought. â€Å"Those Moroi holding us prisoner is what happened.† He shifted his gaze back to me, and I was startled at the fierceness I saw. â€Å"I didn't handle it very well.† â€Å"Well, none of us did.† He shook his head. â€Å"No, no. I really didn't handle it well. I kind of freaked out. They sent me to anger management training afterward.† I nearly dropped the roll. I had in no way expected that. If someone had asked me to name the top ten people who needed anger management, Ian wouldn't have even made the bottom of the list. My father, however, would have been near the top. â€Å"How – how long were you there?† I stammered. â€Å"Two weeks, and then I was good to go.† Admittedly, I didn't know the extent of the rage that had landed him in anger management, but I found it interesting that two weeks was good enough to deem him ready to work again. Meanwhile, Keith's scheme to use Moroi to make money had earned him at least two months in re-education – maybe more, since I hadn't heard any updates in a while. â€Å"But they wouldn't let me work in the field,† Ian added. â€Å"Figure I shouldn't be around Moroi for a while. So that's why I'm stuck here.† â€Å"In the archives.† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Doesn't sound so bad,† I told him. I wasn't entirely lying. â€Å"Lots of books.† â€Å"Don't fool yourself, Sydney.† He began tearing a pumpernickel roll into pieces. â€Å"I'm a glorified librarian.† Maybe so, but that wasn't my concern. What was my concern was Wade telling me that the archives were on a secure level, one floor up from the surveillance room that held security footage. He'd drawn me a map of each floor, making sure I memorized the layout and the best ways to get in and out. â€Å"I'd still love to see them,† I said. â€Å"I mean, the history they contain is amazing.† Again, not entirely a lie. I leaned forward, resting my elbows on the table, and had the satisfaction of seeing his eyes drop to my plunging neckline again. This wasn't that difficult! Really, I didn't know why I hadn't been using my â€Å"womanly charms† a long time ago. Actually, I never really knew I had any, until now. â€Å"Could you get me in for a tour? Of the archives specifically. You seem like the kind of guy who could get access to . . . a lot of places.† Ian choked on his roll. After a bout of coughing, he glanced up at my face, then my cleavage (again), and then back to my face. â€Å"I'd, um, love to, but it's not really open to the public – I mean, even the Alchemist public. Only those with special scholar access are allowed in. We could look at the general access parts of the building, though.† â€Å"Oh. I see.† I looked down at my plate, pouting slightly, but didn't say anything else. As the waiter arrived with our food, I hoped my silence was making him reconsider what he could be missing out on. Eventually, Ian couldn't take it anymore. He cleared his throat, maybe because there was still bread stuck in it. â€Å"Well, I might be able to . . . you see, the problem is just getting you down to the secure levels. Once you're through that checkpoint, it's not hard to get you into the archives – especially if I'm working.† â€Å"But you can't do anything about the main checkpoint?† I coaxed, as if all real men should be able to do that. â€Å"No, I mean . . . maybe. I've got a friend who works there. I don't know if he's got a shift tomorrow, but he still might be able to help. He owes me some money, so I can use this as a trade. I hope.† â€Å"Oh, Ian.† I flashed him a smile that I hoped rivaled one of Marcus's. â€Å"That's amazing.† I remembered what Adrian had said. â€Å"I'd be so, so grateful if you could pull it off.† My reaction clearly delighted Ian, and I wondered if Adrian had been right about how â€Å"so, so grateful† was translated. â€Å"I'll call him tonight after the service,† Ian said. He looked determined now. â€Å"Hopefully we can make it happen before your flight tomorrow.† I rewarded him by hanging on his every word for the rest of dinner, as though I'd never heard anything quite so fascinating. All the while, my heart raced with the knowledge that I was now one step closer to fulfilling Marcus's task, one step closer to potentially proving a connection to a bunch of gun-toting zealots and the organization I'd served my whole life. The salad was tiny, so I agreed to see the dessert menu after dinner. Ian suggested we share, but that was a little too intimate for me, not to mention unhygienic. So, I ate an entire lemon tart by myself, confident in the knowledge that I was still a long ways from the five-pound mark. When Adrian had told me I'd look healthier if I gained a little weight, he'd added that it would improve my bra size. I couldn't even imagine what that would do for this dress. The Alchemist center in St. Louis was contained inside a giant, industrial building that went undercover as a manufacturing plant. Moroi facilities – the court and their schools – usually posed as universities. How ironic that â€Å"creatures of the night† would live among beautifully landscaped gardens while â€Å"servants of the light† like us skulked in ugly buildings with no windows. Inside, however, everything was pristine, bright, and well-organized. A receptionist checked us in when we arrived at the main desk and buzzed us through, along with many others who arrived for the service. There were golden lilies everywhere. For many, this was a fun-filled family event, and lots of children trailed their Alchemist parents. It made me feel strange as I watched them, these kids who had been born into our profession. I wondered how they'd feel ten years from now. Would they be excited to step up to the plate? Or would they start questioning? The center had three floors aboveground and five underneath. People off the street could hardly just come wandering in, but we still took precautions by keeping the more benign offices on the main floor. As we all walked down the corridor to the auditorium, we passed Payroll, Travel, and Maintenance. All the offices had clear windows looking into them from the hall, maintaining the Alchemist ideal that we had nothing to hide. The secure offices belowground weren't quite so open, however. I'd been in this facility once before for a training seminar, and it had actually taken place in the auditorium we entered for the service. Despite the spiritual theme of tonight's event, the room bore little resemblance to a church. Someone had gone to the effort of decorating the walls with red-bowed evergreen garlands and setting pots of poinsettias on the stage. The room had a state-of-the-art audio-visual system, including a giant screen that gave a larger-than-life look at whatever was happening onstage. The auditorium's seating was so efficient that even those in the farthest corners had a pretty clear view, so I think the screen was just for emphasis. Ian and I found two seats near the middle of the auditorium. â€Å"Aren't you going to take off your coat?† he asked hopefully. No way was I going to unleash the dress in this den of taupe and high collars. Besides, if I kept the coat on, it would just give him something to keep looking forward to. Adrian would be proud of my ability to manipulate the opposite sex . . . and I couldn't help but wonder just how well Adrian would be able to stand up to this dress. Clearly, I was getting overly confident with this new power. â€Å"I'm cold,† I said, pulling the coat tighter. It was kind of ridiculous since the lights from the stage and high number of bodies had already made the room stifling, but I figured since it was so cold outside, I could get away with it. For someone who always seems to be so cold, you sure can warm up pretty fast. â€Å"Sydney? Is that you?† I froze, not from the shock of hearing my name, but from the voice that had said it. I'd know that voice anywhere. Slowly, I turned away from Ian and looked up into my father's face. He was standing in the aisle, wearing a heavy wool suit, with melted snowflakes in his graying dark blond hair. â€Å"Hi, Dad,† I said. Then I saw who was standing beside him. â€Å"Zoe?† It was all I could do not to jump up and hug her. I hadn't seen or spoken to my younger sister since that night I'd been pulled out of bed and sent on my Palm Springs mission. That was the mission she believed I'd stolen from her, no matter my protests. It was the mission that had driven her away from me. I eyed her now, trying to assess where we stood. She didn't wear the blatant hatred she had at our last meeting, which was a good sign. Unfortunately, she didn't look all that warm and friendly either. She was cautious, studying me carefully – almost warily. She did not, I noticed, have a golden lily on her cheek yet. â€Å"I'm surprised to see you here,† said my father. His parting words to me had been â€Å"Don't embarrass me,† so I wasn't really astonished by his low expectations. â€Å"It's the holidays,† I said. Forcing a smile now was far more difficult than it had been with Ian. â€Å"It's important to be here with the group. Do you know Ian Jansen?† Ian, wide-eyed, jumped up and shook my father's hand. Clearly, he hadn't expected a parental meeting so soon. â€Å"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir.† My father nodded gravely and looked back and forth between the two of us. Whatever surprise he'd had at seeing me here had just been trumped by me being here with a date. Glancing at Ian, I tried to guess how he'd appear to someone like my dad. Clean cut, respectful, an Alchemist. The fact that Ian tended to bore me was irrelevant. I doubted my father had ever thought much about me dating, but if so, he probably hadn't thought I'd get a catch like this. â€Å"Would you like to join us, sir?† asked Ian. I had to give him credit; he'd overcome his initial shock and was now in proper suitor mode. â€Å"It would be an honor.† At first, I thought Ian was just laying it on thick. Then I realized meeting my father might actually very well be an honor. Jared Sage wasn't a rock star, but he did have a reputation among the Alchemists that, by their standards, was outstanding. My father seemed to like the flattery and agreed. He took a seat beside Ian. â€Å"Sit by your sister,† he told Zoe, nodding in my direction. Zoe obeyed and stared straight ahead. She was nervous too, I realized. Looking her over, I felt an ache from how much I'd missed her. We'd inherited the same brown eyes from our father, but she'd gotten Mom's brown hair, which made me a little jealous. Zoe also looked a lot more put together than the last time I'd seen her. She wore a pretty dark brown cashmere dress and didn't have a single hair out of place. Something about her appearance bothered me, and I couldn't quite put my finger on it at first. It soon hit me. She looked older. She looked like a young lady, like my peer. I supposed it was silly of me to feel sad, since she was fifteen, but I kind of wished she could stay a little kid forever. â€Å"Zoe.† I kept my voice low, not that I needed to worry about the men overhearing. My dad was interrogating Ian. â€Å"I've been wanting to talk to you for so long.† She nodded. â€Å"I know. Mom tells me each time you call.† But there was no apology for dodging my calls. â€Å"I'm sorry about the way we left things. I never meant to hurt you or one-up you. I thought I was doing you a favor, saving you from getting involved.† Her mouth tightened, and something hard flashed in her eyes. â€Å"I don't mind being involved. I want to be involved, you know. And it would've been great! Being in the field at fifteen. I could have a stellar career. Dad would be so proud.† I chose my next words very carefully so that she wouldn't take offense. â€Å"Yeah, but another year with Dad will really be, um, stellar. He's got so much experience – and you want to get as much as you can, believe me. Even if you have to wait for an assignment at sixteen, you'll still be ahead of the rest of us.† Each word out of my mouth made me feel sick, but Zoe seemed to buy it. I wasn't bothered by her wanting to be part of the cause – but it killed me that she was clearly doing it to impress our dad. â€Å"I suppose. And I am learning a lot. I wish I could at least get some field experience – even if it's not my own post. It's all theory with Dad. I've never even seen a Moroi.† â€Å"I'm sure he'll fix that.† I didn't like encouraging this, but at least she was speaking to me. The lights dimmed, ending our conversation. Organ music filled the room, and the scent of frankincense drifted around us. Incense and resin were common components in magic, and my mind was instantly starting to make associations from the spell books I'd painstakingly copied. Frankincense is used to heal burns. It can also be used when casting divining or purifying spells – I immediately stopped that train of thought. Even if I was keeping it to myself, thinking about magic in the middle of an Alchemist church service was pretty sacrilegious. I shifted uncomfortably, wondering what all these people would think if they knew the truth about me: that I practiced magic and had kissed a vampire. . . . Alchemist priests were called hierophants. They performed blessings and offered moral advice, when needed. In day-to-day affairs, they wore suits, but for this occasion, the lead hierophant wore robes that reminded me uncomfortably of the robes some of the Warriors had donned. It was yet another reminder of our shared history – and maybe our shared future. Marcus had been right. This was a mystery I had to solve, regardless of where I stood on breaking the tattoo. I'd attended services like this off and on throughout my life and knew the Latin prayers by heart. I chanted along with the rest of the congregation and listened avidly as the hierophant reaffirmed our goals, his voice echoing through the sound system. Even though the Alchemists' religion had loose connections to Christianity there was very little mention of God or Jesus or even Christmas. Most of his sermon was about how we had to help protect humanity from the temptation of following Strigoi who offered unholy immortality. That warning, at least, wasn't exaggerated. I'd heard stories and even seen for myself what happened when humans decided to serve Strigoi. Those Strigoi promised to turn their servants as a reward. Those humans helped Strigoi spread their evil and became monsters themselves, no turning needed. Keeping those dark vampires hidden was for the good of weak humans who couldn't protect themselves. I paid especially close attention when the hierophant mentioned the Moroi offhandedly in his sermon, as a means to an end in defeating the Strigoi. He didn't exactly inspire warm and fuzzy feelings about them, but at least he wasn't calling for Moroi and dhampir destruction either. I agreed with a good part of the message, but it no longer filled me with the fire it once had. And when the hierophant started droning on and on about duty, obedience, and what was â€Å"natural,† I really began feeling disconnected. I almost wished there was more talk of the divine, like you'd find at a normal church service. With everything going on in my life, I wouldn't have minded a connection to a higher power. Sometimes, when I listened to the hierophant, I wondered if everything he was saying had just been made up by a bunch of people sitting around in the Middle Ages. No holy mandate required. I felt like a traitor when the service ended. Maybe Adrian's joke had been right: I didn't even need Marcus to break my tattoo and connection to the group. Glancing at my companions – and even the other Alchemists in the room – it was clear I was alone. All of them looked captivated by the sermon, devoted to the cause. I was again eerily reminded of the Warriors and their fanatical devotion. No, no, whatever else the Alchemists are guilty of, we have nothing to do with that kind of unhinged behavior. And yet . . . it was more complicated than that, I realized. The Alchemists didn't shoot first and ask questions later or make our members battle each other. We were civilized and logical, but we did have a tendency to just do what we were told. That was the similarity, one that could be dangerous. Zoe and my father walked out with Ian and me. â€Å"Isn't it amazing?† she asked. â€Å"Hearing that . . . well, it just makes me so glad Dad decided to raise another Alchemist in the family. It's good to boost our numbers.† Had that truly been his motivation? Or was it because he didn't trust me after I'd helped Rose? It was infuriating that the only conversation I could have with Zoe centered around Alchemist rhetoric, but I'd take it over the silence of the last few months. In my heart, I longed to talk the way we used to. I wanted it back. Even though she'd warmed up a little, that old familiarity that had once existed between us was gone. â€Å"I wish we had more time,† I told her once our groups were ready to part in the parking lot. â€Å"There's so much I want to talk to you about.† She smiled, and there was a genuineness in it that warmed me. Maybe the distance between us wasn't irreparable. â€Å"Me too. I'm sorry about . . . well, the way things were. I hope we get some time together soon. I . . . I've missed you.† That nearly broke me down, as did her hug. â€Å"We'll be together soon, I promise.† Ian – whom my father now seemed to regard as a future son-in-law – drove me back to my hotel and couldn't stop gushing about how awesome it had been to meet Jared Sage. As for me, I could still feel where Zoe had hugged me. Ian promised he'd get in touch with me in the morning about a tour of the archives. Then, weirdly, he closed his eyes and leaned forward. It took me a moment to realize that he expected a good-night kiss. Seriously? That was how he went about it? Had he ever even kissed anyone before? Even Brayden had displayed a little more passion. And, of course, neither guy measured up to Adrian. When I did nothing, Ian finally opened his eyes. I gave him another hug – with the coat on – and told him how happy I was that he'd met my dad. That seemed to satisfy him. Adrian made his nightly check-in with me once I was asleep later on. Naturally, he wanted to know about my dress. He also kept trying to find out how exactly I'd won Ian over and seemed amused at the few details I decided to give him. But mostly I couldn't stop talking about Zoe. Adrian soon gave up on the other topics and simply listened to me gush. â€Å"She spoke to me, Adrian!† I paced around the reception hall, clasping my hands in excitement. â€Å"And she wasn't mad. By the end, she was happy to see me. Do you know what that's like? I mean, I know you don't have any brothers or sisters, but to have someone you haven't seen in a while welcome you back?† â€Å"I don't know what it's like,† he said quietly. â€Å"But I can imagine.† I was too caught up in my own joy at the time, but later, I wondered if he was talking about his incarcerated mother. â€Å"It's nice to see you so happy,† he added. â€Å"Not that you've been miserable lately, but you've had a lot to worry about.† I couldn't help but laugh at that and came to a halt. â€Å"Are you saying evil witches and espionage are stressful?† â€Å"Nah.† He walked over to me. â€Å"All in a day's work for us. But I'm going to make my way to bed now. You seem like you can get by without me tonight.† He'd visited me every night since Veronica's dream. Most of the trips were short now, but I still knew it was a lot of effort and spirit for him. â€Å"Thank you. I feel like I can't say that to you enough.† â€Å"You don't have to say it at all, Sage. Good luck tomorrow.† Right. Stealing top secret info from a highly secure facility. â€Å"Thanks,† I said again. A little of my mood dimmed, but not all of it. â€Å"No matter what happens, though, patching things up with Zoe makes me feel like this mission is already a success.† â€Å"That's because you haven't been caught.† He cupped my face in his hands and leaned close. â€Å"See that you aren't. I don't want to have to dream visit you in prison . . . or wherever it is bad Alchemists go.† â€Å"Hey, at least I'd have you for company, right?† He gave me a rueful headshake, and the dream vanished around me.

Capital structure

A review of capital structure theories 1. 0 Introduction One of the most contentious flnancial issues that have provoked intense academic research during the last decades is the theory of capital structure. Capital structure can be defined as a ‘Mix of different securities issued by a firm' (Brealey and Myers, 2003). Simply speaking, capital structure mainly contains two elements, debt and equity.In 1958, through combining tax and debt factors in a simple model to price the value of a company, Modigliani and Miller firstly begin to explore a modern capital structure theory, and their work inspired this area study. However, the MM theory has no practical use because It lacks of direct guidance for companies to determine capital structure In real Ilfe (Baxter, 1967; Sarlg and Warga, 1989; Vernimmen et al, 2005).During the past years, researchers strived to establish a more reasonable capital structure theory that can be put into practices efficiently, and they attempted to expand debt ratio and tax advantage factors Into a new area. Myers (1984) states that only practical capital structure theories, which Introducing adjustment cost that includes agency cost and information asymmetry problems, ould provide a useful guidance for firms to determine their capital structure.However, from recent studies, Myers (2001) believes that how information differences and agency costs Influence the capital structure Is still an open question. From this perspective, it is very important to review the development of these two factors which make theoretical research having a strong relationship with reality. Thus, this project will summarize the capital structure theories orientated by agency cost and asymmetric Information from extant literature. Also some gaps and conflicts among heories of capital structure will be found and discussed In order to further Improve this area study.The rest of this project is arranged as follows. Section 2 will present the theories based on a gency costs that causes the conflicts between equity holders and debt holders or managers. Section 3 will Illustrate from two areas, Interplay of capital structure and Investment, followed by signal effect of debt ratio, to show the theories based on asymmetric information. In conclusion, Section 4 will summarize the entire essay and suggest further research direction of capital structure theory. 0 Capital structure theories based on agency costs Although Berry and Means (1931, cited in Myers, 2001) state an adverse relationship between the separated ownership and corporate control status, it commonly admits that Jensen and Meckling (1976) firstly conducted the research in how agency costs determine capital structure (Harris and Ravlv, 1991 Over the past decades, researchers have tried to add agency costs to capital structure models (Harris and Raviv, 1991). The perfect alignment between firm investors and firm agencies, such as managers, does not exist (Myers, 2001 ).According to J ensen and Meckling (1976), company agents, the managers, always emphasize on their own interests, such as high salary and reputation. Also these company agents use ‘entrenching investments', which make the asset and capital structure orientated by the 1 OF3 company holders (Chen and Kensinger, 1992). However, Myers (2001) believes that the firm holders can reduce such transferred value through using different kinds of methods of control and supervising, but he further points out the weakness that these methods are expensive and reduce returns.As a result, the perfect monitoring system is out of work, and agency costs are produced from these conflicts. According to Jensen and Meckling (1976), the conflicts between investors and agencies are generally divided into two types. The first conflict occurs between debt holders and equity holders, and the second conflict is from between equity holders and managers. Consequently, all the capital structure theories based on agency costs can be also classified based on these two conflicts. In the rest of this section, each individual conflict will be separately discussed. 1 Conflicts between Debt holders and Equity holders Jensen and Meckling (1976) point out that agency costs problems happen in determining the structure of a firms' capital when the conflict between debt holders and equity holders is caused by debt contracts. Similar to Jensen and Meckling's conclusion, Myers (1977) observes that since equity holders bear the whole cost of the investment and debt holders get the main part of the profits from the investment, equity holders may have no interest in investing in value-increasing businesses when ompanies are likely to face bankruptcy in the short term future.Thus, if debt occupies a large part of firms' capital, it will lead to the rejection of investing in more value-increased business projects. However, in 1991, Harris and Raviv cast a contrasting opinion to adjust the capital structure theory based on this conflict. They point out that most debt contracts give equity holders a push power to invest sub- optimally investment project. If the investment fails, due to limited liability, debt holders bear the consequences of a decline of the debt value, but equity holders get ost of yields if the investment could generate returns above the debt par value.In order to prevent debt holders from receiving unfair treatment, equity holders normally get less for the debt than original expectation from debt holders. Thus, the agency costs are created by equity holders who issue the debt rather than debt holders' reason (Harris and Raviv, 1991). Tradeoff capital structure theory has a basic and strong relationship with this type of agency costs. However, different researchers hold various explanations of the relationship.Myers (1977) points out the debt cost eason, Green (1984) announces that convertible bonds can reduce the asset substitution problem which comes from the tradeoff theory, Stul z and Johnson (1985) consider about collateral effect. In the end, only Diamond model (1989) is widely accepted. If Equity holders do not consider reputational reason, they are willing to trade relatively safe projects, but this activity will lead to less debt financing (Diamond, 1989; Mike et al, 1997). Diamond model (1989) assumes two tradeoffs, risky and risk-free, to show that the debt repayment should consider both possible nvestment plans.Furthermore, Mike et al (1997) use empirical evidence to indicate how to use debt to trade off these two optional investment plans. Moreover, in 1991, Harris and Raviv expanded Diamond's model to three investment choices. They point out that one choice of investment can only contain the risk-free project, one option In fact, since the reputation factor is vital for a manager, managers are willing to choose risk-free investment projects that have more possibility of success. Consequently, the amount of debt is often reduced by managers. Capital Structure CAPITAL STRUCTUREQ1. Which of the following statements is/are correct? (MRQ)The cost of equity is higher than the cost of debtWACC is inversely proportional to the market valueAn increase in the cost of equity leads to an increase in share price Debt is less risky as interest is always received but paid at last in an event of liquidation (2 marks) Q2. Which of the following statements is not a part of the traditional theory of capital structure? (MCQ)There must be no taxes as it's a perfect capital market As the gearing level increases it's an indication of an increase in the cost of debt When the cost of equity increases the effect is translated on to the gearing level of the company resulting in its decreaseThe WACC will be at optimum when the market value of the company is at its lowest (2 marks) Q3. The Manager of Alpha believes that there is an optimal balance of debt and equity. The Manager of Zeta believes that the gearing decisions have no effect on the business value. Which theories are the managers relating to? (P&D)Manager Alpha Manager Zeta MM THEORY(with Tax) MM THEORY(without Tax) TRADITIONAL THEORY(2 marks) Q4. Select the appropriate option in relation to the capital market. (HA)Taxes are inapplicable PERFECT MARKET IMPERFECT MARKETHigh chances of bankruptcy PERFECT MARKET IMPERFECT MARKETBorrowing is up to a limited level PERFECT MARKET IMPERFECT MARKET(2 marks) Q5. Which of the following relates to the high level of gearing? (MRQ)Agency CostTax ExhaustionDifferences in risk tolerance levels between shareholders and directorsNo borrowing limits are specified(2 marks) Q6. Bache Co. leaves its operating risk unchanged after including the increased debt finance in its capital structure. Which of the following correctly describes the effect on the company's cost of capital and market value assuming perfect capital market with corporation tax? (HA)WACC INCREASE DECREASE UNAFFECTEDCost of Equity INCREASE DECREASE UNAFFECTEDTotal market value INCREASE DECREASE UNAFFECTED(2 marks) Q7. Rearrange the hierarchy of sources of finance for Pecking Order Theory? (P;D) Preference Shares 1Equity Finance 2Straight Debt 3Retained Earning 4Convertible Debt 5(2 marks) Q8. Quarto Co is considering acquiring Datum Co. Quarto Co wants to use its own cost of capital but is confused as in which circumstances their weighted average cost capital will remain unchanged. Which of the following is/are appropriate circumstances? (MRQ)Historic proportions of debt and equity are not to be changedOperating Risk of the company remains unchangedThe acquired company is small that any changes are insignificantProjects are financed from a pool of funds(2 marks) Q9. Eduardo Co is an all-equity financed company which wishes to invest in the new project in a new business area. Its existing equity beta is 1.4. The debt to equity ratio is 35% and 65% respectively ; the average equity beta for the new business area is 1.9. The government security in the market gives a return of 4% and market risk premium is 3%. If the tax is ignored, what is the risk-adjusted cost of equity for the new project using the capital asset pricing model? (MCQ) 6.73%7.71%8.2%9.7%(2 marks) Q10. Identify the weaknesses of risk-adjusted the weighted average cost of capital? (MCQ)It is difficult to identify similar operating characteristics of other firms Estimates of beta are wholly accurate Betas may differ due to debt capital being risk-free It ignores earning a potential of the company (2 marks)Q11. Arco Co has an equity beta of 0.89 and it is being considered to be acquiring by Draco Co. Arco Co is financed by 79% equity and Draco Co is financed by 80% equity. Calculate the Risk-adjusted beta if the tax rate in the market is 30% up to two decimal places? (FIB)4521202667000Be (2 marks) Q12. What is the correct procedure for calculating risks adjusted the weighted average cost of capital? (P;D)Converting proxy asset beta into risk-adjusted beta using investing company capital structure 1Calculate the risk-adjusted weighted average cost of capital 2Converting proxy equity beta into asset beta 3Calculate the risk-adjusted cost of equity 4(2 marks) Q13. Tito ; Toto are identical in every respect apart from their capital structure. Tito has a debt: equity ratio of 1:4 and an equity beta of 1.6. Toto has a debt: equity ratio of 2:6. Corporation tax is 30%. What is an appropriate equity beta for Toto? (MCQ)2.563.934.224.51(2 marks)CAPITAL STRUCTURE (ANSWERS)Q1. The cost of equity is higher than the cost of debt ; WACC is inversely proportional to the market value are correct statements.An increase in the cost of equity leads to a decrease in share price rather than increasing the share price as WACC increases market value decreases, hence incorrect Debt is less risky as interest is always received but paid at last in an event of liquidation. In the event of liquidation banks are paid first as they are creditors with fixed charges, hence statement is incorrect. Q2. DThere must be no taxes as it's a perfect capital market (Correct)As the gearing level increases it's an indication of an increase in the cost of debt (Correct) When the cost of equity increases the effect is translated on to the gearing level of the company resulting in its decrease (Correct) The WACC will be at optimum when the market value of the company is at its lowest. The market value should be at its highest to make WACC at the optimum level which it is at the lowest, hence the statement is incorrect Q3. Manager Alpha TRADITIONAL THEORYManager Zeta MM THEORY(without Tax)Traditional theory states that WACC will be optimum when it's at the lowest pointMM (with Tax) states there is no need for a balance of equity and debt assuming 100% gearing is optimal MM (without Tax) states WACC is unaffected as the benefit received from debt cancels with the cost of equity Q4.Taxes are inapplicable PERFECT MARKET High chances of bankruptcy IMPERFECT MARKETBorrowing is up to a limited level IMPERFECT MARKET Q5.Agency Cost: Providers of debt finance are likely to impose restrictive covenants hence is a problem due to high gearing (Correct) Tax Exhaustion: As companies increase their gearing they may reach a certain point where there are not enough profits from which to obtain all available tax benefits hence is a problem due to high gearing (Correct)Differences in risk tolerance levels between shareholders and directors: The directors have high risk in the company rather than shareholders as they have well-diversified portfolios hence is a problem due to high gearing (Correct)No borrowing limits are specified: Restrictions are specified in the articles of association for company's ability to borrow hence the statement is not related to high gearing (Incorrect) Q6. WACC DECREASE Cost of Equity INCREASE Total market value INCREASE In a perfect capital market, the theories of Modigliani ; Miller on gearing apply Q7.Retained Earning 1Straight Debt 2Convertible Debt 3Preference Shares 4Equity Financing 5 Q8. All options are correct as under all circumstances the company can use its own weighted average cost of capital. Q9. B(A) De-gearing the equity beta of Eduardo Co Ba= 1.4 Ãâ€" 0.65 = 0.91Ke= 4 + (3 Ãâ€" 0.91) = 6.73%(B) De-gearing the equity beta of the new business gives Ba= [0.65 à · (0.65+0.35)] Ãâ€"1.9 = 1.235Ke= 4 + (3 Ãâ€" 1.235) = 7.71% (C) Using equity beta of Eduardo Co. Ke= 4 + (3 Ãâ€" 1.4) = 8.2%(D) Using the de-geared average equity beta Ke= 4 + (3 Ãâ€" 1.9) = 9.7% This means the new average equity beta for the new business area was not de-geared Q10. AIt is difficult to identify similar operating characteristics of other firms (Weakness) Estimates of beta are wholly inaccurate Betas may differ due to debt capital not being risk free It ignores earning potential of the company (Disadvantage of DVM) Q11. Be = 0.88Ba = [79 à · (79 + (21 Ãâ€" {1-30%})] Ãâ€" 0.89 = 0.750.75 = [80 à · (80 + (20 Ãâ€" {1-30%})] Ãâ€" Be Be = 0.88 Q12. Converting proxy equity beta into asset beta 1Converting proxy asset beta into risk-adjusted beta using investing company capital structure 2Calculate the risk-adjusted cost of equity 3Calculate risk-adjusted weighted average cost of capital 4 Q13. CBa = [4 à · (4 + (1 Ãâ€" {1-30%})] Ãâ€" 1.6 = 1.361.36 = [2 à · (2 + (6 Ãâ€" {1-30%})] Ãâ€" Be Be = 4.22

Online Marketing

INTRODUCTION EVOLUTION OF MARKETING Mar-ket-ing Spelled Pronunciation [mahr-ki-ting] – noun 1. The act of buying or selling in a market. 2. The total of activities involved in the transfer of goods from the producer or seller to the consumer or buyer. including advertising, shipping, storing, and selling. At the beginning of the century, social life was mostly local. It was followed by a period in which commodities were produced on a mass scale: Consumer Marketing operated on mass marketing principles and business primarily concerned itself with how to build the best sales force.At the end of the century, there is an emerging global culture. The major driver of these changes is technology. Technological change has moved steadily back focusing on the individual. These changes shape the possibility and conduct of business. Marketing is especially tied to communication and transportation revolution. As the tools and reach of marketing increase, the job and responsibilities of mar keters have evolved with them. Philip Kotler formalized this evolution with his book â€Å"Marketing Management†.His key stages are production, sales and brand management. Each of these is strongly motivated by technological opportunities, which permit new methods and new opportunities. A fourth stage, a focus on the individual customer, is also important. As the new technology of the Internet develops, it reinforces the new marketing emphasis – which in many ways is a return to business at the turn of the century. In today's technology driven world, a new fast paced digital economy is emerging. Tomorrow there will be companies that will exist only inside computer networks.Most business transactions will be made electronically, directly from the producer to the consumer, bypassing the supply chain. In the digital marketing environment, the consumer becomes an integral player in the development of the product. In fact, a consumer might build the product himself from a w ide array of parts provided by the Company. It is ecommerce that is changing the way products and services are conceived. Manufactured, promoted, priced, distributed and sold. The reason being that it is much cheaper; it allows vast coverage and helps in serving the customer better ———————————————— Online marketing ————————————————- ————————————————- The internet has become an ongoing emerging source that tends to expand more and ————————————————- more. The growth of this particular medium attracts the attention of advertisers as a —â⠂¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€- more productive source to bring in consumers. ————————————————- ————————————————-A clear advantage consumers have with online marketing is the control they have ————————————————- over the product, choosing whether to check it out or not. Online marketing may also ————————————————- offer various forms of animation. In its most common use, the term â€Å"online advertising† —————— ——————————- comprises all sorts of banner, e-mail, in-game, and keyword advertising, including on ————————————————- latforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. Web-related advertising has a variety ————————————————- of ways to publicize and reach a niche audience to focus its attention to a specific group. ————————————————- Research has proven that online advertising has given results and is a growing business ————————————————- revenue. For the year 2012, Jupiter Resear ch predicted $34. 5 billion in US online ————————————————- advertising spending. ———————————————— ————————————————- ————————————————- Types of Internet marketing ————————————————- Internet marketing is broadly divided into the following types: ————————————————- display advertising: the use of web banners or banner ads place d on a third-party website or blog  to drive traffic to a company's own website and increase product awareness. ————————————————-Search engine marketing  (SEM): a form of marketing that seeks to promote  websites  by increasing their visibility in search engine result pages  (SERPs) through the use of either paid placement, contextual advertising, and paid inclusion, or through the use of free search engine optimization   techniques also known as organic result. ————————————————- Search engine optimizaton (SEO): the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via the â€Å"natural† or un-paid (â€Å"organic† or â€Å"algorithmic†) search results. —————— —————————— Social media marketing: the process of gaining traffic or attention through social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. ————————————————- Email marketing: directly marketing a commercial message to a group of people using electronic mail. ————————————————- Referral maketing: a method of promoting products or services to new customers through referrals, usually word od mouth . ————————————————-Affiliate marketing: a marketing practice in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought about by the affiliate's own marketi ng efforts. ————————————————- Content marketing: the process of creating specialized content such as infographics, blog articles and ebooks to attract more customers. ————————————————- Inbound marketing: involves creating and freely sharing informative content as a means of converting prospects into customers and customers into repeat buyers. ————————————————-Video marketing: This type of marketing specializes in creating videos that engage the viewer into a buying state by presenting information in video form and guiding them to a product or service. Online video is increasingly becoming more popular among internet users and companies are seeing it as a viable method of attracting customers. ADVERTISING Ad-ver-tis-ing Show Spelled Pronunciation [ad-ver-tahy-zing] – noun 1. the act or practice of calling public attention to one's product, service, need, etc. , esp. by paid announcements in newspapers and magazines, over radio or television, on billboards, etc. to get more customers by advertising. 2. Paid announcements; advertisements. 3. The profession of planning, designing, and writing advertisements. Advertising is a paid form of communication, although some forms of advertising, such as public service announcements, use donated space and time. Second, not only is the message paid for, but the sponsor is identified. Third, most advertising tries to persuade or influence the consumer to do something, although in some cases the point of the message is simply to make consumers aware of the product or company.Fourth and fifth, the message is conveyed through many different kinds of mark media reaching a large audience of po tential consumers. Finally, because advertising is a form of mass communication, it also non-personal. A definition of advertising, then, includes all six features Advertising is paid non-personal communication from an identified sponsor using mass media lo persuade or influence an audience. Functions of Advertising Advertising is an important promotional tool for any marketing campaign. So much so that whenever we think of marketing we think of advertising although it is just one of the marketing tools.Till now only companies with a profit motive went in for advertising. But today government bodies as well as non-governmental organizations ING0s) go fir high profile advertising campaigns. The purpose here is not to increase the sales figure but to increase the awareness of people regarding the relevant topics. Even though each ad or campaign tries to accomplish goals unique to its sponsor, advertising performs three basic functions: 1. Provide product or brand information Although many ads are devoid of information, providing the consumer with relevant information that will aid decision making is stilt the main function of advertising.The information given depends on the needs of the target audience. In the case of purchasing a new suit, needed information might simply include price and outlet location. For technical products, the information is likely to be very detailed. 2. Provide incentives to take decision In most instances, consumers are reluctant to change established behavior. Even if there are somewhat dissatisfied with the current product or service, a habit has been established and learning about a new product is deemed difficult. Advertising provides the consumer with reasons to switch brands by presenting reasons through copy or graphics.Convenience, high quality, lower price, warranties, Or a celebrity endorser are all possibilities. 3. Provide reminders and reinforcement It’s amazing how much advertising is directed at current customers. Consumers' forget why they bought a particular brand of microwave or automobile. Advertising must remind the customer constantly about the name of the brand, its benefits, its value, and so forth. These same messages help reinforce the customers decision. Most television advertising seems to provide this function Types of Advertising – Advertising is a form of selling.It tries to make consumers buy goods or services. Advertisers must be aware of the factors that influence people's buying habits and then use advertising strategies based on this knowledge. Advertising can be classified in number of ways. 1. Print Advertising: Newspapers, Magazines, Brochures, Fliers The print media have always been a popular advertising medium. Advertising products via newspapers or magazines is a common practice. In addition to this, the print media also offers options like promotional brochures and fliers for advertising purposes. 2. Outdoor Advertising:Billboards, Kiosks, Tradeshows and Eve nts (OOH) Outdoor advertising is also a very popular form of advertising, which makes use of several tools and techniques to attract the customers outdoors. The most common examples of outdoor advertising are billboards, kiosks, and also several events and tradeshows organized by the company. The billboard advertising is very popular however has to be really terse and catchy in order to grab the attention of the passersby. The kiosks not only provide an easy outlet for the company products but also make for an effective advertising tool to promote the company's products.Organizing several events or sponsoring those makes for an excellent advertising opportunity. The company can organize trade fairs, or even exhibitions for advertising their products. If not this, the company can organize several events that are closely associated with their field. 3. Broadcast advertising: Television, Radio and the Internet Broadcast advertising is a very popular advertising medium that constitutes of several branches like television, radio or the Internet. Television advertisements have been very popular ever since they have been introduced.The radio might have lost its chaem owing to the age media however the radio remains to be the choice of small-scale advertisers. 4. Covert Advertising: Advertising in Movies Covert advertising is a unique kind of advertising in which a product or a particular brand is incorporated in some entertainment and media channels like movies, television shows or even sports. There is no commercial in the entertainment but the brand or the product is subtly (or sometimes evidently) showcased in the entertainment show 5. Surrogate Advertising: Advertising IndirectlySurrogate advertising is prominently seen in cases where advertising a particular product is banned by law. Advertisement for product. – like cigarettes or alcohol which are injurious to heath are prohibited by law in several countries and hence these companies have to come up with several other products tint might have the same brand name and indirectly remind people of the cigarettes or beer bottles of the same brand. Common examples include Fosters and Kingfisher beer brands, which are often seen to promote their brand with the help of surrogate advertising. 6. Public Service Advertising: Advertising for Social CausesPublic service advertising is a technique that makes use of advertising as an effective communication medium to convey socially relevant inessagtx1 about important matters and social welfare causes like AIDS, energy conservation, political integrity, deforestation, illiteracy, poverty and so on. 7. Celebrity Advertising †¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ †¢ Although the audience is getting smarter and smarter and the modern day consumer getting immune to the exaggerated claims made in a majority of advertisements, there exist a section of advertisers that still bank been celebrates and their popularity for advertising their products.Using celebrities for advertising involves signing up celebrities for advertising campaigns, which consist of all sorts of advertising including, television ads or even print advertisements. 8. Internet Advertising Internet promotion is one of the newer types of advertising and can be accomplished in a number of ways. Rash advertising refers to messages that jump onto your computer screen and often move around. They can be hard to close and are annoying, but effective at gaining your attention. Pop up and scrolling ads are other examples of these types of advertising.Pay per click advertising refers to marketers paying to have their web pages placed high on search engine results pages. These are also called sponsored links. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY To compare the trust level of traditional advertising and online advertising (consumers point of view) * To find out the scope of the Internet advertising * To find the reliability and effectiveness of the internet advertising * To compare internet advertisi ng with traditional advertising. INTERNET MARKETING THE ADVENT OF THE INTERNET The new millennium has brought us on the brink of the I. T. Revolution.This revolution has been aided by the advent of the Internet in a big way. Internet is fast changing the way people used to do things. Naturally, the same would have an impact on the advertisers. The Internet has been accepted as the most powerful media for advertising due to the absence of geographical barriers. The advent of the Internet and its subsequent acceptance has once again challenged the traditional forms of advertising. Advertisers are trying to use the ‘net' to advertise their products and hence ‘net' their customers. Thus, with the Internet gaining prominence, advertising equations are fast changing.Internet marketing, also referred to as web marketing, online marketing, or e-Marketing, is the marketing of products or services over the Internet. Internet marketing ties together creative and technical aspects o f the Internet, including design, development, advertising, and sale. The Internet has brought many unique benefits to marketing, one of which being lower costs for the distribution of information and media to a global audience. The interactive nature of Internet marketing, both in terms of providing instant response and eliciting responses, is a unique quality of the medium.Internet marketing is sometimes considered to have a broader scope because it not only refers to digital media such as the Internet. E-mail and wireless media, however, Internet marketing also includes Management of digital customer data and electronic customer relationship management (ECRM) systems. 7 P'S OF INTERNET MARKETING The four P's – Product, Price, Place and Promotion have long been associated with marketing, but things have changed on the Internet. So along with a change in the nature of the four P's there are three new P's which are relevant to the Internet marketer: Presentation, Processes an d Personalization. . Product Product on the Internet usually changes form online, and the user experiences it electronically. in the form of text, images and multimedia. Physical goods are usually presented in the form of a detailed online catalogue that the customer can browse through. Technology allows the user to virtually touch and feel the product on the Internet – rotate it, zoom in or zoom out and even visualize the product in different configurations and combination. Content and software are two avatars of digitized products that can be even distributed over the Internet.On the Internet, E-marketing will be based more on the product qualities rather than on the price. Every company will be able to bring down the cost of its products and hence competition will not be on price. It will rather be on the uniqueness of the product. To be able to attract the customers and retain them, the company will have to provide nouvelle and distinct products that forces the net users to purchase and come beck for more. 2. Price Price has been drastically changed over the Internet. It lets the buyer decides the price. Also it gives the buyers information about multiple sellers selling the same product.It leads to best possible deal for the buyers in terms of price. Pricing is dynamic over the Internet. 3. Place Place revolves around setting up of a marketing channel to reach the customer. Internet serves as a direct marketing channel that allows the producer to reach the customer directly. The elimination of the intermediate channel allows the producer to pass the reduced distribution cost to the customer in the form of discounts. 4. Promotion Promotion is extremely necessary to entice the customer to its website, as there are currently more than one billion web pages.Promoting a website includes both online and offline strategies. Online strategies include search engine optimization, banner ads, and multiple points of entry, viral marketing, and strategic partne rship and affiliate marketing. Presently, the cyberspace is already cluttered with thousands of sites probably selling similar products. For the customers to know of the Company's existence and to garner information on the kind of products or services that the company is offering, promotion has to be carried out. There can be traded links or banner advertisements for the same.Also the traditional mediums like print, outdoor advertising and television can be used to spread awareness. 5. Presentation The presentation of the online business needs to have an easy to use navigation. The look and the feel of the web site should be based on corporate logos and standards. About 80% of the people read only 20% of the web page. Therefore, the web page should not be cluttered with a lot of information. Also, simple but powerful navigational aids on all web pages like search engines make it easy for customar to find their way around. 6. ProcessesCustomer supports needs to be integrated into the online web site. A sales service that will be able to answer the questions of their customers fast and in a reliable manner is necessary. To further enhance after sales service, customers must be able to find out about their order status after the sale has been made. 7. I? Personalization Using the latest software it is possible to customize the entire web site for every single user, without any additional costs. The mass customization allows the company to create web pages products and services that suit the requirement of the user.A customized web page does not only include the preferred layout of the customer but also a reselection of goods the customer may be interested in. UNDERSTANDING THE INTERNET CUSTOMERS Now to be able to use the seven P’s effectively in order to achieve the predefined goals of any organization it is imperative to understand the customers. Customization will only be truly effective if we understand our customer and their true need. Before adapting marketing practices to the Internet, the marketer needs to understand the characteristics of the online customers.The Net users can be classified into five categories depending upon their intention of using the Internet. The five categories of users are: Directed Information Seekers: They require specific, timely and relevant information about the products and services being offered. Undirected Information Seekers: These users require something interesting and useful. Something that can give them an edge, advantage, insight or even a pleasant surprise. Bargain Hunters: They are of two kinds: One who looks for free items on the Internet another who is seeking better deals higher discounts etc.Entertainment Seekers: They see the Web as an entertainment medium of vast breath and potential and want to explorer the medium before the mass gets there. Directed Buyers: They want to buy something – now. They are sure what they require and just log on to the Web to purchase the item. C RITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS IN INTERNET MARKETING Having observed the evolving paradigms of business in the Internet era, there are five critical success factors that the Internet Marketer has to keep in mind. Attracting the Right Customer Attracting the Right Customer is the first crucial step.Rising digital penetration would mean that the number of customer visiting particular sites would inevitably go up. While the number of eyeballs or page views has so far been conveniently used as a satisfactory measure by most web sites, it would be foolish to cater to the whole spectrum of digital visitors. Contest has to be very target specific. The digital company has to select its target segment by finding out which section of customer are the most profitable in terms of revenue 21 transactions and who are the customers who generate the maximum number of referrals.Here again it is important to note that the majority of online customers are not seeking the lowest price. Rather they are seeking convenience above everything else. The power of customer referrals has never been so enormous, since word of the mouse spreads faster than word of the mouth. E-Bay attracts more than half of its customers through referrals. Not only do referred customers cost less to acquire than those brought in by advertising or other marketing tools, they also cost less to support since they use their friends who referred them for advice rather than using the companies' own technical desk.Delivering Content Value Delivering Content Value to engage the user's interest is the critical importance in retaining customer participation. This is because content serves as a powerful differentiator. Content would include Product enhancements (Software patches for glitches), personalized interactions (through customized navigation paths as seen on the web sites of GM and Toyota) and Problem Resolution (updates of delivery schedules and e-mail responses). Integral to the concept of delivering proper content value is innovation. For e. g. www. campareindia. com Ensuring E-LoyaltyEnsuring E-Loyalty is vital to the success of any online venture. This is because acquiring customers on the Internet is enormously expensive and unless those customers stick round and make lots of repeat purchases over the years, profits will remain elusive. Contrary to the general view that Web customers are notoriously fickle, they in fact follow the old rules of customer loyalty. Web customers stick to sites that they trust and with time consolidate their purchases with one primary supplier to the extent that Purchasing from the supplier's site becomes part of their daily routine.The issue of trust is integral to the issues of privacy and security. Companies like Amazon. com which command amazing levels of consumer trust, have used a variety of encryption tools and simple ethical decisions like not accepting money for publishers for independent book reviews to maintain the trust of its customers. E-Learning to facilitate personalized interactions E-Learning to facilitate personalized interactions with customers has been the biggest contribution of the Web to the marketing strategists. Customers in traditional bricks-and-mortar stores leave no record of their behavior unless they buy something.In the digital marketplace, however technology has made the entire shopping experience a transparent process. For example, if the customer exits the web-site when the price screen appears, he is a price sensitive consumer. Such minute tracking of customer behavior has major implications for the world of advertising. The Internet may soon be used as a test bed for testing prototypes of marketing and advertising campaigns. By monitoring pages selected, click through, responses generated, and other indicators, the company would be able to discover which parts of a prospective campaign would work, thus reducing the risk of a potential flop.This would make it possible for the company to modify its pro duct offerings much earlier than usual in the product life cycle, Providing Digital value to the evolving consumer through his life cycle Providing Digital value to the evolving consumer through his life cycle has become possible because of customized interactions and emerging business models. These models have often disturbed the traditional status quo and created new rules of business. The sectors where new business models will emerge or have emerged are the music industry, the financial services industry, the travel industry, the relating segment and the publishing segment.Digital value is delivered to the consumer by promising him convenience, allowing the customer to feel his ownership of the Web experience, and giving the customer a sense of belonging that traverses the physical boundaries. BENEFITS OF INTERNET MARKETING The reason why Internet marketing has become so popular is because they provide three major &malts to potential buyers: 1. Convenience: Customers can order pr oducts 24 hours a day wherever they are. They don't have to sit in traffic, and a parking space, and walk through countless shops to find and examine goods. . Information: Customers can find reams of comparative information about companies, products, competitors, and prices without leaving their office or home. 3. Fewer hassles: Customers don't have to face salespeople or open themselves up to persuasion and emotional factors; they also don't have to wait in line. Internet marketing also provides a number of benefits to marketers 1. Quick adjustments to market conditions: Companies can quickly add products to their offering and change prices and descriptions. 2. Lower costs:On-line marketers avoid the expense of maintaining a store and the costs of rent, insurance, and utilities. They can produce digital catalogs for much less than the cost of printing and mailing paper catalogs. 1. Relationship building: On-line marketers can dialogue with consumers and learn from them. 2. Audience sizing Marketers can learn how many people visited their on-line site and how many stopped at particular places on the sites. This information can help improve offers and ads. Clearly, marketers are adding on-line channels to find, reach, communicate, and sell.Internet marketing has at least five great advantages. First, both small and large firms can afford it. Second, there is no real limit on advertising space, in contrast to print and broadcast media. Third, information access and retrieval are fast, compared to overnight main and even fax. Fourth, the site can be visited by anyone from any place in the world. Fifth, shopping can be done privately and swiftly ————————————————- Competitive advantage over traditional advertising ————————————————-One major bene fit of online advertising is the immediate publishing of information and ————————————————- content that is not limited by geography or time. To that end, the emerging area of ————————————————- interactive advertising   presents fresh challenges for advertisers who have hitherto ————————————————- adopted an interruptive strategy. ————————————————- Another benefit is the efficiency of the advertiser's investment.Online advertising allows —————————————â⠂¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€- for the customization of advertisements, including content and posted websites. For ————————————————- example,  AdWords,  yahoo! Search marketing and Google  Adsense enable ads to be shown ————————————————- on relevant web pages or alongside search results. MARKET RESEARCH Title A study on the effectiveness of Internet Advertising and its scope. PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF STUDY Advertisers are expected to spend Rs. 4,500 million in internet advertising in the year 2011 third only to TV and Print ads, which is :mound 5257% mote than that in the year 2004, compound percentage increase of 124% over the last 5 years. This is the new age of advertising. It is true that people have started realizing that internet can serve as a one stop point for all their needs. Be it communication, entertainment, shopping, information search, Internet serves as a panacea for all their requirements. This has led 70% of the ever users to glue themselves to the Internet and access it on a regular basis.This is an opportunity for advertisers to exploit this revolution. But, is it the end of traditional advertising? Is internet advertising effective and efficient compared to the traditional form Does it fulfill the basic objectives of advertising (create awareness, to generate sales, build positive image, etc†¦ ) The problem is that, volumes of consumers are online everyday for their personal work, but do they notice the ads, banners etc. displayed on that webpage, most important what is their recall/remembrance value. What about the reach of online advertising, is it effective across over all target groups?We have trusted traditional advertising all these years and it's a proven medium that fulfills all the objectives of advertising, can one have the same trust for online advertising†¦ RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Research design This is a descriptive research as it will clarify the doubts about online marketing. It would give us a clear picture on the effectiveness and reliability of online advertising compared to the traditional form of advertising. Data collection Secondary data: Online reports related to marketing Primary data: Questionnaire RESULTS AND AND ANALYSIS The researchInternet marketing has become an integral part of today's life as Internet access is on all time high and this trend is expected to keep the same pace and will definitely expand the horizon of its reach. Objective of this research is to analyze the trend of internet usage in contrast of online marketing. Time spent On an average, a person spends more than 4 hours on the Internet during his free time. Hence, on an average the exposure of interne; to an individual is around 150% more than that of other mediums i. e. the reach of medium Intern et is much better than that of others.But one cannot infer anything about the effectiveness of the medium through exposure (reach) alone. One needs to calculate the impressions (actual number of times an individual sees the ad) of the medium also. Reach Reach refers to the total number of different people or households exposed, at least once, to a medium during a given period of time. Impressions This is a term used by media to describe and quantify the number of individuals who have an â€Å"opportunity† to see an AD in a given amount of time Scope Scope defines the level of Internet usage within a specified time period.This data gives us a strong platform to analyze and summarize the objective, pattern and usage of Internet. Research has been done through questionnaire. The questionnaire and its results is as follows: Questionnaire Name: Occupation: Course(if student): Age: Gender: Given below are some question based on E- marketing. Kindly fill the questionnaire. 1. Do you surf internet? (a) Very often (b) Often (c) Occasionally (d) Never 2. Do you ever give a look to the advertisements while surfing? (a) Very often (b) Often (c) Occasionally (d) Never 3.Does popping up of advertisements while surfing bother’s you? (a) Very often (b) Often (c) Occasionally (d) Never 4. Do you buy products online after seeing its advertisements? (a) Very often (b) Often (c) Occasionally (d) Never (5)Do you think e-marketing is: (a) effective (b) very effective (c) less effective (d) not effective (6)Do you feel e-marketing affect your buying decision? (a) Very often (b) Often (c) Sometimes (d) Never (7)How much should a company depend on online marketing? (a) 0% to 25% (b) 26% to 50% c) 51% to 75% (d) 76% to 100% (8) Rank the following types of marketing according to their effectiveness: (a) ads in newspaper/magazines (b) search engine marketing (c) business card (d) marketing on social networking sites (e) personal marketing (f) ads in television (g) e-mail ma rketing (h) banners/posters (i) sending newsletter (9) which type of product do u generally buy online? (a) electronics (b)clothing (c) books/magazines (d) other accessories 10) which type of services do u take online? (a) matrimony (b) movie tickets (c) travel tickets (d) hotel services Result 1. Do you surf internet? (a) Very often (b) Often (c) Occasionally (d) Never Out of 100% sample population, 62% of the people use internet very often, 22% use internet often, 14% use internet occasionally and 2% never use internet. Thus it is clear that 98% of the total urban population uses internet and 2% of the total population never uses internet. However growth of use of internet shows that 100% population will use internet in the coming years. . Do you ever give a look to the advertisements while surfing? (a) Very often (b) Often (c) Occasionally (d) Never Here out of 100% sample population, 12% people watches online advertisements very often, 22% often watches online advertisements, 36 % occasionally watches online advertisements and 30% of the population never watches online advertisements. This results shows that 70% of the sample population access advertisements links. 3. Does popping up of advertisements while surfing bother’s you? (a) Very often (b) Often (c) Occasionally (d) NeverOut of 100% of sample population, 27% people are bothered very often by advertisements while working on internet, 13% people are less often bothered by advertisements, 48% people are occasionally bothered by advertisements and 12% are never bothered. Botherness of people also depends upon nature of work and advertisements. If the work is important then botherness increases and vice versa. 4. Do you buy products online after seeing its advertisements? (a) Very often (b) Often (c) Occasionally (d) Never As we have seen 70% of the total sample population actually watches online advertisements.Now there are 52% people who never buys those products and 48% people who buys those pr oducts. Now out of those 48% only 12% of the populations buys products very often, 14% buys product less often and 22% people occasionally buys products after watching its advertisement. (5)Do you think e-marketing is: (a) effective (b) very effective (c) less effective (d) not effective It states that out of 100% sample population , 15% find e-marketing very effective, 40% find e-marketing effective, 30% find e-marketing less effective and 15% find e-marketing not at all effective. 6)Do you feel e-marketing affect your buying decision? (a) Very often (b) Often (c) Sometimes (d) Never Out of 100% sample population, 52% of the population thinks their buying decision very often depends upon advertisement. 22% of the population thinks their buying decision often depends upon advertisements. 14% of the population thinks their buying decisions occasionally changes due to advertisements and 12% of the population’s buying decision doesn’t depend upon advertisements. (7)How mu ch should a company depend on online marketing? (a) 0% to 25% (b) 26% to 50% (c) 51% to 75% (d) 76% to 100%Here, out of 100% sample population 48% of people thinks that a company should depend less than 25% on online marketing, 34% thinks a company should depend less than 50% and more than 25% on online marketing, 15% thinks that a company shouhd depend more than 15% and less than 75% on online marketing, and only 3% thinks that a company should depend more than 75%. (8) Rank the following types of marketing according to their effectiveness: (a) ads in newspaper/magazines. (b) search engine marketing. (c) business card. (d) marketing on social networking sites. (e) personal marketing. (f) ads in television. g) e-mail marketing. (h) banners/posters. (i) sending newsletter According to the research, types of marketing which are given rank according to their effectiveness are as follows: 1) Personal marketing 2) Ads in television 3) Ads in newspaper/magazines 4) Banners/posters 5) Busi ness card 6) Marketing on social networking sites 7) Email marketing 8) Search engine maketing 9) Sending newsletter (9) which type of product do u generally buy online? (a) electronics (b)clothing (c) books/magazines (d) other accessories Out of 100% sample population, 40% people buy electronics, 25% people buy lothing, 15% buy books/magazines and 20% people buy other items. (10) which type of services do u take online? (a) matrimony (b) movie tickets (c) travel tickets (d) hotel services Out of 100% sample population 5% of population takes matrimonial services, 45% takes movie tickets, 35% takes travel tickets and 15% takes hotel services. Conclusion On the basis of this research findings and analysis,we can conclude that the use of internet has increased and large urban population is using internet, therefore internet marketing shows upbeat trend for its future growth and large acceptance worldwide.Internet marketing is still at pioneer stage, large population prefer traditional purchasing due to the intangible feature of internet marketing and post purchase experience. The recommendations are needed to be implemented in order to acclaim major purchase and gain trust of the online population. Limitations Internet marketing is no doubt the future of advertising, and it will take over the world of marketing within a few short years. However, this does not mean that there are no limitations to what an internet marketing firm can accomplish.It is important for marketers and users to understand these problems, and to comprehend that they may damage the marketing campaign. One of the main problems which comes with running a marketing campaign over the Internet is that it limits the audience to just those individuals and users who have access to the World Wide Web. Although most people in the target audience would be able to use the Internet, the fact remains that some people are still not comfortable with its usage and this is where an internet marketing firm may face problems.In addition to this, one other major problem which stands in the way of a successful internet marketing campaign is that users are often reluctant to purchase or spend money on products online. They cannot test out the project or use it and make sure it works, and this puts the entire campaign under stress. It means losing customers and users to a problem which cannot be helped. References DigiMarketing – The essential guide to new media and digital marketing -kent wartime, Ian fenwick Principals of advertising and IMC * Tom dunkan http://en. wikipedia. org/ http://ieeexplore. ieee. org/

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Writing a event vividly - Essay Example Even with my nervousness, the girl noticed me and came closer, from her marvelous smile, and the first word from her gave me the courage to speak to her. Through the first conversation I could feel love feelings oozing out of my heart, as I conversed with her, Emma, as she told me her name was, was the girl I had been searching for, she was definitely the my destiny and the love of my life. Reading my story, one might think that I am too sentimental as a man, in my mind I now believed that love existed. From that supermarket moment, I laid siege to Emma, I did everything possible to win her heart over, I turned into this romantic guy I never thought I could be. Almost all my activities towards her were romantic, in most cases I found myself thinking about her and how our next date would be. After some time, my tremulous attention, and my unending pursuit made Emma say â€Å"yes† to my proposal of having a relationship with me. Emma and I were soon dating; obviously, we were in love, and no doubt that the relationship was the beginning of the happiest time of my life. At least, I thought that for I was flying high, the voice deep down kept telling me â€Å"you the luckiest man alive.† Every day I was planning something new and interesting to make Emma happy. Every minute I spent away from her seemed like a lifetime, the time I spent with her was the best moments of my life. We even had our places in parks, cinemas, cafes and just in the streets, we enjoyed each other’s time, to some extent, my future was clear Approximately, seven months into our romantic relationship, Emma told me that there was no future for us; apparently, her parents did not see me as a good life partner for their daughter. The case was that Emma’s family was against miscegenation; they were white Americans and did not want representatives of other nations or races to enter into their family. Moreover, there was a good marriage candidate for Emma, a son of her

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Factors influencing Language and Literacy - (4) Language Change - Essay Example With the shift to understanding the importance of culture in teaching English as a second language, teachers are faced with new challenges when teaching adults. Language is complex, far more than just making language and grammar choices. For instance, try translating the phrase â€Å"Linguists have been interested in several aspects of language variations† into Spanish, and then translating the Spanish back to English: Los lingà ¼istas han estado interesados en varios aspectos de la variacià ³n de la lengua. The translation reads: â€Å"The linguists have been interested in various aspects of the variation of the tongue.† That might be quite true because the tongue has a great deal to do with forming words, but it isn’t the phrase that was originally translated. Translation is one of many specific factors that influence language change. What else must be taken into consideration in an analysis of change? An effort will be made to investigate factors such as cultural variation, social networking, ethnicity, communication in a family-unit and technological advances, as they relate to teaching and learning a different la nguage. Looking back at the history of the English language over the past hundred years, pronounciation, spelling and meaning have changed very little, but the number of words has greatly increased because of the industrial revolution and the advent of a technological society. Also, military history, with wars throughout the 1900s, made military language very much a part of the century (Wilton, 2005). In Great Britain, the variances of language, i.e. accent, dialect, variety and register, are especially evident in different sections of England. American English has its own regional dialects, as well as different spelling, pronounciation and meaning for many English words. In Australia, both accent and dialect, as well as several words unique to the continent, make the English language distinctive there. For people from Asian