Communication

Are you a good communicator? HCA 230 Are you a good communicator? Effective communication is vital in the healthcare workplace. The welfare of others is the fundamental focus and effective communication between colleagues can make the difference in the quality and consistency of care that is delivered to patients. Many people to consider themselves to be good communicators; Identifying what the effective communication process is helps to make that determination. According to Cheesebro, O’Conner, ; Rios, 2010, effective communication is “the process of sending and receiving messages. This means that a good communicator would be effective in both listening and responding appropriately. So, in order to establish a successful exchange of information is helpful to distinguish between the various types of communication. Focusing on verbal and non verbal communication we will examine communication and how it relates to the medical field. In the health care industry interpersonal relationships with patients and coworkers are essential in the quality of service that is provided.

Communication is vital to the development as well as the maintenance of all interpersonal relationships. In health care, the constant interaction with the patients, their families and co-workers of different race, ethnic background, gender, and religious beliefs require diversity from its employees. Using communication to build interpersonal relationships builds a trust and understanding between co-workers and patients. Thus patients feel more at ease discussing their ailments and receiving professional feedback.

Effective communication results in more positive outcomes, such as increased productivity and proficiency, better relationships, as well as improved workplace morale. On the other hand, poor and ineffective communication causes conflict, takes up time and additional resources. Eventually, it will negatively affect organization overall. Supportive communication is able to express further understanding and encourage communication with those around you. Defensive communication on he other hand, can cause the other person to be on edge, feeling threatened, and anxious. When the communication between two parties turn into a defensive situation they are less likely to see the value in the message. The use of empathy is a vital tool when attempting to establish rapport with a patient or co-worker and building trust. The key to demonstrating empathy is to use active listening. In this method, the receiver checks message with the sender to make sure they understand what is begin said as a way to clarify the information given.

In the medical filed assertiveness is expressed through communication by being expressive of thoughts, feelings, and needs without being aggressive and having presence on another person. The purpose is to improve the communication process instead of allowing aggression to create conflict and a hostile environment. In the medical field some of this can be avoided by refraining from using aggressive or sarcastic tones and body language which could give the receiver the wrong impression of the sender and the message being sent. The use of “I” statements and good body language can assist in the process.

Films Media Group. (2007). Communicating with aged care colleagues [H. 264] By including yourself and explaining way that can be helpful, the environment for open dialog is developed. Upon a self assessment of my own interpersonal relationships and skills, I discovered I am in need of some improvement. One element that particularly stood out to me was the inconsistence of verbal and nonverbal communication. When speaking to new people or on a topic in which I may not be as well informed on I have the tendency to fidget and use little eye contact.

Although I may be paying full attention or taking notes my nonverbal communication can be misinterpreted into lack of interest, boredom, or in some cultures just plain disrespect. As a result of knowing this I can make sure that I am prepared by doing some extra research on the topic if possible to increase my comfort lever when speaking on it. I can also make sure that my personal appearance, posture, gestures, and mannerisms, facial expression, eye contact and personal space is appropriate and consistent for the delivery of the message I am trying to send.

Just as many others I considered self to be a good communicator and saw where I could make the improvements o that I can be more effective in my professional and personal life. References 1. Cheesebro, T. , O’Conner, L. , & Rios, F. (2010). Communicating in the Workplace . : Prentice Hall. 2. Films Media Group. (2007). Communicating with aged care colleagues [H. 264] * Taken From: http://digital. films. com/PortalPlaylists. aspx? aid=7967&xtid=40257

Old Spice: Revitalizing Glacial Falls Context: In 2007, P&G reported a growth of 5% in volume and a 3% increase in revenue for its Old Spice brand. The achievement was deemed “flat” when P&G had maintained a competitive media spending of 23% in the men’s deodorant category. As a result, Mauricio O’Connell, assistant brand manager was tasked to address the reasons for the foundering sales of Glacial Falls scent, which was the worst performing scent not only in Old Spice’s portfolio but also in the entire category. Diagnosis: Red Zone line is the higher-end product offering of the Old Spice brand featuring the Glacial Falls scent.

From Exhibit 6, we see that consumers of this product enjoy the benefit of the enduring power of the scent keeping away the odors, thus having the need to use the deodorant once per day. Additionally, Old Spice products are easy use as well as offer a scent that is deemed clean and fresh by its loyal customers. However, Old Spice does not clearly distinguish how their product can be a catalyst to energize, empower or give confidence to its users. The case also highlights that Old Spice had not advertised the Glacial Falls scent specifically.

Additionally, P’s media campaigns seem to have painted the brand as “old” and the customers of both segments associate the brand with the elderly. P&G’s problem is its unfocussed position of the Old Spice brand and of the Glacial Falls scent that result in the “flat” growth in the men’s deodorant category. Consumers cannot distinguish between the three product lines especially the difference between the “Classic” and the “Red Zone” line. The flat growth or the foundering sales of the Glacial Falls scent are neither a result of the low quality nor the poor smell of Glacial Falls scent itself.

Proposed Solution: To improve the sales of the Glacial Falls scent, P&G needs to distinguish clearly between its product lines – Base, Classic and Red Zone. Based on the qualitative data presented in Exhibit 6, P&G should target Glacial Falls (a Red Zone product line offering) scent towards males in the younger males in the 12-24 years age group. Glacial Falls offers an important ability to block the odor for extended periods of time, a quality highly admired by the younger age group because odor elimination is equivalently perceived to boost male confidence.

Further, to win over the younger customers, Glacial Falls should capitalize on the confident, smarter image of mature men capable of taking care of themselves as well as their women, an image that is portrayed the parent Old Spice brand. Implementation: To improve sales of Glacial Falls scent through the proposed solution above, P&G should offer Glacial Falls as a high-end product at a reasonable price (lower end of the Red Zone product line) because the younger generation (primarily the college students with low student-level income) should be able to afford it.

The media campaigns should link the odor-eliminating feature of this product as a confidence boosting element for the younger generation thus energizing them every morning and keeping their spirits up throughout the day. Next, P&G needs to improve the product packaging and highlight an outdoors and an adventurous campaign easily connecting this generation with the benefits offered by the Glacial Falls scent.

Finally, P&G should highlight the Red Zone line of product more that the Old Spice branding to market the scent effectively to the males in the 12-24 age group who detest an association with the elderly fragrance. Positioning Statement: To the younger generation males looking to energize their daily lives with confidence, Glacial Falls is the brand of fresh and clean fragrance deodorant that has the ultimate ability to block the body odors effectively throughout the day because it has a scientifically-proven, advanced odor blocking formula.

Beyond Tokyo: Disney’s Expansion in Asia Beyond Tokyo: Disney’s Expansion in Asia 1) The cultural challenges are posed by Disney’s expansion into Asia are limited attractions based on size and local regulations, hot weather, and high ticket prices. Cultural barriers happened such as the decision to serve shark fin soup, a local favourite, greatly angered environmentalist. For example, the decision to serve shark fin soup, a local favourite, greatly angered environmentalists.

It is different in Europe as they have more choices for food because there are more countries in European group. Disney guests in Europe faced problems getting too closed or pressing around those who left too much space between themselves and the person in front. But it’s quite normal in Asian countries due to their population Hong Kong Disneyland only has 16 attractions and one classic Disney thrill ride, Space Mountain, compared to 52 at Disneyland Resort Paris.

Weather in Europe tends to be cooler and their currency is higher than Hong Kong currency so people probably find the ticket cheaper. 2) Cultural variables influence the location choice of theme parks around the world because they are important factors to determine whether the parks will become successful or not. To locate a theme park they have to think whether people in the country will like this kind of theme park and will go for them or is it suitable for this county to locate this theme park.

People who built the theme park needs to account the factor that whether it is easy for people in that country to adapt new things. 3) I would recommend nowhere in Asia because there might be a lot of theme park already in Asia, thus it will be really competitive. Furthermore, the ticket price might be expensive for Asian citizens to go and visit. Especially the weather is very hot and humid in most of Asia countries; they probably will not find it comfortable to be out the whole day.

Language plays and important role in human life. Out of all the languages in the world, English is considered as the international language. And me as an immigrant I think it’s very important to work on improving my English skills in order to communicate with people easier, get more job opportunities, and most importantly to get into college. There are plenty of ways to improve your English. To improve your English conversation and oral skills you should watch American movies and T. V. shows with English subtitles, and try to really listen!

You should also try and communicate as much as you can and don’t be shy of your accent or your lack of grammar, just know that you’re doing this for the best and to have better English in the future. Personally that helped me a lot and I would strongly advise any person who’s looking to improve their English to use this method. Now if you want to improve your reading skills, just simply, read! Read anything and everything in English. You can read story books, newspapers, magazines, blogs, comics, English textbooks, instructions and ingredients on food packages, advertisements or even online articles if you want.

Honestly, in our days just going on the internet can be a lot of reading, and with the internet being most in English, it would be a very good and fun way for you to improve your reading and reading speed. However, always remember, do something, anything. Just don’t do nothing, because if you don’t do anything, you will not get anywhere. Don’t be in too much of a hurry though. You’re setting off on a long journey and there’ll be delays and frustrations along the way. Sometimes you’ll be in the fast lane and other times you’ll be stuck in traffic, just take your time to really enjoy the experience.

ITGS Homework Area of impact- Science and the environment A) Identify two input devices that are required in order for Jules to interact with a real person. There is several input devices required in order for Jules to interact with a real person, these include a microphone, a web cam or digital camera, normal camera and speakers so the person can hear Jules. B) Describe the steps that Jules would take in order to follow the movement of the person talking to him. There are several steps that Joules would take to interact with a real person. . Jules could capture the initial image of any human being using its camera or webcam sensors to capture an image. 2. Jules would have to use facial recognitions software to determine the parts of the face to face tracked (reference points) or identify different parts of the face such as skin colour or your eyes. Laptops these days also have sensors built into them. 3. Record an initial position; of the face which is to be tracked/ set the position of the human in relation to the robots own position. 4. Recording of time lapse intervals 5.

Capture images at new positions 6. Determine the location of the new position 7. If there is no movement, then no movement is detected and there is no adjustment. 8. Jules can adjust to the movement if there is one 9. Jules can now communicate with the human being 10. So this process can be repeated. C) Jules may have difficulty understanding a sentence in a conversation with a human, explain why this could happen. If a word that is said that is not in the language database of the robot the sentence that is said by the human will not be comprehended by the robot.

Unusual grammar and sentence structure that is not programmed in Jules language database will cause difficulties. Jules may understand only one type of accent and may struggle to communicate if Jules communicates with someone with a different accent. Colloquial expression was used. Unclear speech due to unclear conversion of human sound converted to digital sound files which cannot be matched will cause Jules to not understand the human being. Background noises can cause Jules to misinterpret human voices. Linguistic differences- Words may have different meanings depending on the context.

D) Evaluate whether the organizers should go ahead with this decision to replace human umpires with robotic umpires such as tennis-umpire There are several positives and negatives of this. Positives include 1. The robot would consistently determine the outcome of each play, so human reaction is not present. So reviews won’t be needed. 2. Any robot will not ever get tires or struggle due to physical conditions. (Reactions of crowd, weather). 3. There is no chance that a robot will be biased towards another player, something that can be present when a human referee is officiating.

So they don’t care who win. Robots are more likely to make the right calls first time so this will save time from reviews. 4. Another positive is that robots will not face pressures of the crowd when making a decision because they feel no pressure due to their lack of emotions. Negatives include. 1. Even though robots may be accurate, because of the quick movement of the ball, it may take time for the robot to make the decision; this will make games go a lot slower. 2. Players may block the view of the ball or other obstacles which the robot will find impossible to avoid. . There are ethical issues present as well because the robots can actually replace human umpires if several of them are present within a game. 4. Cost maintenance of robots are very high, example are a lot harder/ more expensive to maintain than human umpires. 5. Players and the crowed might react negatively to robot umpires as they have never been used before. 6. Robot umpires are not designed to argue with players so if any supporter or player disagrees with the ref even with their accuracy what happens then? 7.

Robots will not be able to detect any misconduct any player does during the match, something that humans are capable to do because robots do not understand human emotions. 8. Robots aren’t programmed to do the unexpected so anything that happens not regarding to tennis for example a fan interrupting the game by running onto the court, robots will not be able to do anything about or they might hurt the fan that runs onto the court. 9. If let’s say a player wasn’t ready for the ball, a human umpire could call a replay. This is something a Robot cannot interpret.

The Rhetorical Analysis of “No Woman No Cry” by Bob Marley and the Wailers Karen Start Dr. Felicia Dziadek Composition 1301 October 1, 2011 Abstract In this paper, the rhetorical analysis of the lyrics to “No Woman No Cry”, made famous by Bob Marley and the Wailers, has been analyzed to reveal the rhetoric mean. Historical events in the Jamaican government’s actions influenced the singer to protect, in a peaceful manner, the people and culture of his country, Jamaica.

Repetition of phrases, sentence structure, tones and values of the song are used by the artist to help “move” the people then and still today. The Rhetorical Analysis of “No Woman No Cry” by Bob Marley and the Wailers Try not start the opening sentence with a quote. “1979, Boston, MA, live at Amandla Festival-Harvard Stadium, Bob Marley and the Wailers performed the song ‘No Woman No Cry’ mid day because promoters feared a riot [would spark in the streets. ” (moga1985’s Channel, 2006) One of the great songs ever written, “[n]umber 37 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Song of All Time” (Wailers, B. M. , 2011. ), made a huge impact on society when the famous musician Bob Marley helped to bring peace into his country. But what is it that attracts and persuades people to react after listening to words of a performer? The music,take out the the lyrics, tones, beat, or is it the rhetorical statement within the song?

After completing the recent research of “No Woman No Cry”, the proposed purpose of this melody is said to preach the word for a better government, and is dedicated to Bob Marley’s mother, Ciddy, for the love and support she provided through the hard times in Trenchtown, Jamaica. The people of Jamaican took the rhetorical meaning of the song into action. Rebellions and riots were feared to hit the streets to fight for peace and love the natives deserved in Jamaica. Bob Marley’s face and name revolves around the drastic change of Jamaica. Taking the hetorical meaning of this simple song is strong enough to be used as a weapon to protect rights; to have a better life. To help further understanding of Bob Marley’s words, the information collected has been constructed, analyzed, and developed into a thought of the rhetorical analysis, (and the reasoning for the words carefully chosen for the song “No Woman No Cry”) take this out. Bob Marley carefully chose his words for the song “No Woman No Cry” to show the desperate need for peace and to love to his nation by using repetitions, a variety of tones and beats, and peaceful rebellion.

The rhetorical analysis of Bob’s songs helped to motivate the people into an understanding of the need for peace. In everyday life we experience rhetorical situations, such as advertisements or just simply trying to get someone to raise the thermostat without asking but initially presenting the issue. In most rhetorical situations, people continue to retain the music or rhythm without noticing the rhetoric in songs, poems, and articles. Such an example is the famous repetative song “No Woman No Cry” by Bob Marley and the Wailers.

It is believed the song was intentionally written for Bob Marley’s mother, Ciddy, or for the sake of his country and religion. Reason for such rhetorical words was because of the independence of Jamaica. Marley was being “[e]xposed to the staunch realities of abject poverty, low pay, malnutrition and disease and a lack of political rights by the poor, houses which were anything from cardboard boxes to beaten out oil drums nailed together, roadblocks, migration, [and] food shortage. ” (rasta man vibrations, 2011. Life became hard for the Jamaicans therefore the song’s rhetorical message relates to the politics at the time being and influenced millions world-wide for peace. The phrase “[i]n the government yard in Trenchtown, Oba, ob-serving the hypocrites” (Ford, Vincent, 1976) refers to the lack of help and support for the people suffering. Marley’s rebellion wasn’t just to preach how bad the government is or to persuade the public to revolt; in fact his voice rang another bell. To teach the world to love and take care of one another is the message in between the lines of the lyrics.

His famous quote “No Woman No Cry” has imprinted the Jamaican government with a rhetorical situation of hard times in life, and the tone peace and love sets a good state of mind in the people’s hearts; in which helped the movement of Jamaican independence. The message from the lyrics means more than just singing to be heard, it’s about having a better life, and to show that “No Woman [should] No[t] Cry” (Ford, Vincent. ) because the future will be better. To get to the rhetorical message, you must first discover the features of the song “No Woman No Cry” for a better understanding of how and why the lyrics and beats influence the message.

The construction of a song can show other characteristics about the artist’s appearances or beliefs. First recognized by the audience are the diction and the chronological order of ideas from the performer. Bob Marley’s chose of words are mainly informal diction. He speaks to his audience as if he personally knows them. Bob’s language is so passionate and his words relate to the audience on a deep personal level. A popular choice of writing is repetition of words or phrases also used in the “No Woman No Cry”. The lines “No Woman No Cry” and “Everything’s gonna be alright” (Ford, Vincent. are repeated and detain a deeper message verses just seeing the plain text. Sentence structure is also a helpful tool used by artist. The arrangement of ideas in a song is very important. In the Also, the performance of the song is very sophisticated. Because Marley’s words were so passionate, people literally took the rhetorical message into action. Most reggae music is a form of steady beat and ska combined and slowed. Usually the third or fourth string is accented and this tends to be the standard rhythm.

The rhythm, beats, repetition of words, and the order of Bob Marley’s ideas all contribute to the rhetorical message of the song. Content and form are presented in the song and correspond to one another. The main purpose received from “No Woman No Cry” was the simple fact to not worry or stress and that the individual will be reassured “everything will be alright”. The author of the song appeals to the reason of hardship in Trechtown, Jamaica. Such reason of this is the change of Jamaica’s government control. Independence was won shortly before the burst of reggae music.

People began to view life differently and shift to a new prospective. Not only does Bob Marley make music but he also changes many individual minds on a variety of subjects. When individuals listen to the words presented in a song, they form an image or story of what the performer is introducing. For the song “No Woman No Cry”, the audience infers it is about a woman and the performer is trying to reassure her that there is no reason to cry. But in reality, the sweet words are directed into two ways. One line in the lyrics “Then we would cook cornmeal porridge” (Ford, Vincent. ) is eferring to the dinners Marley would enjoy with his mother. “Although porridge for dinner was an indication of the family’s economic need it was also conversely an indication of strength and love through Bob’s satisfaction with having such a meal. ” (rasta man vibrations, 2011. ) This line is so sincere about the memories he shared with his mother growing up poor without food. After analyzing the song, a different perspective is formed. Majority of the audience assume the rhetorical message is directed to the relationship between Marley and his family and also to preach for a better system of government for Jamaica.

Emotionally the audience feels a sense of hurt, hope, and calming peace from the performer. To contribute to this sense, form of the lyrics helps to portray such emotions. The structure of communication is sculpted into public communication; “In other words, it is the intention of the communicator that what is communicated might be received/apprehended by anyone. ” (Faulkner, Andrew, 2009. ) The performer, Bob Marley, uses such communication in hopes the audience will receive the information of the public to understand and continue to fight for the hope of having a free and peaceful country.

This usage of form and content helps the artist reach out to the public. Marley’s approach to the public and the techniques he had chosen were very useful to get his rhetorical message in his song clear to the point. Performers write and sing for various reasons and another key element to a performer’s writing is his audience. When listening to a song, a thought of whom the lyrics are directed to is proposed. ‘Who could the writer possibly be directing his attention to? ’ is question often brought to mind. In the perspective of Marley, his intentions were to his people; the natives suffering in Jamaica. Then we would cook corn meal porridge, Of which I’ll share with you” this line considers the meals Bob Marley would eat with his mother. At the time in Jamaica, the public was so poor they couldn’t afford to have a diversity of food. The message within these lines is directed to his mother. Like many of the Jamaicans, Marley had experienced hardship therefore we can only assume his audiences are the people of Jamaica. “In its literal sense the song can be interpreted as an ode to Marley’s mother and the hardships they both faced in Trench Town”. (Rasta man vibration, 2011).

The performer used much of his personal experiences show that he too feels the same as the rest of the public. In sense that the public wanted a better life; to have food, free of diseases, and a home to live in. We as the modern day listeners, interpret the song into manners in which we can understand. It is believed the information Marley has given to his audiences is exposed for the spread of the good word; peace. Historical events influence the people experiencing the change of life, hardship, pain, and the need of support from those who want to ‘rule’.

The wide range of audiences Bob Marley has obtain have continued to spread the peace, love, and happiness in hope that one day the people of the world will not have to “she’d no tears. ” (Ford, Vincent, 1974. ) Out of such powerful performances and significantly constructed communication culture and values can be produced. Marley had ‘moved the people’ into a cultural development people today continue to practice his motivations. Individuals practice the art of marijuana, love, peace movements, and creating reggae music. Marley’s face can be seen from posters to T-shirts and his words are used as greetings or goodbyes.

Till this day, Marley’s name is best known for his perspective on life, the fight for his people, to keeping his religion, and a better government in his country. Many audiences have been reached out by the words of Bob Marley and his music lives on today touching the hearts of many people. The only clear cut rhetorical message Bob Marley has given to the world is the uplifting phrase, “Peace, Love, and Happiness. ” Rhetorical analysis can provide a deeper intellectual thought of an article, book, poem, or song. In this case, the song “No Woman No Cry” by Bob Marley and the Wailers was analyzed to receive the message within the lines.

Love, hope, pain, and sorrow all contribute to the long lasting song Bob Marley has given us. The sentence structure, structure of communication, and features used help to contribute the reasoning of “No Woman No Cry”. The performances of the artist contribute to the passive moving lyrics as well. A performer will most likely present the rhythm and beats to help the sentence stucture of the lyrics. Looking through the fine print of casual writings reveals rhetorical analysis with a little research and historical fact support. References 1. Bob Marley’s song No Woman No Cry. n. d. ). rasta man vibration. Retrieved October 2, 2011, from http://www. rasta-man-vibration. com/no-woman-no-cry. html. 2. __video_username__, m. (2006, April 2). moga1985’s Channel – YouTube . YouTube – Broadcast Yourself. . Retrieved October 2, 2011, from http://www. youtube. com/user/moga1985. 3. BobMarley. com | The Official Site of Bob Marley . (2010, December 27). BobMarley. com | The Official Site of Bob Marley . Retrieved October 2, 2011, from http://www. bobmarley. com/. 4. Wailers, B. M. (2011, September 20). No Woman, No Cry – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved October 2, 2011, from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/No_Woman. 5. “No Woman No Cry Lyrics – Bob Marley. ” Lyrics, Song Lyrics – LyricsFreak. com. N. p. , n. d. Web. 2 Oct. 2011. ;http://www. lyricsfreak. com/b/bob. 6. Ford, Vincent. “No Woman No Cry” lyric credit. (1976) 7. Faulkner, Andrew. “The Structure of Communication « Reflections and Insights on Transformation. ” Reflections and Insights on Transformation. N. p. , 17 May 2009. Web. 2 Oct. 2011. ;http://sureshfernando. wordpress. com/2009/05/17/the-structure-of-communication/;.

State of the Industry Paper Aflac Duck Campaign Introduction One company which has had success over the last decade is American Family Life Assurance Company or more commonly known as Aflac (duck voice). Historically, Aflac was a pretty successful company but they were still missing that one piece to make them recognizable. That one thing the company needed was a face and they found it when they launched their Aflac Duck Campaign. In this paper, the Duck campaign strategy will be discussed along with the history of Aflac, target audience and competition of Aflac, and the successful outcome of the campaign.

History The American Family Life Assurance Company was founded in Columbus, Georgia by three brothers, John, Paul, and Bill Amos in 1955. Three years later, the company had their first big plan which was developing a cancer expense policy. Several years afterward, Aflac expanded by adding numerous diverse policies to cover accidents, dental, disability, hospital care, and other health events. In the 1960s, Aflac thrived on making presentations to companies with large groups of employees. Today, the overwhelming majority (96%) of Aflac’s policies are bought at work through a payroll-deduction basis.

Later in the 1970s, Aflac continued its success by expanding into the Japan market. Aflac was only the third American company to sell insurance in Japan. This has proved to very successful since today, Japan is about three-quarters (75%) of the company’s revenue. Aflac continued to do well through the 1980s and into the 1990s and named a new CEO, Daniel Amos, in 1990. Under the newly appointed CEO, Aflac become a Fortune 100 best company to work in the United States in 2000. Overall the company had taken shape beautifully in its history.

It was the largest provider of renewable insurance in the US and it was also the largest provider in Japan (History 2012). So what is the problem? Daniel Amos wanted to change one thing about his company and that was brand awareness. Despite the success, after initiating name awareness ad campaign in the United States Aflac the name recognition for Aflac came back at 2%. After various attempts to get the company recognized “The Duck” debuted on New Year’s Day in 2000 (Amos 2010). “The Duck” “We had to do something dramatic,” stated Aflac CEO Daniel Amos in a Harvard Business Review (Amos 2010).

In the late 1990s, Aflac began listening to agencies pitch ideas for new television advertisements. One agency, Kaplan Thaler Group, was in a meeting tossing around ideas and they themselves were having a tough time remembering the name of the company. Amos explains, “One day, one of them asked, ‘What’s the name of the account we’re pitching? ’ A colleague replied, ‘It’s Aflac-Aflac-Aflac—Aflac. ’ Someone said that he sounded like a duck, and the idea was born” (Amos 2010). During testing of the different advertisements, Kaplan Thaler ad scored 50% than what Aflac was previously doing.

Amos liked that the commercial pointed fun at the company’s name (Amos 2010). When Daniel Amos tried explaining the ad to others they simply did not understand the reasoning behind it. The first Aflac Duck debuted on CNN on New Year’s Day in 2000 (Amos 2010). The bit ran four times an hour. From this point on the rest was history. The first day the commercial aired, Aflac had more visits to their website than the entire year before. Weeks later, the company was getting requests for stuffed animal versions of the duck (Amos 2010).

Months later, Amos describes an event at Disney Studios that Aflac was sponsoring. “We didn’t know whether it would be a good idea to put ducks on all the tables….. I was just watching to see if ducks were left on the tables,” said Amos. This next encounter confirmed Amos had found what he had been looking for. “I spotted the head of Disney Studios with a bulge under his jacket. When I jokingly asked him what was going on, he said, ‘I want you to understand that Donald is always king around here. But I want to take one home to my kids” (Amos 2010).

Daniel Amos had found a dark horse. A duck quacking out the name of his company with various celebrities repeatedly asking for the company name was his winner. “The Duck” had been born. Target Audience Aflac believed it needed the duck to attract more of their target audience. With the company’s cancer expense services there was not much more room for growth from that audience. That audience is the 35 to 54 year old age group because most of the company’s policies came from business groups. Since Aflac was trying to make a push in selling more policies regarding accident nd liability insurances, they wanted to reach out more to families and attract new customers. Since many other insurance companies offer pretty much the same insurance policies Aflac needed a way to stick out (Sunset 2008). This is where the duck comes in. Competition Insurance is always a buyer’s market because everybody wants to have coverage and be protected from accidents, liabilities, health, and other events. Aflac offered similar services to its competing insurance companies such as Citizens Financial Corporation, Conseco Incorporated, and Amerisafe Incorporated.

In a tough industry, Aflac had a hard time selling policies outside of their corporate base that they had already built years prior (Sunset 2008). They needed a way to leapfrog the competition. This where the duck comes in. Marketing Strategy behind “The Duck” As mentioned previously, the Kaplan Thaler Group (KTG) was responsible for creating the pitch idea for “The Duck. ” KTG had developed their own advertising model called “Big Bang. ” KTG’s website describes a “Bang” as, “…creates brand experiences and connections resulting in deep relationships” (Thaler).

Aflac was looking for that deep relationship with consumers so they could be recognized. All the initial spots for Aflac comprised of one central theme. It turned the company’s weakness, a difficult name, into its strength by making that most of the campaign’s humor (Sunset 2008). In all the early advertisements, it started with a small group of discussing a recent accident or trying to decide what insurance company they should buy policies from. In both spots, the people cannot recall the name of an insurance company, the duck pops up and quacks, “Aflac! This happens continuously throughout the commercial typically with the duck doing something humorous in the background. When people watched more and more of these commercials they already knew what they were getting and that was Aflac. The name became instantly memorized because of the repetition the commercial provided. Looking at the ads, there are several examples of tactics discussed from class. As discussed in Day 12 of lecture, just the foundation of distraction played a role in the commercials. Using the humor of the duck repeating the company name distracted you from what the company s trying to sell but you remembered the name and it made you interested in what the company was. Also from Day 12, the commercial displays the elaboration likelihood model. The level of elaboration is low thus leads the viewers to view the message peripherally. Now since the viewers understand this peripherally they are not taking logic, information, or rational thinking into account. They are viewing it as humorous, which in the Aflac advertisements sparked a change in attitude because immediately the company was more recognized.

People accepted the position of the message, the name recognition, probably due to how it was spoken to them and who was saying it. A duck quacking the company name to you repeatedly is easy to remember. Also, people had the ability to process the message of name recognition because now that it had a symbol/face it was so easy to remember. Now that the marketing strategies behind “The Duck” have been revealed, it is easy to understand why there were immediate results. Outcomes/Results As previously mentioned, the day Aflac aired their first “Duck” commercial; they had more visits to their website that day than the previous year.

In the first two weeks of the first year (2000), the company had more sales leads than in 1998 and 1999 combined. In the second quarter of the first year, the company had a record quarter of $168 million in sales (Sunset 2008). In the first year of “The Duck” in the United States, sales went up 29%. In three years, sales were doubled (Amos 2010). For the first time ever accident/disability insurance swapped with cancer-expense insurance for the company’s number one product (Sunset 2008). Also in the third year, Daniel Amos’s goal was met. Aflac achieved 94% brand awareness.

The new account growth increased 10% and the mid-sized business accounts increased 20% (Kaplan Case Study). In 2008, Aflac’s two main markets, USA and Japan, had combined revenue of $16. 6 billion, which is almost double the revenue from the last year (1999) without “The Duck” (Amos 2010). Aflac has also been named a Fortune 100 Best Company to Work For over the last fourteen years. Aflac was also named on Fortune 500’s list for Best Company overall (Corporate Report 2012). In 2010, Aflac was the number one preferred voluntary insurance carrier (Kaplan Case Study).

These results speak for themselves and Aflac is not slowing down. “The Duck” is everywhere. Looking at Aflac’s website, there are numerous ducks on each page. Aflac is one of the main sponsor’s for NASCAR driver Carl Edwards, who has a giant ducks all around his car. “The Duck” makes an appearance yearly in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Aflac has become a mainstay in the world of college football by sponsoring The Heisman Trophy and “The Duck” often makes appearances with “The Aflac Trivia Question. ” Aflac also makes appearances with the National Football League and Major League Baseball (Aflac Homepage). The Duck” has met some stars over the years as well such as Chevy Chase, Yogi Berra, Yao Ming, the 2004 United States Olympic Swim Team, and even cartoon characters Bugs Bunny and fellow duck, Daffy. Over time, “The Duck” has also appeared on “The Tonight Show” and “Saturday Night Live” (Sunset 2008). “The Duck” has garnered several awards itself. In 2004, “The Duck” was named one of the country’s favorite advertising figures (Press Release 2004) and was an original member of the Advertising Walk of Fame (Sunset 2008). Also, a two time Gold Effe Winner (2002 & 2004), Webby Award for Best Web. Com (2010), and People’s Voice Award Winner. The Duck” also had a higher Q Score, which measures familiarity, than Ronald McDonald and the Energizer Bunny (Kaplan Case Study). Aflac does not plan on slowing down this phenomenon either with their newest Duck campaign, “Get the Alfacts. ” Conclusion In conclusion, it should be obvious that the Aflac Duck was one of the most successful campaigns in the past few decades. The company had a great start with their good long history but it just needed that final push. The marketing strategy put in place by Kaplan Thaler Group and Aflac was well put together and they created the company symbol they wanted. The Duck” was able to target the audience, beat out the competition, and get the results Aflac was looking for. When Ms. Kaplan Thaler was asked if the duck will begin saying more than “Aflac,” she replied, “That’s going to be up to him. Right now, the Aflacts speak for themselves” (Elliott 2009). References Sunset, B. (2008, January 28). The Aflac Duck Campaign. Retrieved from http://marketing-case-studies. blogspot. com/2008/01/aflac-duck-2000-campaign. html Amos, D. (2010). How I Did It: Aflac’s CEO Explains How He Fell For The Duck. Retrieved from http://www. nternationalistmagazine. com/AflacsCEO. pdf Case Studies Kaplan Thaler. Retrieved from http://kaplanthaler. com/clients/case_studies Thaler, L. , Thaler, R. BANG! Getting Your Message Heard in a Noisy World. Retrieved from http://www. thepowerofsmallbook. com/index. php/other Abbey, R. (2010). Encouraging Animal Advertisers to Pay for the Use of Animal Images: A Voluntary Certification Approach. Retrieved from http://sjalp. stanford. edu/pdfs/Abbey. pdf Elliott, S. (2009, April 21). Not Daffy or Donald, but Still Aflac’s Rising Star. Retrieved from http://www. ytimes. com/2009/04/22/business/media/22adco. html? _r=1;scp=2;sq=Aflac;st=cse (2012). Aflac 2012 Corporate Citizenship Report. Retrieved from http://www. aflac. com/us/en/docs/investors/CSRReport. pdf (2012). Aflac History. Retrieved from http://www. aflac. com/aboutaflac/corporateoverview/history. aspx (2004, September 20). Aflac Press Release. Retrieved from http://www. aflac. com/aboutaflac/pressroom/pressreleasestory. aspx? rid=616598 (2012). Aflac Homepage. Retrieved from http://www. aflac. com/aboutaflac/corporateoverview/missionandvalues. aspx