Family issues becoming social problems Essay Example for Free

Family issues becoming social problems Essay Family, as what sociologists address, is a social institution. Families are shaped by the family members’ personality. Individual members affect their relationship that is greatly influenced by experience. Families are also affected with the other social institution in the society like law, religion and education. Thus, families are subject to changes whether these changes gave advantages and disadvantages, the family has to cope up and make adjustments. Failure to do so will affect society and social problems might arise. This twist and turns have been quite evident as the time passes by. Single parents, careerist mothers, absent fathers, and live-in partners are blamed as the root cause of many of societys problems that could lead to persistent poverty, drug abuse, academic failure or out-of-school youths, and juvenile crime. This can be traced back to the early society that calls for historical perspective(Steven Mintz, 2003). History of the American Family In 1920, majority of American families are the traditional type; the father is the breadwinner, the wife is the home-maker and the children attend the school. Unwanted pregnancies happened between 1940 and 1958. Families of the 1950s are characterized by increase in birth rate, a stable divorce rate, and the age of marriage decline. During the early and at the middle of the nineteenth century, divorce rate began to rise because of its legislative order to be legalized. Spousal and child abuse gave rise and this can be reflected with the increase in assaults and murders committed against relatives and family members. Highest divorce cases happened at the beginning of the twentieth century. Single parenting, children in orphanage, infant mortality and early widowhood are the other changes happened in the past years(Steven Mintz, 2003). Family issues becoming social problem Divorce and single parenting From the point of view of some, divorce is an indication of failure of American family. But for others, it is viewed as a sign of freedom from men that women do enjoy. After World War II, it is documented that the rate of divorce increased and these may be an indication of the changing views and role of women in the society and their need to be free from social and financial dependence upon men. However, the dramatic increase of divorce rate has greatly affect the economical and social stability experienced by most of the divorced women that caused social problem for the economic well-being of the divorced women and the children are highly compromised. On average, women earn less income than men, households that headed by the divorced women are further disadvantaged, also, the lack of adequate and consistent child support added to the economic dilemma of divorced women (Dennis L. Peck). Spousal Abuse  Among the cause of violence between couples are: incompatibility between them which they discovered after the marriage and such difference arises when there is great disagreement and animosity between them, the couple is under stress and frustration therefore burst it out to one another and lastly, if the wife is a masochist or very awkward or very provocative(Rudi Dallos). Child abuse and neglect A child that is not properly taken cared of, not properly fed, deprived of basic necessities, proper medical care and treatment, and too much physical abuse is a violation to the child’s welfare and is considered as a criminal behavior. Juvenile Delinquency According to a study, broken homes are associated with juvenile delinquency. Levels of juvenile delinquency were much higher in teenagers living with single fathers and lowest among teenagers living with both parents and one of the suggestive reasons for this is due to inadequate parental involvement in the life of the child. The lack of guidance and the absence of close relationships between the child and parents contributed to the causes of the delinquency(Crystal L. Murry). Financial stress Financial stress can directly and indirectly affect children because it increases parental mental and emotional distress, which limits a parent’s capability to respond sensitively and consistently to their children’s needs. More specifically, parents that are more commonly observed among low-income populations have behaviors of parental harshness, non-responsiveness, and inconsistency and are assumed to arise in part from the high levels of parental stress that accompany poverty. Parents having low income have the tendency to fail to express their affection and fail to respond to their child’s needs. (H. Abigail Raikes). Gay and Lesbian Families Sigmund Freud viewed homosexuality as a disturbed psychosexual development wherein the social orientation of the child is due to its relationship with his or her parents. Psychologists, as well as other professionals form other disciplines such as endocrinology and genetics have studied and discovered other possible causes of homosexuality (Dennis L. Peck). Before, same-sex families were inconceivable. However, in 1980s, the situation began to change and have changed the views of family life for gays and lesbians. Due to socioeconomic independence of women of lesbian families, the medical advances of in-vitro fertilization and sex transplant, acceptance of gays and lesbians by adoption agencies and courts, planned gay and lesbian parenting had increased tremendously but during the late 1980s and early 1990s, there was argument about same-sex families, particularly child-rearing by gays and lesbians. Solutions to Problems Having time for the family will be helpful in strengthening the family and businesses providing flexible working schedule will be of great help. The power of media has great influence on the youth; therefore, they should make effort on portraying positive views on marriage and valuing education. The parents should be attentive to their child’s learning in and out of school. No-fault divorce legislation establishes conjugal property that should be divided by both parties, assigning the child’s custody, and awarding alimony. Open communication is important so that problems and conflicts can be addressed within the members of the family. Nowadays, it is acceptable that both parents are working to support the financial needs of the family but make sure that there is still time for relaxation and bonding of the family members especially during special occasions. There are also government agencies, insurance company, law firms and consultants that provide legal and financial support for the child, spouse and elder that are victims of domestic violence.

New Economic Policy Failure

New Economic Policy Failure During World War I, Tsar Nicholas II made the terrible mistake of commanding Russias grand army by himself, and allowing Grigori Rasputin to give personal advice on how to direct it. Most mistakes made from then on out were blamed on Nicholas II by the people, and it was deemed time for change. In early 1917, tensions within the population led Nicholas II to abdicate and flee the country and a provisional government was put in place (BBC Lenin). The Germans saw this as an opportunity to get rid of Russia as an opponent and decided to send Vladimir Lenin, a member of the Soviet Communist Party, into power. The provisional government was quickly overthrown and Lenin was installed into power during the October Revolution through the Germans and the Bolsheviks. After signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the population became outraged that they lost so much land after exiting the war. A civil war erupted because of this, and in the chaos, Tsar Nicholas II was executed. Lenin saw that Rus sia was in a state of turmoil after exiting World War I and silencing the civil war, so he was determined to fix the economy. After the civil war, Lenin revised the economic policies and introduced the New Economic Policy (BBC The NEP). The imposition of the New Economic Policy in 1921 incorporated western economic ideas, such as peasants controlling businesses, causing Russia to depend more on its agricultural sector and in turn, brought it back to its pre-war state. (it incorporated western economic ideas, which were ultimately unsuccessful in raising russia from its prewar state) When Lenin first took power in 1918, Russia was in what he called a state of War Communism (Carr 147). He toyed with this system at first, and eventually decided to drop it due to peasents and workers revolting in the Tambov and Kronstadt Rebellions. In 1920, he declared that, We must show the peasants that the organisation of industry on the basis of modern, advanced technology, on electrification, which will provide a link between town and country, will put an end to the division between town and country, will make it possible to raise the level of culture in the countryside and to overcome, even in the most remote corners of land, backwardness, ignorance, poverty, disease, and barbarism (Lenin). Also in 1920, agricultural output had been reduced to only half of its pre-World War I level, foreign trade had decreased, and industrial production had fallen to only a small fraction of its pre-war levels. The peasants were the basis of the people, or the proletariat according to Carl Marx, and Lenin deemed it necessary to start with the lowest class to ensure that everyone grasps the new ideals that he was going to impose. The current leaders of the economy, as exclaimed by Lenin, were the bourgeois. In order to thwart their rule, Lenin revised the War Communism policies, and produced the New Economic Policy. In accordance with Marxs views, Lenin thought that, capitalism is a system based on the exploitation of the proletariat by the bourgeoisie. This exploitation takes place as follows: the workers, who own no means of production of their own, must use the means of production that are property of others in order to produce, and, consequently, earn their living (Carr 270). The New Economic Policy was instituted on March 21, 1921. The first eight months of the transition from War Communism to the NEP failed to displace the bourgeois to install the socialist economic order. It almost seemed as if the main goal of the policy at the time was to get the bourgeois out of power, and that the policy wasnt really formulated for the long run (Carr 269). This new policy was stepping away from the communist ideals of earlier periods in Russia. The Bolsheviks didnt approve of this policy made by Lenin, as they thought it was stretching communist ideals (Carr 156). Many of the Bolsheviks ended up leaving the government because of this, but Lenin held his position, and continued on with the imposition. The NEP was thought to be a new agricultural policy as well. The Bolsheviks viewed traditional village life as conservative and backward (Carr 152). The old way of village life was reminiscent of the Tsarist Russia that had supposedly been thrown out with the October Revolution. With the NEP, methods were put in place which promoted the pursuit by peasants of their self-interests. However, the government only allowed private landholdings because the idea of collectivized farming had met with much opposition. The practice of collectivized farming was when the government wouldnt collect tax in the shape of money from the proletariat, but they would be required to give the leaders a portion of their crop. The NEP stated that requisitioning of food and agricultural surpluses, a ideal of War Communism, must be ended. Instead, the government would tax the peasants on a fixed percentage of their production. Trotsky had already proposed a similar policy, but it was rejected by his fellow colleagues, including Lenin. Basically, this promoted a free agricultural market in Russia. With the free agricultural market came a great toll on the people of Russia. The Soviet authorities were constantly preoccupied with the danger that supplies of food to the towns and the army and of agricultural raw materials to industry would be inadequate. On the other hand, the persistent efforts of the same authorities to increase the share of resources available to industry constantly threatened the economic basis of the relationship between the regime and the peasantry. The Soviet authorities were right in the end. Prices for industry made products such as metals, tools, etc., skyrocketed to over 250% of their value before World War One was started. This in turn caused a major split between the prices of industrial products and agricultural products which caused a major food shortage due to farmers not being able to buy supplies and tools to produce crops. Like the blades of a pair of scissors, the terms of trade between town and country began to diverge in 1923 in favor of the mainly state-run industrial economy and at the expense of rural consumers. The reason for the Scissors Crisis was that agricultural production had rebounded quickly from the devastating famine of 1921 while industrial infrastructure was relatively slow to recover from the Civil Wars destruction. Thus, whereas textile production, essential to providing cloth to mass consumers, was only 26 percent of the pre-war level in 1922, agriculture reached 75 percent. By October 1923 when the crisis reached its peak, industrial prices were 276% of pre-war/1913 levels, while agricultural prices were only 89%. At this point, the state took vigorous action to make the producers prices go down. Costs were reduced by cutting staffs in industry. As a result of these measures as well as the success of the newly established Peoples Commissariat of Trade in making inroads into areas previously dependent on NEPmen, the scissors began to close. By April 1924 the agricultural price index had risen slightly to 92% and the industrial index had fallen to 131%. When the Scissors Crisis ended in 1923, Lenin became ill with a stroke, and died in late 1924. Stalin took over, and wiped out the New Economic Policy and instituted his Five Year Plans, showing that the economic policies provided by Lenin had little impact on the future of Russia. Also, as a result of the Scissor Crisis, the government corrected the industrial and agricultural parts of the economy, dragging their cost back down to pre-war times. The economic state within Russia depended on collective farming and free market farming, and how those two parts of agriculture did as a whole. With the reliance on the agricultural sector controlling the economy, the New Economic Policy imposed by Lenin ultimately failed in the sense of industrializing Russia.

Internet Inventions :: essays research papers

Internet Inventions Several inventions have changed the way people communicate with each other. From the old fashioned telegraph to today's modern electronic forms of communicating, people have beencreating easier ways to correspond. Electronic communication, such as e-mail and other internet offerings, have created a cheap and incredibly fast communications system which is gaining steady popularity. E-mail is basically information, usually in letter form,addressed to a destination on the internet. The internet is aninternational web of interconnected networks--in essence,  anetwork of networks; these consist of government, education, and business networks. Software on these networks between the source and destination networks "read" the addresses on packets and forward them toward their destinations. E-mail is a very fast and efficient way of sending information to any internet location. Once an e-mail is sent, it arrives at its destination almost instantly. This provides people with a way to communicate with people anywhere in the world quickly without the costs of other forms of communicating such as telephone calls or postage for letters. The savings to be gained from e-mail were enough of an inducement for many businesses to invest heavily in equipment and network connections in the early 1990s. The employees of a large corporation may send hundreds of thousands of pieces of E-mail over the Internet every month, thereby cutting back on postal and telephone costs. It is not uncommon to find internet providers from twenty to thirty dollars a month for unlimited access to internet features. Many online services such as America Online and Prodigy offer e-mail software and internet connections which work in an almost identical way, however, the cost is more expensive. The World Wide Web (WWW) and USENET Newsgroups are amongother internet offerings which have changed the way people communicate with each other. The WWW can be compared to a electronic bulletin board where information consisting o fanything can be posted. One can create visual pages consisting of text and graphics which become viewable to anyone with WWW access. Anything from advertisements to providing people with information and services can be found on the WWW. File transfers between networks can also be accomplished on the WWW though Gopher and FTP (File Transfer Protocol) sites. Newsgroups are very similar, but run in a different way. Newsgroups basically create a forum where people can discuss a vast array of subjects. There are thousands of newsgroups available. Once one finds a subject that interests them, they may post notes which are visible to anyone visiting that particular newsgroup, and others may respond to such notes. Again, this can be advertising, information, or, more commonly, gossip. Though the internet can be a convenient way of communication, it can become

Help improve own and team practice in schools Essay

Teamwork is important in any group of people that work together as it means they share a common goal, each member of the team has there own strengths. Schools have a huge number of staff and whilst you must focus on your own role, it is just as important to have a good knowledge of other roles in your team to create a successful school. To meet all pupils academic and social needs individuals need to work together towards commitments and shared goals. The team should have regular meetings to enable staff to implement new ideas or plans, solve problems, prioritise and accomplish important tasks which in all will benefit the pupils. One of the main benefits of team work is it can speed up the process of accomplishing goals and make things run more efficiently. You may be part of several different teams within your school, each with different objectives. You should know what these are and how each team works together. Sometimes your team may only be together for a short time e.g., you are organising a production or a fair. Sometimes you may find you are only part of the team for a short time for example, if you are working on a school production or a summer fair. In this sort of situation it is important for someone to take charge and ensure that different members of the team are able to work together effectively. The school may be large and have a number of classes within each year group. Year groups work very closely together and support one another in planning and moderating pupils work. Also members of stff within a school are part of a tram and will support one another. For example the maths coordinator will be able to offer help and advice to any member of staff on any maths activities. Read more:  Essay on Teamwork in Schools Members of the team will need to understand their role and how it fits in with the role of other members of the team. The most important part of any role within a team is communicating effectively with others . You should attend regular meetings which should give you a clear idea of how what you  are doing fits in to the school or team as a whole. If you have a team leader, they should identify action points in any meetings you attend and give a deadline by which they will need to be carried out. All member of the team are equally important and your expertise and that of your colleagues is unique to each persons experience. You should always respect the opinions and knowledge which others bring. This is because in order to have a good working relationship with them you will need to show that you consider their opinions and expertise. If a member of your team has been working in schools for a long time and a new person comes in and tells them that things should be done in a different way, it will cause bad feelings and resentment. This cam quickly cause problems and unrest within teams. You may find that others come to you for help and advice when you become more experienced. Whilst remaining supportive, you should always think about your role and others within the team when doing this. You may need to refer to someone else within the team , when you feel a particular issue is not appropriate  for you to deal with. You must remain non judgemental about others and not allow y our own opinions to intrude or cloud any decisions you may have to make.

Prom Nights from Hell Chapter Two

â€Å"Are you kidding? I barely got off suspension in time to be allowed to come tonight.† Of course, at the moment Gabe was wishing the timing hadn't been so helpful. â€Å"I'm lucky I didn't get expelled.† â€Å"Mr. Reese had it coming. Everyone knows that.† â€Å"Yeah, he did,† Gabe said, a sudden edge sharpening his tone. Everyone at school was wary of Mr. Reese, but there wasn't much they could do until the math teacher crossed a line he shouldn't have. All the upperclassmen knew about Mr. Reese, too, but Gabe wasn't about to stand by while he stalked that clueless freshman kid†¦ Still, knocking out a teacher was a bit extreme. There was probably some better way to have handled the situation. His parents had been supportive, though, as usual. Logan interrupted his thoughts. â€Å"Maybe we should take off,† Logan said. â€Å"I'd feel bad-if Celeste needs a way home†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"That girl is not your type, Gabe.† She's pure evil-and a full-on whore, Logan could have added, but those just weren't the kinds of things you wanted to say about any girl while Gabe was in hearing range. â€Å"Let her get a ride with the guy sticking his tongue down her throat.† Gabe sighed and shook his head. â€Å"I'll wait to make sure she's okay.† Logan groaned. â€Å"I can't believe you asked her. Well, can we ditch out long enough to pick up a few decent CDs at least? Then we could hijack that pile of crap the DJ's playing†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I like the way you think. I wonder if the limo driver would mind a side trip†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Logan and Gabe ended up in a mock argument over the best CDs to retrieve-the top five were obvious, but from there down the list was a little more subjective-both of them having a better time than they'd had all evening. It was funny, but as they joked around, Gabe had a sense that they were the only ones having a good time. Everyone in the room seemed to be frowning about something. And over in the corner by the stale cookies, it looked like a girl was crying. Wasn't that Evie Hess? And another girl, Ursula Tatum, also had red eyes and smeared mascara. Maybe the music and the punch weren't the only things about this prom that sucked. Clara and Bryan looked happy, but aside from those two, Gabe and Logan-both recently humiliated and rejected-seemed to be enjoying themselves more than everyone else. Less perceptive than Gabe, Logan didn't register the negative atmosphere until Libby and Dylan started arguing; abruptly, Libby stalked off the dance floor. That caught his attention at once. Logan shifted his weight, his eyes glued to Libby's departing figure. â€Å"Hey, Gabe, do you mind if I ditch you?† â€Å"Not at all. Go for it.† Logan nearly sprinted after her. Gabe wasn't sure what to do with himself now. Should he find Celeste and ask whether she minded if he bailed? He wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea of prying her loose from someone else in order to ask, though. He decided to get another bottle of water and find the quietest corner possible to wait for the evening to drag to an end. And then, as he went searching for that quiet corner, Gabe felt the strange pull again, stronger than he'd ever felt it in his life; it was like someone was drowning in black waters and screaming to him for help. He glanced around frantically, wondering where the urgent call was coming from. He couldn't understand the vital, jagged edge of this distress. It was like nothing he'd ever felt before. For just a moment, his eyes locked on one girl-on her back, as she was walking away from him. The girl's hair was black and glossy, with a mirrorlike sheen. She wore a spectacular floor-length dress the color of flames. As Gabe watched, her earrings flashed once, like little red sparklers. Gabe began walking after her in an almost unconscious movement, drawn by the wrenching need that surrounded her. She turned slightly, and he got a glimpse of an unfamiliar pale, aquiline profile-full ivory lips and black slanting brows-before she ducked through the ladies' room door. Gabe was breathing hard with the effort of not following the girl into no-man's-land. He could feel her need sucking at him like quicksand. He leaned against the wall across from the bathroom, folded his arms tight across his chest, and tried to talk himself out of waiting for the girl. This lunatic instinct he had was way off base. Wasn't Celeste proof of that? It was all just imagination. Maybe he should leave now. But Gabe couldn't force his feet to move one step away. Though the girl barely reached five foot three inches in her stiletto heels, something about her figure-whip-slender and rod-straight as a fencing foil-made her appear tall. She was a walking contradiction in more ways than height-both dark and light with her inky hair and chalky skin, both delicate and hard with her tiny, sharp features, and both inviting and repellent with the mesmerizing undulations of her body under the hostile expression on her face. Only one thing about her was not ambiguous-her dress was, without question, a work of art: Bright red tongues of leather flame bared her pale shoulders and licked down her willowy curves until they kissed the floor. As she crossed the dance floor, female eyes followed the pathway of the dress with envy and male eyes followed it with lust. There was another phenomenon that followed her; as the girl in the fiery dress passed through the dancers, little gasps of horror and pain and embarrassment rippled out from around her in strange eddies that could only be coincidence. A high heel cracked, twisting the ankle inside it. A satin dress split along a seam from thigh to waist. A contact lens popped out and was lost on the dirty floor. A vital bra strap snapped in two. A wallet slipped from a pocket. An unexpected cramp announced an early period. A borrowed necklace scattered in a shower of pearls to the floor. And on and on-little disasters spinning small circles of misery. The pale dark girl smiled to herself as if she could somehow sense that misery in the air and enjoy it-taste it, perhaps, considering the way she licked her lips in appreciation. And then she frowned, furrowing her brow in fierce concentration. The one boy who was watching her face saw a strange red glitter near her earlobes, like shooting red sparks. Everyone else turned just then to stare at Brody Farrow, who clutched his arm and shouted in pain; the slight movement of the slow dancing had dislocated his shoulder. The girl in the red dress smirked. With her heels ringing sharply against the tile floor, she strode down the hall to the ladies' room. Faint moans of pain and chagrin trailed after her. A crowd of girls hovered in front of the wall-length mirrors inside the bathroom. They only had a moment to gape at the stunning dress, to notice how the slight girl inside it shivered briefly in the stuffy, too-warm room, before the chaos distracted them. It started with Emma Roland stabbing herself in the eye with a mascara wand. She flailed in dismay, striking the full glass of punch in Bethany Crandall's hand, which then drenched Bethany and stained three other dresses in the most inconvenient places. The atmosphere in the restroom was suddenly hotter than the temperature as one girl-sporting a hideous green smear across her chest-accused Bethany of throwing the punch on her purposely. The pale dark girl only smiled slightly at the brewing fight, and then strode to the farthest stall in the long room and locked the door behind her. She did not make use of the privacy the way one might expect. Instead-showing no fear of the less-than-sterile environment-the girl leaned her forehead against the metal wall and squeezed her eyes shut. Her hands, balled into sharp little fists, also rested against the metal as if for support. If any of the girls in the ladies' room had been paying attention, they might have wondered what was causing the red glow that shone dully through the crack between the door and the wall. But no one was paying attention. The girl in the red dress clenched her teeth tightly together. From between them, a hot spurt of bright flame shot out and singed black patterns into the thin layer of tan paint on the metal wall. She started to pant, struggling with an invisible weight, and the fire burned hotter, thick fingers of red crackling against the cold metal. The fire reached up to her hair, but did not scorch the smooth, inky locks. Traces of smoke began to seep from her nose and ears. A shower of sparks popped from her ears as she whispered one word through her teeth. â€Å"Melissa.† Back out on the crowded dance floor, Melissa Harris looked up, distracted. Had someone just called her name? There didn't seem to be anyone close enough to be responsible for the low sound. Just her imagination, then. Melissa looked back at her date and tried to concentrate on what he was saying. Melissa wondered why she had agreed to go to the prom with Cooper Silverdale. He wasn't her type. A small boy, consumed with his own importance, with too much to prove. He'd been oddly hyper all night, bragging about his family and his possessions nonstop, and Melissa was tired of it. Another faint whisper caught Melissa's attention, and she turned. There, too far across the crowd to be the source behind the sound, Tyson Bell was staring straight at Melissa over the head of the girl he danced with. Melissa looked down at once, shuddering, trying not to care who he was with, forcing herself not to look. She moved closer to Cooper. Boring and shallow, maybe, but better than Tyson. Anyone was better than Tyson. Really? Is Cooper really the better option? The questions popped into Melissa's thoughts as if they came from someone else entirely. Involuntarily, she glanced up into Tyson's heavily lashed dark eyes. He was still staring. Of course Cooper was better than Tyson, no matter how beautiful Tyson was. That beauty was just part of the trap. Cooper babbled on, stumbling over his words as he tried to capture Melissa's interest. You're out of Cooper's league, the thought whispered. Melissa shook her head, embarrassed for thinking that way. It was vain. Cooper was just as good as she was, as good as any other boy. Not as good as Tyson. Remember how it was†¦ Melissa tried to keep the images out of her mind: Tyson's warm eyes, full of longing†¦ his hands, rough and soft against her skin†¦ his rich voice that made even the most common words sound like poetry†¦ the way just the lightest pressure of his lips against her fingers could send her pulse sprinting in her veins†¦ Her heart thumped, aching. Deliberately, Melissa dredged up a new memory to combat the rebel images. Tyson's iron fist smashing into the side of her face without warning-the black spots blossoming in front of her eyes-her hands bracing against the floor-vomit choking in her throat-raw pain shaking her whole body- He was sorry. So sorry. He promised. Never again. Unwanted, the image of Tyson's coffee eyes swimming with tears clouded her vision. Reflexively, Melissa's eyes sought Tyson. He was still staring. His forehead creased, his eyebrows pulled together, grief-stricken†¦ Melissa shuddered again. â€Å"Are you cold? Do you want my-?† Cooper half-shrugged out of his tuxedo jacket and then stopped himself, his face flushing. â€Å"You can't be cold. It's so hot in here,† he said lamely as he withdrew the offer, buttoning the jacket back into place. â€Å"I'm fine,† Melissa assured him. She forced herself to look only at his sallow, boyish face. â€Å"This place kinda sucks,† Cooper said, and Melissa nodded, happy to agree with him. â€Å"We could go to my father's country club. There's an incredible restaurant, if you're in the mood for dessert. We won't have to wait for a table. As soon as I mention my name†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Melissa's attention wandered again. Why am I here with this little snob? asked the thought that was so strangely unfamiliar in her head, though it came in her own voice. He's a weakling. So what if he couldn't hurt a kitten? Isn't there more to love than safety? I don't feel the same need in my stomach when I look at Cooper-when I look at anyone besides Tyson†¦ I can't lie to myself. I still want him. So much. Isn't that love, that wanting? Melissa wished she hadn't drunk so much of that vile, burning punch. It was impossible to think clearly. She watched as Tyson left his partner stranded and crossed the floor until he stood right in front of her-the perfect broad-shouldered football hero cliche. It was as if Cooper didn't exist there between them. â€Å"Melissa?† he asked in his melting voice, sorrow twisting his features. â€Å"Melissa, please!† He held his hand out toward her, ignoring Cooper's wordless spluttering. Yes yes yes yes yes chanted in her head. A thousand memories of desire rocked through her. Her clouded mind buckled. Hesitantly, Melissa nodded. Tyson smiled in relief, in joy, and pulled her around Cooper and into his arms. It was just so easy to go with him. Melissa's blood ran through her veins like fire. Prom Nights from Hell Chapter Two The mist of nothing slipped slowly from me in a painful series of prickles and the sound of two people arguing. I felt sick, not from my entire back tingling so painfully I could hardly stand to breathe, but from the feeling of helpless fear that the hushed, back-and-forth voices pulled from my past. I could almost smell the moldy fluff of my stuffed rabbit as I had curled into a ball and listened to the two people who were my entire world frighten me beyond belief. That they had both told me it hadn't been my fault hadn't lessened my grief at all. Grief I had to hold inside until it became a part of me. Pain that adhered to my bones. To cry in my mother's arms would say I loved her more. To cry into my dad's shoulder would say I loved him best. It was a crappy way to grow up. But this†¦ this wasn't my parents arguing. It sounded like two kids. I took a breath to find it came easier. The last of the haze started to fade with the tingles, and my lungs moved, aching as if someone were sitting on them. Realizing my eyes were shut, I opened them to find a blurry black just before my nose. There was a heavy, plasticky smell. â€Å"She was sixteen when she got in that car. It's your fault,† a young but masculine voice said hotly, oddly muffled. I was getting the distinct impression that the argument had been going on for some time, but I only remembered snatches of it amid uneasy thoughts of nothing. â€Å"You are not going to put this on me,† a girl said, her voice just as hushed and determined. â€Å"She was seventeen when he flipped her coin. This is your screwup, not mine. God save you, she was right in front of you! How could you miss it?† â€Å"I missed it because she wasn't seventeen!† he shot back. â€Å"She was sixteen when he picked her up. How was I supposed to know he was after her? How come you weren't there? You slipped up big time.† The girl gasped in affront. I was cold. Taking a deeper breath, I felt a surge of strength. Fewer tingles, more aches. It was stuffy, my breath coming back warm to me. It wasn't dark; I was in something. â€Å"You little piss-ant!† the girl snapped. â€Å"Don't tell me I slipped up. She died at seventeen. That's why I wasn't there. I was never notified.† â€Å"But I don't do sixteen,† he said, his voice going nasty. â€Å"I thought he was flipping the boy.† I suddenly realized the black blur throwing back my breath was a sheet of plastic. My hands came up, and my nails pushed through it in a stab of fear. Almost panicking, I sat up. I'm on a table? It sure felt hard enough for one. I shoved the plastic off me. Two kids were standing by a set of dirty white swinging doors, and they spun in surprise. The girl's pale face went red, and the guy backed up as if embarrassed to have been caught arguing with her. â€Å"Oh!† the girl said, tossing her long dark braid behind her. â€Å"You're up. Uh, hi. I'm Lucy, and this is Barnabas.† The guy dropped his eyes and waved sheepishly. â€Å"Hey,† he said. â€Å"How you doing?† â€Å"You were with Josh,† I said, my finger shaking as I pointed, and he nodded, still not looking at me. His costume looked odd next to her shorts and tank top. Both of them wore a black stone pendant around their necks. They were dull and insignificant, but my eye went to them because they were the only thing the two shared. Other than their anger at each other and their surprise at me. â€Å"Where am I?† I said, and Barnabas winced, a tall form scuffing his feet against the tile. â€Å"Where's Josh?† I hesitated, realizing I was in a hospital, but†¦ Wait a minute. I was in a freaking body bag? â€Å"I'm in the morgue?† I blurted. â€Å"What am I doing in the morgue?† Moving wildly, I got my legs out of the plastic bag and slid to the floor, heels clicking in some weird counterpoint as I caught my balance. There was a tag on a rubber band around my wrist, and I yanked it off, taking some hair along with it. I had a long rip in my skirt, and heavy grease marked it. Dirt and grass were plastered to me, and I stank of field and antiseptic. So much for getting my deposit back. â€Å"Someone made a mistake,† I said as I shoved the tag in a pocket, and Lucy snorted. â€Å"Barnabas,† she said, and he stiffened. â€Å"This is not my fault!† he exclaimed, rounding on her. â€Å"She was sixteen when she got in that car. I don't do sixteen! How was I supposed to know it was her birthday?† â€Å"Yeah? Well, she was seventeen when she died, so it is your problem!† Dead? Were they blind? â€Å"You know what?† I said, feeling more steady the longer I stood here. â€Å"You two can argue till the sun goes nova, but I have to find someone and tell them I'm okay.† Heels clicking, I headed for the dirty white twin doors. â€Å"Madison, wait,† the guy said. â€Å"You can't.† â€Å"Watch me,† I said. â€Å"My dad is going to be so-o-o-o ticked.† I strode past them, getting twenty feet before a feeling of disconnection hit me. Dizzy, I put a hand to an empty table as the odd sensation roared from nowhere. My hand cramped where it rested, and I pulled it away as if burned when it seemed the coldness of metal had touched my bone. I felt†¦ spongy. Thin. The soft hum of the ventilation grew muffled. Even the pounding of my heart became distant. I turned, hand to my chest to try and make it feel normal again. â€Å"What†¦Ã¢â‚¬  From across the room, Barnabas shrugged his thin shoulders. â€Å"You're dead, Madison. Sorry. You get too far from our amulets, and you start to lose substance.† He gestured to the gurney, and I looked. My breath slammed out of me. Knees buckling, I half fell against the empty table. I was still there. I mean, I was still on the gurney. I was lying on the cart in a torn body bag, looking far too small and pale, my elaborate dress bunched up around me in an elegant display of forgotten grace out of time. I was dead? But I could feel my heart beat. Limbs going weak, I started to crumple. â€Å"Swell. She's a fainter,† the girl said dryly. Barnabas lurched forward to catch me. His arms slid around me and my head lolled. At his touch, everything rushed back: sounds, smells, and even my pulse. My lids fluttered. Inches from me, Barnabas's lips pressed tight. He was so close, and I thought I could smell sunflowers. â€Å"Why don't you shut up?† he said to Lucy as he eased me to the floor. â€Å"Show a little compassion? That's your job, you know.† The cold from the tile soaked into me, seeming to clear the gray about my sight. How could I be dead? Did the dead pass out? â€Å"I'm not dead,† I said unsteadily, and Barnabas helped me sit up and put my back to a table leg. â€Å"Yes, you are.† He crouched beside me, his brown eyes wide and concerned. Sincere. â€Å"I'm really sorry. I thought he was going to flip Josh. They usually don't leave evidence like a car behind like that. You must really be a broken feather in their wing.† My thoughts flashed to the crash, and I put a hand to my stomach. Josh had been there. I remember that. â€Å"He thinks I'm dead. Josh, I mean.† From across the room came Lucy's caustic â€Å"You are dead.† I sent my gaze to the gurney, and Barnabas shifted to block my view. â€Å"Who are you?† I asked as the dizziness slipped away. Barnabas stood. â€Å"We, ah, are Reconnaissance Error Acquisitions Personnel. Evaluation and Recovery.† I thought about that. Reconnaissance Error Acquisitions†¦ R.E.A.P.E.R.? Holy crap! A surge of adrenaline shot through me. I scrambled up, eyes fixed on me on the gurney. I was here. I was alive! That might be me, but I was standing here, too. â€Å"You're grim reapers!† I exclaimed, feeling my way around the table and putting it between us. My toes started to go numb, and I stopped, my gaze darting to the amulet around Barnabas's neck. â€Å"Oh my God, I'm dead,† I whispered. â€Å"I can't be dead. I'm not ready to be dead. I'm not done yet! I'm only seventeen!† â€Å"We're not grim reapers.† Lucy had her arms crossed defensively as if it were a sore spot. â€Å"We're white reapers. Black reapers kill people before their coin should be flipped, white reapers try to save them, and grim reapers are treacherous betrayers who brag too much and won't survive to see the sun turn back to dust.† Barnabas looked embarrassed as he shuffled his feet. â€Å"Grim reapers are white reapers who were tricked into working for†¦ the other side. They don't do much culling since black reapers don't let them, but if there is a sudden, massive death toll, you know they'll show to pull a few souls early, in as dramatic a way as possible. They're hacks. No class at all.† This last was said with a bitter voice, and I wondered at the rivalry, backing up until I started going spongy again. Eyeing their amulets, I edged forward until the feeling went away. â€Å"You kill people. That's what Seth said. He said something about culling my soul! You do kill people!† Barnabas ran a hand across the back of his neck. â€Å"Ah, we don't. Most of the time.† He glanced at Lucy. â€Å"Seth is a black reaper, a dark reaper. We only show up when they target someone out of time, or there's been a mistake.† â€Å"Mistake?† My head swung up in hope. Did that mean they could put me back? Lucy came forward. â€Å"You weren't supposed to die, see. A dark reaper took you out before your coin should have been flipped. It's our job to stop them, but we can't sometimes. We're here to make a formal apology and get you where you're going.† Frowning, she looked at Barnabas. â€Å"And as soon as he admits it was his fault, I can get out of here.† I stiffened, refusing to look at me on the gurney. â€Å"I'm not going anywhere. If you made a mistake, fine. Just put me back! I'm right there.† I took a step forward, scared out of my mind. â€Å"You can, right?† Barnabas winced. â€Å"It's kinda too late. Everyone knows you're dead.† â€Å"I don't care!† I shouted. Then my face went cold in a sudden thought. Dad. He thought I was†¦ â€Å"Dad†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I whispered, panicking. Taking a breath, I turned to the swinging doors and broke into a run. â€Å"Wait! Madison!† Barnabas shouted, but I hit the doors hard, stumbling through them even though they only swung three inches. But I was in the next room. I had sort of passed through them. As if I weren't even there. There was a fat guy at a desk, and he looked up at the tiny squeak the doors made shifting. His little piggy eyes widened, and he took a huge breath. Mouth open, he pointed. â€Å"There's been a mistake,† I blurted, heading to the open archway and the dimly lit hall. â€Å"I'm not dead.† But I was feeling really weird again. Misty and thin. Stretched. Nothing sounded right, either, and the gray was edging my sight to make a tunnel-like vision. Behind me, Barnabas pushed through the doors. Immediately the world shifted to normal. It was the amulet he wore that kept me solid. I had to get me one of those. â€Å"Yes, she is,† he said, never slowing down until he grabbed my wrist. â€Å"You're hallucinating. She's not really here. Neither am I.† â€Å"Where did you come from?† the guy managed, staring. â€Å"How did you get in there?† Lucy shoved in, the swinging door banging against the wall to make me and Desk Guy jump. â€Å"Madison, quit being a stiff. You gotta go.† This was too much for the technician, and he reached for the phone. I twisted my wrist, but Barnabas wouldn't release me. â€Å"I have to talk to my dad!† I exclaimed, and he yanked me off balance. â€Å"We're leaving,† he said, a new threat in his eyes. â€Å"Right now.† Frantic, I stomped on his foot. Barnabas howled, his gangly form bending double as he let go. Lucy laughed at him, and I darted for the hallway. Try to stop me, I thought, then ran right into something big, warm, and smelling of silk. I backed up, becoming scared when I saw it was Seth. He had killed me with a sword that left no mark when driving me off a cliff failed to do it. He was a dark reaper. He was my death. â€Å"Why are there two of you?† he asked as he looked at Barnabas and Lucy. The cadence of his voice was familiar, but the sound of it hit my ears wrong. And the scent of sea now smelled like rot. â€Å"That's right,† he added, pulling his gaze back to me, and I shuddered. â€Å"You died on the anniversary of your birth. Two reapers. My, my, my. Such the drama queen, Madison. I'm glad you're up. It's time to go.† Hunched and afraid, I retreated. â€Å"Don't touch me.† â€Å"Madison!† Barnabas shouted. â€Å"Run!† But there was only the morgue to run to. Lucy got in front of me, hands spread wide as if she could stop Seth with her will alone. â€Å"What are you doing here?† she said, voice shaking. â€Å"She's already dead. You can't flip her twice.† Seth scuffed his shoes confidently. â€Å"As you said, I flipped her coin. She's mine if I want her.† Barnabas paled. â€Å"You never come back for them. You're†¦Ã¢â‚¬  His eyes darted to the stone about Seth's neck. â€Å"You're not a black reaper, are you?† Seth grinned as if it was a big joke. â€Å"No. I'm not. I'm a little bit more. More than you can handle. Leave, Barnabas. Just walk away. It won't hurt if you do.† I stared at Barnabas, helpless. His brown eyes met mine, saw my fear. I watched him visibly gather his courage. â€Å"Barnabas!† Lucy shouted, terrified. â€Å"Don't!† But Barnabas launched himself at the dark figure in black silk. In a motion so casual it was frightening, Seth turned to smack him with the back of his hand. Arms and legs flailing, Barnabas flew backward, hitting the wall and slumping to the floor, out cold. â€Å"Run!† Lucy shouted, pushing me toward the morgue. â€Å"Stay in the sun. Don't let the black wings touch you. We'll get help. Someone will find you. Get out of here!† â€Å"How?† I exclaimed. â€Å"He's in front of the only door.† Seth moved again, this time backhanding Lucy. She crumpled where she stood, leaving only me since the technician had either passed out or was hiding under the desk. Jaw trembling, I stood to my full height-such as it was-and tugged my dress straight. Deeper in it yet, apparently. â€Å"She meant,† Seth said, his voice both familiar and strange, â€Å"to run through the walls. You had a better chance against the black wings in the sun than with me under the ground.† â€Å"But I can't†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I started, then looked at the swinging doors. I went through them, having shifted them open only a few inches. What the heck was I? A ghost? Seth smiled, chilling me. â€Å"Nice to see you, Madison, now that I can really†¦ see you.† He took off his mask and let it drop. His face was beautiful, like chiseled stone made soft. I licked my lips and went cold to the bone when I remembered him kissing me. Holding one arm to myself, I backed away, trying to get out of Barnabas's and Lucy's influence so I could run through the walls. Hey, if Mr. Creepy thought I could do it, then maybe I could. Seth followed, step for step. â€Å"We leave together. No one will believe I culled you unless I throw you at their feet.† Heels clicking, I kept moving. My gaze darted to Barnabas and Lucy, both still sprawled on the tile. â€Å"I'd rather stay, thanks.† My heart pounded, and my back hit the wall. A little yelp slipped from me. I was far enough away from them that I should be misty, but I wasn't. I stared at Seth, then at that black stone about his neck. It was the same. Damn it! â€Å"You don't have a choice,† he said. â€Å"I'm the one that killed you. You're mine.† He reached out, grabbing my wrist. Adrenaline surged, and I twisted. â€Å"The hell I am,† I said, then kicked him in the shins. He clearly felt it, grunting as he bent in pain, but didn't let go. He had put his face in my reach, though, and grabbing his hair, I slammed his nose against my rising knee. I felt cartilage snap, and my stomach turned. Cursing in a language that hurt my head, he let go and fell back. I had to get out of here. I had to be solid or I'd never make it. Heart pounding, I grabbed the stone about his neck, pulling the necklace over his ears and off him. It tingled in my hand like fire, and I clenched my fingers around it, willing to suffer if it meant I would be whole. Seth hit the floor, gaping up at me with red blood covering his face. He looked as surprised as if he had run into a glass wall. â€Å"Madison†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Barnabas rasped from the floor. I turned, seeing him stare at me with pain-laced, unfocused eyes. â€Å"Run,† he gasped. Seth's amulet in my hand, I turned to the open hallway†¦ and I ran. Prom Nights from Hell Chapter Two EIGHT HOURS EARLIER†¦ â€Å"Foxy girls know that silence may be golden-but only for four seconds. Anything longer and you re heading for Awkward Avenue,† Miranda read, then frowned at the book. â€Å"If you feel the countdown creeping, make him an offer! A simple ‘Would you like some nuts? said with a smile can break the silence stagnation in a snap. Remember, foxy is as foxy does.† Miranda was starting to deeply distrust How to Get-And Kiss! – Your Guy. Leaning against the side of the black Town Car parked in the loading zone at the Santa Barbara Municipal Airport that June evening, she thought of how totally thrilled she'd been when she'd found it at the bookstore. It looked like an and-they-all-lived-happily-ever-after dream come true in book form-who wouldn't want to learn â€Å"The Five Facial Expressions That Will Change Your Life† or â€Å"The Secrets of the Tongue Tantra Only Da Pros Know†? – but having done all the exercises, she wasn't convinced of the transformative powers of the Winsome Smile or spending half an hour a day sucking on a grape. It wasn't the first time a self-help book had let her down-Procrastinate No More and Make Friends with YOU had both been total disasters-but it was depressing because she'd had such high hopes this time. And because, as her best friend, Kenzi, recently pointed out, any senior in high school who acted like Miranda did around her crush really, really needed help. She tried another passage. â€Å"Rephrase one of his questions back to him, adding that hint of suggestion with a raised eyebrow. Or pick up the conversation with a pickup line! You: Are we in the china section? Him: No, why? You: Because you are fine. If china isn't your thing, this one never fails to launch-You: Are you wearing space pants? Him: No, why? You: Because your butt is-â€Å" â€Å"Hello, Miss Kiss.† Miranda looked up and found herself staring up at the cleft chin and tanned face of Deputy Sergeant Caleb Reynolds. She must have been really distracted to not even have heard his heartbeat when he approached. It was distinctive, with a little echo at the end, kind of like a one-two-three cha-cha beat (she'd learned about the cha-cha beat from You Can Dance! another massively unfortunate self-help experience). He'd probably have trouble with that when he got old, but at twenty-two it didn't seem to be stopping him from going to the gym, at least from the looks of his pecs, biceps, shoulders, forearms, wrists- Stop staring. Since she had an attack of Crazy Mouth whenever she tried to talk to a cute guy-let alone Santa Barbara's youngest sheriff's deputy, who was only four years older than she and who surfed every morning before work and who was cool enough to get away with wearing sunglasses even though it was almost 8:00 p.m.-she said, â€Å"Hi, deputy. Come here often?† Causing him to frown. â€Å"No.† â€Å"No, you wouldn't, why would you? Me either. Well, not that often. Maybe once a week. Not often enough to know where the bathrooms are. Ha-ha!† Thinking, not for the first time, that life should come with a trapdoor. Just a little exit hatch you could disappear through when you'd utterly and completely mortified yourself. Or when you had spontaneous zit eruptions. â€Å"Good book?† he asked, taking it from her and reading the subtitle, â€Å"A Guide for Good Girls Who (Sometimes) Want to Be Bad† out loud. But life did not come with a trapdoor. â€Å"It's for a school project. Homework. On, um, mating rituals.† â€Å"Thought crime was more your thing.† He hit her with one of his half smiles, too cool to pull out a big grin. â€Å"You planning on foiling any more convenience store heists any time soon?† That had been a mistake. Not stopping the guys who'd held up Ron's 24-Hour Open Market #3, but sticking around long enough to let the police see her. For some reason they'd found it hard to believe that she'd just been leaning against the lamppost when it fell across the front of the robbers' car as it sped through the intersection. It was sad how suspicious people were, especially people in law enforcement. And school administration. But she'd learned a lot since then. â€Å"I'm trying to keep it to one heist a month,† she said, hoping for a light, ha-ha-I'm-just-kidding-foxy-is-as-foxy-does tone. â€Å"Today it's just my regular job, VIP airport pickup.† Miranda heard his cha-cha heartbeat speed up slightly. Maybe he thought VIPs were cool. â€Å"That boarding school you go to, Chatsworth Academy? They let you off campus any time you want or only certain days?† â€Å"Wednesday and Saturday afternoons, if you're a senior. We don't have classes then,† she said and heard his heartbeat pick up more. â€Å"Wednesday and Saturday afternoons free. What do you do for fun?† Was he asking her out? No. Way. NOWAYNOWAYNOWAY! Flirt! she ordered herself. Winsome Smile! Say something! Anything! Be foxy! Now! â€Å"What do you do for fun?† she repeated his question back to him, raising one eyebrow for that hint of suggestion. He seemed taken aback for a second, then said very formally, â€Å"I work, Miss Kiss.† Please give a warm welcome to Miranda Kiss, our new Miss Idiot Girl of the year, she thought. Said: â€Å"Of course. Me too. I mean, I'm either driving clients or at team practice. I'm one of Tony Bosun's Bee Girls? The Roller Derby team? That's why I do this,† meaning to point to the Town Car but bashing it with her hand instead. â€Å"You have to be a driver for Tony's company, 5Bs Luxury Transport, to be on the team. We usually only have games on the weekends, but we practice on Wednesdays, sometimes on other days†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Crazy Mouth trailed off. â€Å"I've seen the Bees play. That's a professional team, isn't it? They let a high school student play?† Miranda swallowed. â€Å"Oh, sure. Of course.† He looked at her over the top of his sunglasses. â€Å"Okay, I had to lie to get on the team. Tony thinks I'm twenty. You won't tell him, will you?† â€Å"He believed you were twenty?† â€Å"He needed a new jammer.† Deputy Reynolds chuckled. â€Å"So you're the jammer? You're good. I can see why he might have made an exception.† Eyeing her some more. â€Å"I never would have recognized you.† â€Å"Well, you know, we wear those wigs and the gold masks over our eyes so we all look the same.† It was one of the things she liked about Roller Derby, the anonymity, the fact that no one knew who you were, what your skills were. It made her feel invulnerable, safe. No one could single you out for†¦ anything. Deputy Reynolds took his sunglasses all the way off now to look at her. â€Å"So you put on one of those red, white, and blue satin outfits? The ones with the short skirts and that cute cape? I'd like to see that sometime.† He smiled at her, right into her eyes, and her knees went weak and her mind started playing out a scenario involving him without his shirt but with a pitcher of maple syrup and a big- â€Å"Well, there's my lady,† he said. â€Å"Catch you.† And then walked away. – stack of pancakes. Miranda watched him go up to a woman in her early twenties-thick blond hair, thin but muscular-put his arm around her, and kiss her neck. The kind of woman whose bras had tags that said, SIZE 36c, not MADE BY SANRIO in them. Heard him saying excitedly, â€Å"Wait until we get to the house. I've got some amazing new toys, something special just for you,† his voice husky, heart racing. As he passed Miranda, he lifted his chin in her direction and said, â€Å"You stay out of trouble.† â€Å"Yeah, you too,† Crazy Mouth told him. Miranda wanted to bang her head against the top of the car at how idiotic she was. She tried to give a Lite Laff (expression number four from the book) but ended up making herself choke instead. When they were across the parking lot, she heard the woman asking who she was and heard Deputy Reynolds say, â€Å"The local Town Car driver.† â€Å"She's the driver?† the woman said. â€Å"Looks like one of those girls from Hawaiian Airlines you used to date, but younger. And cuter. You know how your judgment gets around cute young girls. You're sure I don't need to be concerned?† Miranda heard him laugh, the genuine amusement in his voice as he said, â€Å"Her? Baby, she's just a high school student who has a crush on me. Trust me, you've got nothing to worry about.† And thought: Trap. Door. Now. Please. Sometimes having superhearing supersucked. Prom Nights from Hell Chapter Two And he wants me to know that he's coming. He's playing with me now†¦ just like his father played with Mom, before he†¦ well, did what he did to her. Then I hear a strange sound-a sort of whoosh-followed by another â€Å"Dammit!† What is happening? â€Å"Sebastian.† Lila's voice sounds bemused. â€Å"Someone is shooting ketchup at you!† What? Did she just say†¦ ketchup?. And then, as I carefully turn to try to get a look past the pillar to see what Lila is talking about, I see him. Not Sebastian. His shooter. And I can hardly believe my eyes. What's he doing here? Adam It's all Ted's fault. He's the one who said we should follow them on their date. I was like, â€Å"Why?† † ‘Cause the dude's trouble, man,† Ted said. Except there's no way Ted could have known that. Drake had basically turned up from out of nowhere outside Lila's Park Avenue apartment building just the night before. Ted had never even met him. How could he know anything about the guy? Anything at all? But when I mentioned this, Ted said, â€Å"Dude, have you looked at him?† I have to admit, the T Man has a point. I mean, the guy looks like he walked straight out of an Abercrombie & Fitch catalog or something. You can't trust a guy who's that, well, perfect. Still, I'm not down with following other guys around. It's not cool. Even if, like Ted said, it was just to make sure Lila didn't get into trouble. I know Lila is Ted's lady-ex-lady now, thanks to Drake. And okay, she's never been the shiniest fork in the drawer. But following her on this date with the dude she's hooked up with? That just seemed like a bigger waste of time than-well, that two thousand-word, double-spaced essay I've got due in Mrs. Gregory's U.S. History class on Monday. Then Ted had to go and suggest I bring the Beretta 9mm. The thing is, even though it's just a water pistol, toy guns that look as real as that are illegal in Manhattan. So I haven't really had an opportunity to use mine much. Which Ted knows. And is probably why he kept going on about how freaking hilarious it would be if we soaked the guy. Because he knew I wouldn't be able to resist. The ketchup was my idea. And, yeah, it is pretty juvenile. But what the hell else am I going to do on a Friday night? It beats a U.S. History paper. Anyway, I told the T Man I guessed I'd be down with his plan. So long as I was the one who got to do the shooting. Which was fine with Ted. â€Å"I just gotta know, man,† he'd said, shaking his head. â€Å"Know what?† â€Å"What this Sebastian dude's got,† he said, â€Å"that I don't.† I could've told him, of course. I mean, it's pretty obvious to anyone who freaking looks at Drake what he's got that Ted doesn't. Ted's a decent-looking guy and all, but Abercrombie material he is not. Still, I didn't say anything. Because the T Man was really hurtin' over this one. And I could sort of understand why. Lila's just one of those girls, you know? All big brown eyes and big, well, other parts, too. But I won't go there on account of my sister, Veronica, who says I need to stop thinking of women as sex objects and start thinking of them as future partners in the inevitable struggle to survive in postapocalyptic America (which Veronica's writing her senior thesis on because she feels the apocalypse is going to occur sometime in the next decade, due to the country's current state of religious fanaticism and environmental recklessness, both of which were present at the fall of Rome and various other societies that no longer exist). So that's how me and the T Man ended up at Swig-fortunately, Ted's uncle Vinnie is their liquor distributor, which is how we got in, and without having to go through the metal detector like everybody else-shooting ketchup at Sebastian Drake with my Beretta 9mm water pistol. I know I was supposed to be home doing that paper for Mrs. Gregory, but a guy's got to have some fun, right? And it was fun to see those red stains spurting all over the guy's chest. The T Man was actually laughing for the first time since Lila sent him that text message during lunch, telling him that he was on his own for the prom, because she was going with Drake. Everything was going great†¦ until I saw Drake staring at that pillar over to one side of the dance floor. Which didn't make any sense. You'd have thought he'd have been looking over at us, in our VIP booth (thanks, Uncle Vinnie), considering that's the direction the ketchup assault was coming from. That's when I noticed there was somebody hiding behind it. The pillar, I mean. Not just any somebody, either, but Mary, that new girl from my U.S. History class, the one who never talks to anybody but Lila. And she was holding a crossbow. A crossbow. How the hell did she get a crossbow through the metal detector? No way does she know Ted's uncle Vinnie. Not that it matters. All that matters is that Drake's staring at the pillar Mary's crouched behind like he can see straight through it. There's something about the way he's looking over at her that makes me†¦ well, all I know is that is not where I want that guy looking. â€Å"Moron,† I mutter. Mostly about Drake. But also about myself, a little. And then I aim and shoot once more. â€Å"Oh, snap,† Ted yells happily. â€Å"Did you see that? Right in the ass!† That gets Drake's attention, all right. He turns†¦ †¦ and suddenly, I get what they mean about blazing eyes. You know, in Stephen King books, or whatever? I never thought I'd actually see a pair. But that's exactly what Drake's got, as he stares at us. Eyes that are most definitely blazing. Come on, I find myself thinking in Drake's direction. That's right. Come on over here, Drake. You wanna fight? I've got a lot more than just ketchup, dude. Which isn't exactly true. But it doesn't end up mattering, because Drake doesn't come over anyway. Instead, he disappears. I don't mean that he turns around and leaves the club. I mean that one minute he's standing there, and the next he's†¦ well, he's just gone. For a second the fog from the dry ice seems to get thicker-and when it clears, Lila is dancing by herself. â€Å"Here,† I say, thrusting the Beretta into Ted's hand. â€Å"What the-† Ted scans the dance floor. â€Å"Where'd he go?† But I've already taken off. â€Å"Grab Lila,† I yell back at Ted. â€Å"And meet me out front.† Ted utters some pretty choice expletives after that, but no one even notices. The music's too loud, and everyone's having too good a time. I mean, if they didn't notice us shooting at some dude with a ketchup-filled water gun-or a few seconds later, that dude literally vanishing into thin air-they're hardly likely to notice Ted shouting the F word. I reach the pillar and look down. She's there, panting as if she's just run a marathon or something. She's got the crossbow clutched to her chest like a kid's security blanket. Her face is as white as notebook paper. â€Å"Hey,† I say to her, gently. I don't want to startle her. But I do anyway. She practically jumps out of her skin at the sound of my voice and turns wide, frightened eyes up at me. â€Å"Hey, take it easy,† I say. â€Å"He's gone. Okay?† â€Å"He's gone?† Her eyes-green as the Great Lawn in Central Park in May-stare up at me. And there's no missing the terror in them. â€Å"How-what?† â€Å"He just vanished,† I say with a shrug. â€Å"I saw him looking at you. So I shot him.† â€Å"You what?† Prom Nights from Hell Chapter Two Gee, thanks, Madame Z, I thought. Could we dig a little deeper here? Give me something to work with? â€Å"But is he-I mean, the person-going to act on his passion?† I was brazen, despite my knotted stomach. â€Å"To act or not to act†¦ that is the question?† Madame Z said. â€Å"Yes, that is the question.† â€Å"Ahhh. That is always the question. And what one must always ask oneself-† She broke off. Her eyes flew to Will, and she paled. â€Å"What?† I demanded. â€Å"Nothing,† she said. â€Å"Something,† I said. Her message-from-the-spirits performance wasn't fooling me. She wanted us to think she'd been suddenly possessed? That she'd had a stark and powerful vision? Fine! Just get to the bloody answer! Madame Z made a show of pulling herself together, complete with a long, shaky draw on her cigarette. Looking dead at me, she said, â€Å"If a tree falls in a forest, and no one's there to hear it, does it still make a sound?† â€Å"Huh?† I said. â€Å"That's all I've got. Take it or leave it.† She seemed agitated, so I took it. Although I made cuckoo eyes at Yun Sun when Madame Z wasn't watching. Will claimed not to have a specific question, but Madame Z was oddly insistent on relaying a message to him anyhow. She waved her hands over his aura and warned him sternly of heights, which was curiously appropriate as Will was an avid rock climber. What was more curious was Will's reaction. First his eyebrows shot up, and then a different emotion took over, like some secret anticipatory pleasure. He glanced at me and blushed. â€Å"What's going on?† I asked. â€Å"You have your sneaky face on.† â€Å"Exsqueeze me?† he said. â€Å"What are you not telling us, Will Goodman?† â€Å"Nothing, I swear!† â€Å"Don't be stupid, boy!† Madame Z harped. â€Å"Listen to what I'm saying.† â€Å"Oh, you don't have to worry about him,† I said. â€Å"He's a total Mr. Safety.† I turned back to Will. â€Å"For real. Do you have a fabulous new climbing spot? A brand-new shiny carabiner?† â€Å"It's Yun Sun's turn,† Will said. â€Å"Yun Sun, go.† â€Å"Can you read palms?† Yun Sun asked Madame Z. Madame Z exhaled, and she was barely engaged as she traced her finger over the plump pad below Yun Sun's thumb. â€Å"You will be as beautiful as you allow yourself to be,† she told her. That was it. Those were her pearls of wisdom. Yun Sun seemed as underwhelmed as I was, and I felt like protesting on all our behalves. I mean, seriously! A tree in the forest? Be careful of heights? You will be as beautiful as you allow yourself to be? Even with her somewhat convincing touches of atmospheric creepiness, the three of us were getting cheated. Me in particular. But before I could say anything, a cell phone on the desk rang. Madame Z picked it up and used a long orange nail to punch the talk button. â€Å"Madame Zanzibar, at your service,† she said. Her expression changed as she listened to whoever was on the other end. She grew brisk and annoyed. â€Å"No, Silas. It's called a†¦ yes, you can say it, a yeast infection. Yeast infection.† Yun Sun and I shared a glance of horror, although-I couldn't help it-I was also delighted. Not that Madame Z had a yeast infection. I mean, ick. But that she was discussing it with Silas, whoever he was, while all of us listened in. Now we were getting our money's worth. â€Å"Tell the pharmacist it's the second time this month,† Madame Z groused. â€Å"I need something stronger. What? For the itching, you idiot! Unless he wants to scratch it for me!† She twisted on her swivel chair, pumping one Juicy Coutured leg over the other. Will looked up at me, his brown eyes wide with alarm. â€Å"I will not be scratching it for her,† he stage-whispered. â€Å"I refuse!† I laughed, thinking it a good sign that he was showing off for me. The Madame Z experience hadn't gone as intended, but who knew? Maybe it would end up having the desired effect after all. Madame Z pointed at me with the lit end of her cigarette, and I ducked my chin contritely, like Sorry, sorry. To distract myself, I focused on the strange and varied clutter on her shelves. A book called Magic of the Ordinary and another titled What to Do When the Dead Speak-But You Don't Want to Listen. I nudged Will with my knee and pointed. He mimed choking the poor deceased bastard, and I snortled. Above the books I saw: a bottle of rat poison, an old-fashioned monocle, a jar of what looked like fingernail clippings, a stained Starbucks cup, and a rabbit's foot, claws attached. And on the shelf above that was†¦ oh, lovely. â€Å"Is that a skull?† I asked Will. Will whistled. â€Å"Holy cannoli.† â€Å"Okey-doke,† Yun Sun said, averting her eyes. â€Å"If there really is a skull, I don't want to know about it. Can we leave now?† I took her head in my hands and pointed her in the right direction. â€Å"Look. It still has hair!† Madame Z snapped her cell phone shut. â€Å"Fools, every one of them,† she said. Her pallor was gone; apparently talking to Silas had shaken her out of her funk. â€Å"Ahh! I see you found Fernando!† â€Å"Is that whose skull that is?† I asked. â€Å"Fernando's?† â€Å"Oh God,† Yun Sun moaned. â€Å"Wormed his way to the surface after a gully washer, out in Chapel Hill Cemetery,† Madame Z told us. â€Å"His coffin, that is. Crappy wooden thing, must'a been from the early nineteen hundreds. No one left to care for him, so I took pity on him and brought him here.† â€Å"You opened the coffin?† I said. â€Å"Yep.† She seemed proud. I wondered if she'd worn her Juicy Couture during the grave robbing. â€Å"That's gross that it still has hair,† I said. â€Å"He still has hair,† Madame Z said. â€Å"Show some respect.† â€Å"I didn't know dead bodies had hair, that's all.† â€Å"Skin, no,† Madame Z said. â€Å"Skin starts to rot right away, and believe me, you don't want to smell it when it goes. But hair? Sometimes it keeps growing for weeks after the deceased has made his crossing.† â€Å"Wowzers.† I reached down and tousled Will's honey-colored curls. â€Å"Hear that, Will? Sometimes the hair keeps growing.† â€Å"Amazing,† he said. â€Å"What about that?† Yun Sun asked, pointing to a clear Tupperware container in which something reddish and organlike floated in clear liquid. â€Å"Please tell me it didn't come from Fernando, too. Please.† Madame Z waved her hand, like Don't be ridiculous. â€Å"That's my uterus. Had the doc give it to me after my hysterectomy.† â€Å"Your uterus?† Yun Sun looked ill. â€Å"I'm going to let 'em toss it in the incinerator?† Madame Z said. â€Å"Fat chance!† â€Å"And that?† I pointed to a clump of dried-up something on the highest shelf. This show-and-tell was proving far more enjoyable than our actual readings. Madame Z followed my gaze. She opened her mouth, then closed it. â€Å"That's nothing,† she said firmly, although I noticed she had a hard time tearing her eyes from it. â€Å"Now. Are we done here?† â€Å"Come on.† I made praying hands. â€Å"Tell us what it is.† â€Å"You don't want to know,† she said. â€Å"I do,† I said. â€Å"I don't,† Yun Sun said. â€Å"Yes, she does,† I said. â€Å"And so does Will. Right, Will?† â€Å"It can't be worse than the uterus,† he said. Madame Z pressed her lips together. â€Å"Please?† I begged. She muttered something under her breath about idiot teenagers and how she refused to take the blame, whatever came of it. Then she stood up, pawing the top shelf. Her bosom didn't jiggle, but stayed firm and rigid beneath her top. She retrieved the clump and placed it in front of us. â€Å"Oh,† I breathed. â€Å"A corsage.† Brittle rosebuds, their edges brown and papery. Sprigs of graying baby's breath, so desiccated that puffs of fiber dusted the table. A limp red ribbon holding it all together. â€Å"A peasant woman in France put a spell on it,† Madame Z said in a tone that was hard to decipher. It was as if she were compelled to speak the words, even though she didn't want to. Or, no. More like she did want to but was struggling to resist. â€Å"She wanted to show that true love is guided by fate, and that anyone who tries to interfere does so at her own peril.† She moved to return the corsage.

Marketing Strategy of a new energy drinks Essay

All around the world drinking beverage is like an entertainment for everyone. Millions of people have beverages everyday for refreshment. Our report is about the Energy Drinks of Bangladesh. In this report we have explained and analyzed how some of the five top selling energy drink companies are operating in Bangladesh. Energy drinks are becoming a major part of the beverage industry due to the rapid increase of their market competition and consumer awareness. In Bangladesh, Tiger and Speed are the most famous amongst all other energy drinks. Most of the energy drink companies act and carry out their marketing strategies in similar ways. More innovative steps are required to improve their market share. The goal of this report is to find out about the present condition of energy drink market in Bangladesh, major competitors we are likely going to face and how we are going to overcome the challenges in the market when we will launch a new energy drink named ‘Spirit’. With the use of effective marketing mix and other strategies we are going to target the young people of Bangladesh to sell our product. We have done a clear competitive analysis to take advantage of the weaknesses of our competitors and opportunities of the market. We are likely going to invest hugely in the beginning of launching our product to inform our customers about our product. As a new product company we are promising our customers to offer a unique product which will give them energy along with the excitement to enjoy their lives. Section 1: Current Market Analysis 1. 1: Top 5 brands in the market (how we find it) –We have surveyed in some of the areas of Dhaka city, like – Farmgate, Motijheel,Uttara, Gulshan; to find out the names of five most top selling energy drinks. According to the survey we have seen – Tiger, Speed, Shark, Sting and Boost are most popular in the energy drink industry of Bangladesh. We went to different departmental stores as mystery shoppers and randomly asked about the drinks each shop offers and found out the names of the energy drinks customers tend to buy more. 1. 2:Product Analysis -Product Level – Product leveling is the first and most important step taken by product planners to add more customer value to their products. It includes 3 main levels: Core Customer Value, Actual Product and Augmented Product. Core Customer Value – The first thing that comes to everyone’s mind when they talk about energy drink is ‘source of power’. In Bangladesh, all of the energy drink companies basically have the same core customer value, which is mainly about replenishing the energy of their customers through providing them with their energy drinks. However, different brands use different mottos to establish their customer value. For example: Shark’s motto says, â€Å"Real Energy, Real Power†; in other case Speed’s motto says, â€Å"Heavy Energy†. This way each products motto varies from each other and creates a different view about the product in their customers mind. Actual Product – This level includes Brand name, Packaging and Product Attributes. Under Product Attribute comes: Product Features, Design and Quality of the product. i. Brand name: A brand name is an identity of a product, without it no product will even exist. Each brand name establishes their uniqueness with their different names, signs and logos. All of the energy drink companies have a brand name of their products, which differentiates each of them from their competitors. The names ‘Royal Tiger’, ‘Boost Energy Drink’, ‘Speed’, ‘Shark’ and ‘Sting’ – each of them stands as a brand name for their product, marketed by different producers. ii. Packaging: Packaging describes the way a product is protected using a container or wrapper and at the same time provides all the required information regarding a product. The energy drinks – Sting, Speed, Shark and Tiger are all available in both cans and bottles. Only Boost is available in steel can in the market. iii. Product Features and Designs: Features explain the tools which enable a particular energy drink to gain competitive advantage over other energy drinks. The tools include – design, smell, taste and color of each energy drink. The designs of Sting, Speed, Shark, Boost and Tiger energy drinks are more or less the same. They are mostly available in two forms and in two shapes, one in a round shaped plastic bottle (250 ml) and another in cylindrical steel can (250/270 ml). They all taste sweet, expect from Tiger and Boost; which tastes sour as well. iv. Quality: Speed, Tiger, Shark, Boost and Sting have been maintaining a good standard of quality by providing the adequate amount of energy to their customers and helping them to deal with strenuous activity. However, no matter what the quality level is; over consumption of energy drinks can always prove harmful for human beings (even though they might be alcohol free). Augmented Product– There is no after-sales service, delivery service or product support for these perishable products (like – energy drinks). Labeling– Labeling is the most important part of every energy drinks. It informs about the ingredients of the product, who made the product, safety issues regarding the product and the web address of the company. Speed, Tiger, Shark, Sting and Boost all maintain an informative and trendy labeling to help their customers to make the right choice. Their ingredients contain Carbonated Water, Carbonated Sugar, Vitamins, Preservatives, Colors, Antioxidant, Sodium Benzoate, Ca-D-Pentothenate, Citric acid, Tartrazine Yellow and many other things according to the standard or permissible level. They even mention on their labeling that, it can be harmful for children and pregnant women. However, they are manufactured by different companies. ‘Speed’ is manufactured by Food And Beverage Limited, ‘Shark’ is manufactured by Global Beverage Company Limited, ‘Sting’ is manufactured by Transcom Beverage Limited, ‘Tiger’ is manufactured by AST Beverage Limited and ‘Boost’ is manufactured by Boost Drinks Limited. Brand Positioning – One of the challenging things for the energy drink companies to do is, to create a permanent place in the customers mind about a particular brand. To do this, all of these energy drink companies need to locate their brands at 3 levels – i. Product attributes ii. Benefits iii. Beliefs and Values. i. Product Attributes: Even though Tiger, Speed, Shark, Boost and Sting all have the common color of the drink – yellow; their smell is very different from each other. Boost tastes sour, Tiger tastes both sour and sweet, Sting tastes like strawberry and both the Shark and Speed taste sweet. ii. Benefits: The common benefit any consumer can gain from having an energy drink is, ‘spiritual force’ – which will make them more active in their daily life. Still, every energy drink has it’s own way to inform about their benefits to their loyal customers. ‘Royal Tiger’ benefits their customers by recharging their energy physically, ‘Boost’ helps their customers with being more efficient, ‘Sting’ provides their customers with vitamins and other nutrients, ‘Shark’ strengthens the stamina of their customers and ‘Speed’ increases the concentration and performance level of the individuals who are consuming it. iii. Beliefs and Values: Satisfaction comes from the core belief that consumers hold in their minds about a certain product. Customers believe – ‘Sting’ and ‘Tiger’ will give them satisfaction with better taste, ‘Boost’ will boost their energy, ‘Shark’ will give them real power and ‘Speed’ will help them gain extra speed. This way customers share their different beliefs and value for each energy drinks differently. 1. 3: Price Analysis– Size of the Bottle Product Name 250 ml 270 ml 330ml Speed 25 BDT Shark 25 BDT – – Sting 25 BDT – – Boost – – – Tiger – 25 BDT – Size of the Can Product name 250 ml 270 ml 330 ml Speed 30 BDT – – Shark 35 BDT – – Sting – -Boost 170 BDT – – Tiger 30 BDT – – 1. 4: Promotion Analysis – Promotion : Advertising is the most crucial part of a company’s marketing mix. It is the first step to inform and aware the general public or the target group of customers about a product a particular company is offering. The five energy drink companies – Speed, Tiger, Shark, Sting and Boost; all of them are between the introduction and growth stage of their product life cycle. At this stage they are only informing the customers about their product including their benefits. Basically all the companies are following the same way to promote their products and these are some of the most common media channels used by them for doing promotion – television, radio, newspapers, magazines and internet. Target Group: Energy drink companies mainly target the major districts of Bangladesh. The local companies, like – Speed, Tiger have distributed their products in rural areas as well to attract a huge number of customers. Energy drinks are mainly used by the people who are between the age group of 16-30, because they comparatively need more energy in every step of their lives. So all of the companies aim to target them and make the product according to their needs to deliver complete satisfaction through their energy drinks. Their product is priced quite cheaply, so that people of different classes can buy them. Most of the energy drinks are claimed to be halal while considering the religious and social issues of Bangladesh. Message and Effect of the advertisements: Message (Add Story) – Each company make their advertisements differently even though their motive remains the same, which is to inform the customers about the product. Here are some of the advertisement stories of the five energy drink companies – 1. Speed – In one of Speed’s advertisements, they have shown some guys were trying to get up on a bamboo for the whole day without getting tired. Their motto is ‘Heavy Energy’. In other words, they are using emotional appeal. In newspapers, they post a picture from the screen shot of their advertisements and use the same motto, so that people can get a clear brand knowledge. They do not have any brand ambassador for their product and they are constantly sending out the notion to their consumers how Speed can let them gain unlimited energy. 2. Shark – There is an advertisement of Shark ‘20 takay Dhaka’, they showed a guy kicked another person from Chittagong and sent him to Dhaka after having Shark energy drink. They are using the motto ‘Real Energy, Real Power’. In their advertisements they use the rational appeal to attract customers. They have no brand ambassador, because they are not still going for intensive or aggressive promotion. 3. Sting -. In the television advertisement there was one young boy who went to a shooting spot with the hope of being a superstar. On that time one director was taking the shot of riding a motor cycle on that spot. Showing that the young boy moved forward to do that shot but the director did not allow him and insulted him that made the young boy very frustrated. After that the director was supposed to make that shot with the hero but unfortunately the hero failed to ride the motor cycle. Then the director asked the crowd who could do the shot. The first young boy showed up the courage and did that shot in a fantastic way. Everybody praised him a lot. They started celebrating the happiness together by dancing with sting energy drink. They were singing â€Å"Sting, Sting, Sting –Ullasher Shuru Ekhanei†. They are using rational appeal in their advertisements In the radio advertisement they play the same jingle. In newspaper the marketers use the picture of 250ml bottle of sting energy drink and write their jingle. They give the same ad in magazines too. In billboards and posters, the marketers add the picture in a big way that they use for newspaper and magazine. 4. Boost – In one ad they have shown that a young guy, probably of age 20 was walking along the roadside, on the background rap music is going on (sign of young generation). The lyrics was talking about getting energy, confidence and success. The guy had his neck tattoed and wore a sunglass, showing the style of recent youth fashion. He went into a departmental store, went to the refrigerator, there were other drinks (e. g. red rooster and red bull); but he picked up BOOST, then he paid for it, got out, drank it and got himself recharged and the soundtrack was saying as if he could fly now. So this is one example of their rational advertisements. They have not used any brand ambassador yet for their product in Bangladesh, and these two advertisements are not even shown in Bangladeshi channels, they are only available in You tube. 5. Tiger – The tiger energy drink has only one advertisement which is very popular. The brand ambassador Aiyub bachchu is the model for the advertisement. The advertisement showed that, when the popular singer Aiyub Bacchu attended a party, the audience requested him to sing a song. But at that time Aiyub Bacchu felt tired and bored. So he needed to recharge himself to get energy. So he took tiger and then sang a song with more power and energetic voice. In this way they try to attract customers by using the rational approach. They also do radio advertisement with the song of Aiyub Bacchu. In billboard advertisement they promote their motto ‘Recharge Yourself’. Effect – Different advertisements effect’s consumers differently. In general, all of these advertisements encourage people to buy their products. When people get satisfied with one product, they talk positive things about it, this way companies can enjoy the benefits of -word of mouth. Customers get to know through these advertisements how their everyday lives are going to be benefitted if they have these energy drinks. Personal selling: Personal selling is no longer considered as giving door to door service. It is a much wider concept nowadays. Companies not only their sell their product to the customers, they also build a loyal relationship with them. To keep on and for maintaining such a relation, companies must be ready to deal with different problems their customers have regarding their product. Unfortunately, none of these five energy drink companies do these in Bangladesh. They are more focused on advertising only. Sales promotion: In general, energy drink companies do not give any special discount on their product to boost their sales. Companies give incentives to their channel members to keep their product in the front line of their shelves, so that customers choose to have it by first looking at it. Sometimes they give energy drink on their own to the customers, because it make the customers feel the product is of high quality and that is why the salesman is offering it to them. Besides people generally do not look out for products those are kept behind the shelves, as it will be very time consuming. Advertisements do even contribute to generate the sales level sometimes. Though there are many other ways to promote sales, the energy drink companies mainly follow these two ways to carry out their sales promotion activity. Public Relation: To operate in this digital world it is very important for companies to maintain a good relation with both their internal and external publics, example – shareholders, customers. Some of the energy drink companies arranges concerts and sponsors television shows to interact closely with their customers. Example – last year Tiger organized one concert in Doha. Each of the five companies uses different and unique logos for their product. None of them are involved in doing conferences or giving press release. Buzz marketing is also a tool used by these companies to improve their relations with the general public and promote their product as well. Direct Marketing: Energy drink companies have their official websites, but their use is not very effective in Bangladesh. In huge shopping malls or in other areas, none of the energy drinks are available in vending machines. These products are not even sold by the companies directly over online or by using telephone. The only way they carry out direct marketing is through placing the advertisement videos in You Tube. The energy drink companies still lack good customer service, example – no service or facilities provided to give complaints or to share ideas about the product face to face with the customers. Promotion Mix Strategy: The demand for energy drink is not yet very high in Bangladesh. So all the manufacturers of these five energy drink companies use the push strategy. Manufacturers contract with wholesalers or retailers to pass down their products to their final consumers and also to encourage customers to buy the products. Sometimes manufacturers give incentives to the channel members to promote their product as well. Section 02: Marketing strategy for a new brand Figure: Spirit Energy Drink Figure: Logo of Spirit Energy Drink 2. 1: Introducing a new brand for energy drink – After analyzing the present market condition of energy drinks in Bangladesh, we have come up with a new idea of introducing a new brand for energy drink. The name of our energy drink will be ‘SPIRIT Energy Drink’. This new energy drink will hopefully win the hearts of our target customers and please them with the new taste and value of our product that we going to offer. This energy drink will not only make people active physically, it will also motivate them spiritually to move ahead in their lives with confidence. The motto of our energy drink is – ‘ignites you from inside’. With this motto we will give our customers the idea of how Spirit energy drink can add more liveliness in their lives. The name of our company is Spirit Beverage Limited and we are using ‘Spirit Energy Drink’ as our product’s logo. We have used picture of a guy inside the logo to show our customers what we are trying to say through the motto.roduct’inkurny is gy of Shark and make them more active. customers tend to buy more. 20202020202020202020202020202020. 2. 2: Design marketing strategy for the new brand – i. Segmentation We will segment the market of Spirit energy drink on the basis of geography, demography, psychography and behavior. Geographic Segmentation: We are going to serve Spirit energy drink mainly for the people of Bangladesh. We will offer Spirit energy drink within the different territories of Bangladesh, like- Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Barisal, Sylhet, Rangpur and Comilla. We will be selecting these territories because these are the biggest district of Bangladesh and most of the people live in these places. We will offer our product throughout every individual district, starting from the departmental stores to the small local and street stalls. We are offering Spirit both in urban and rural areas as well. Demographic Segmentation: Our market will be divided into groups based on variables such as age, gender, family life cycle, occupation and education. We are going to offer our product to both male and female who are between the ages of 15 to 30. We are especially offering the product to the university going students, corporate persons and athletes too. Our product will be for the people of all religion as it will be product is 100% halal. Psychographic Segmentation: Spirit energy drink is for the classes of people who fall under – upper lowers, working class, middle class and upper middles. We are going to use personality variables to segment market like the gregarious and ambitious people. Behavioral Segmentation: We will be segmenting the market of Spirit energy drink on the basis of occasions and benefits. In summer it remains very hot in the middle of the day and for that time we will give a special offer to the customers called â€Å"Make Your Mind Cool†. People will get the same energy drink at a lower price during this time. We will give people other benefits like- we are not using preservatives in our product and our product will be convenient for the customers. ii. Targeting We will target our market within the segmentation. We are mainly targeting Dhaka because, it is the capital city of Bangladesh and highly populated and urbanized. Within Dhaka, we are targeting mostly the teenagers and adults – who are the university students. Female students are going to be a part of it too, because the size and growth rate of this segment is high. As there is going to be other substitute products and tough competitors of Spirit energy drink in the market, we will offer our product directly by setting some temporary stores of Spirit energy drink inside the campus of some big and renowned universities. This will help us gain competitive advantage over our rivals and make people aware of our product. We will explain about the benefits about our product and give other information’s regarding our product. Making people believe that our product is different will be our main target. We will offer the same product at the same price to all our segmented customers. iii. Positioning Our product’s motto is â€Å"Ignites you from inside†, by this motto we are trying to make people believe that, Spirit energy drink encourages people to move on no matter whatever situation they face in their lives. Our product will always remove the frustration from both their body and soul. Spirit is alcohol free and will be made and designed attractively to attract our customers. In this way we will differentiate and create a unique image of our product in our consumer’s mind. iv. Marketing Mix (4p) ? Design and description of the product – Customer Value and Brand Name: The first thing that we are considering about our product before we place it in the market is, it’s core benefit or core values. Customers always seek out for the benefit and the reason behind buying a product. They always value the experience they get after using it. In order to enter the market and establishing our brand successfully, we are going to provide the most refreshing and unique energy drink; which will spread liveliness and create more excitement in our customers life. They will not only buy one Spirit energy drink, they will buy one reason to hold on to being strong and face everything with more spirit in their lives. The brand name of our product is–‘Spirit Energy Drink’. We have named our product Spirit because it is easy to remember and meaningful at the same time. It will help the customers to distinguish and compare our product from others. Product Features and Design: Our energy bottle will be made in the shape of a space shuttle, with a combination of red and black color to give the igniting image. We will design our can just like other energy drink cans, which is made up of steel body with a cylindrical shape. In the middle of both the can and bottle, the name of our product will be written horizontally. The whole bottle and can will be black in color and the name written in pearl white. The shining stars above the name will give it a glowing and sparkling image. The guy standing in the middle of the name will exhibit the idea that Spirit energy drink has the ability to bring back everyone from darkness and add new value to their lives. Like all other energy drink, Spirit’s taste will be sweet and sour and the color of the drink will be red wine color. Packaging and Labeling: We plan to do very careful and colorful packaging to attract our target customers. The products are going to be well packaged and covered so that it stays protected in every condition. All the necessary information’s will be written on the body of bottle and can. Packaging will be done in two ways: 1. Plastic bottle – 300ml (Normal Packaging) 2. Steel Can – 270ml (Prestigious Packaging). Necessary warnings will be provided, like –it might be harmful for pregnant women and children. Manufacturing and Expiring dates will be written on the covers to warn the consumers about the product’s validity. Most importantly, the ingredients we are going to use are – Carbonated water, Refined sugar, Sodium Citrate, Sodium Benzoate, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B6, Touraine, Citric Acid, Preservatives, Antioxidant, Ca-D-Pentothenate, Tartrazine, Mixed Fruit Flavor, Food Grade Flavor, Food Colors. There will be a Nutrition Fact chart too, describing the nutritious contents. Energy80 cal. Proteino gm Saturated fato gm Total fat o gm Sodium 20mg Sugar20 gm Carbohydrate 20. 5 gm Cholesterol0 gm Dietary Fibero gm Product Quality: Providing our customers with the best quality of energy drink is our prime purpose. We have made sure that our energy drink does not contain any harmful substances. It is alcohol free and free from every possible harmful effects. With the amazing taste and other attributes, we assure that our customers will be satisfied and buy Spirit more frequently. Design of pricing policy. Spirit is at the introduction stage of it’s product life cycle and we know the competition of energy drink companies is rising day by day in Bangladesh. We will use cost-plus pricing for Spirit energy drink, considering the present market and demand for energy drink. Though the demand of energy drink in our country is increasing with time, our product is still under pure competition, as there are already some other energy drinks in our local market. We will also consider competitors strategies and prices, how they set their prices and how much they charge from the intermediaries and consumers. We will focus on our target customers willingness and ability to pay for an energy drink. After considering the above issues we are charging 35tk for 270ml can and 30tk for 300ml bottle from our customers. For the 270ml can, our production is 30tk and after setting a standard markup to the cost we will be charging 32tk from our wholesalers, wholesalers will charge 33. 5tk to the retailers and finally the retailers are sell the drink at 35tk o the customers. For 300ml bottle, our production cost per bottle is 25tk and after setting a standard markup to the cost the wholesalers will buy each bottle at 27tk from the us. Wholesalers will charge 28. 5tk to the retailers and finally the retailers will sell it at 30tk each bottle to the customers. In short, we are charging the price for our product moderately to attract huge number of customers to buy it. It will help us to maintain a minimum level of profits for operating and keep running our business. Design of promotional activities – Advertising: For creating awareness and informing the consumers about our product we are going to advertise in more than one media. Our target is to do mass promotion to cover the maximum number of people in Bangladesh. Some of the major media channels through which we will be advertising are –television, radio, newspapers, online media and billboards. Television and internet are the most fastest and effective media channels to promote product, as most of the people spend their time on these. Newspapers though have high believability, do not last for a long period of time. Starting from the poor uneducated people of our society to the educated ones, everyone listens to radio. Therefore radio is also a very effective way to reach a huge number of customers at the same time. Add story – While broadcasting on television, we will show a random university student is sitting on a chair and lost deep inside at the sheer thoughts of failing in exam. Then suddenly one of his friends will come to him and give him a Spirit energy drink. After having the energy drink the boy will jump off and scream energetically that he is not going to give up. He will get motivated and feel more energized while doing his studies. He will realize that he can study longer and give more concentration in his studies after drinking the Spirit energy drink. Then finally when the results come out, he will do the top result in his university. He will then become extremely happy and appreciate how Spirit energy drink has helped him to achieve this success in life. This way we will draw conclusion to the add. In newspapers and billboards we will use the same boy, who will be smiling and holding a Spirit energy drink; conveying the same message about our product’s motto. In radio channels we use the same jingle which we will show in television. As we are launching a new product in the market, we want to deliver the same message to our target customers. It will help them to get a clear and specific idea of our brand and what we intend to provide. Our advertisement is designed in both emotional and rational way. Emotionally we are showing the customer, they can move on in their lives with the help of Spirit and rationally we are giving them the idea that Spirit energy drink is good for their health, as it increases concentration and strength. Sales Promotion: Sales promotion is another major step we will carry out to encourage our customers to purchase our product more frequently. Sales promotion can be done in many ways – giving discounts, giving lotteries, pop-up adds, etc. We will give incentives to the people of our channels to keep our energy drink in front of the shelves in all the stores we are going to supply. Consumers buys the product that are kept in front side, because people have an idea that good quality things are always kept at the front and they will not want to search for other product as that would be time consuming. In times of special occasions like Eid, we will announce special discounts or extra offers. We will sell our products in front of colleges, universities and major shopping malls. Therefore we will be exposing our product more to the public and will gain higher chances of selling our product, thus making more profits. Besides, none of our competitors are doing these things, so we can gain competitive advantage over them as well. Personal selling: Energy drink is a convenience product, and it is quite impossible to reach the mass people by employing thousands of employees for selling our product. This process is very slow and expensive. So we will not be selling our products personally. We will employ experts in offices, who will deal with customer’s view’s and problems. This way we will personally provide/sell our service them beside selling our product. Public relations: At the very first stage we will arrange a press conference to inform everyone about our product. Press media is very crucial, as interacting with them positively will encourage them to promote our product more creatively and positively to our customers. This way we can also have competitive advantage over our competitors. We will organize different concerts and sponsor television shows, this will give us an open platform to interact more closely with our customers and build a strong relation with them. Direct marketing: We are planning to open a Facebook page along with our official website where we will encourage people to share their views about our product. This will help us to keep track of our customers reaction towards our product. None of the other energy drink companies are doing much of these activities, so it is an easier way to grab a huge number of customers and market share this way. Online marketing is therefore more efficient and fast way of direct marketing in terms of receiving our customers reactions, complaints and comments and adapting to those changes to keep surviving and growing. Promotion Mix strategy: We will use push strategy for Spirit energy drink. Contracting with different wholesalers and retailers will help us to provide adequate supplies in every convenient and targeted locations. We will give them incentives to promote and supply our product more frequently to the customers. Design of distribution activities- We will go for intensive distribution for Spirit energy drink, because we want to provide stock our product in as many outlets as possible. We want to ensure that our products must be available where and when consumers want them. As our product is new in the market, we will directly offer our product to the target customers. We will be offering our Spirit energy drink to the customers through wholesalers and retailers. Within our limited resources we cannot afford to have our own distribution facilities, like – warehouses and showrooms and to hire sales people and support stuffs. We would rather contract with the wholesalers, so that they will take those extra costs and risks. Our target customers are the young university students, that is why we are contracting with retailers.