Proposals to increase foot traffic at Sonae Sierra shopping centers

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA – School of Business and EconomicsThis project aims to propose innovative marketing strategies to deal with the decrease in foot traffic at Sonae Sierra shopping centers. This trend results from the emergence of a new consumer that is moving away from the hyper-consumerist society. Furthermore, the financial crisis is also contributing for this pattern. The proposed strategies aim to create connections with consumers and, ultimately, to create the necessary conditions to build long-term relationships. The proposals are based on the main findings of the market research and on the shopping centers value propositions, as well

Communication plan of Sonae Sierra´s gift card surprise

JEL: M30, M31, M37, M39The purpose of this master's thesis was the development of a Communication Plan for the Surprise Gift Card, a product that will soon be launched by the Sonae Sierra Company. After a thorough evaluation of the financial trends of the Gift Vouchers sales (B2B and B2C), the company found that it was necessary to replace the current voucher for the card format and, at this moment, it is in development the future Surprise Gift Card (B2C model). With respect to the product Surprise, it is facing a problem of seasonality and its degree of notoriety in the market is very low compared with other competitors. Given this situation, this present communication plan will have two main objectives: to enhance brand awareness and increase purchase intention of the brand in the target audience. To support the plan it was necessary to conduct a profound analysis of the external and internal environment to the product Surprise, using primary and secondary data, which allowed reaching a set of insights and conclusions. Therefore, the Surprise Gift Card communication plan drawn up for one year, consisted of a large range of promotional activities and brand activations, as well as, in combining different communication tools in order to create an integrated and effective plan, taking into account the proposed goals.O propósito desta tese de mestrado consistiu no desenvolvimento de um Plano de Comunicação para o Cartão Presente Surprise, um produto que brevemente será lançado pela empresa Sonae Sierra. Na sequência de uma profunda análise das vendas do negócio dos Cheques-Prenda (B2B e B2C), a empresa considerou necessário proceder à substituição do atual cheque-prenda para o formato cartão e, neste momento encontra-se em desenvolvimento o futuro Cartão Presente Surprise (modelo B2C). No que diz respeito ao produto Surprise, o mesmo depara-se com um problema de sazonalidade, além de que o seu grau notoriedade no mercado é muito baixo, comparativamente com outros concorrentes. Perante esta situação, o presente plano de comunicação terá dois principais objetivos: aumentar o reconhecimento da marca e aumentar a intenção de compra da marca por parte da audiência alvo. Para suportar o plano foi necessário proceder a uma profunda análise do ambiente externo e interno ao produto Surprise, utilizando dados primários e secundários, que permitiram chegar a um conjunto de perceções (insights) e conclusões. Deste modo, o plano de comunicação elaborado para o Cartão Presente Surprise durante um ano, consistiu numa diversificação de ações promocionais e ativações de marca, bem como na combinação das diferentes ferramentas de comunicação de forma a criar um plano integrado e eficaz, tendo em conta os objetivos propostos

COMERTUL ELECTRONIC PENTRU INTREPRINDERILE MICI SI MIJLOCII

This paperworks present what can e-commerce offer to small an medium enterprises, the functions of enterprises that can be extended using e-commerce. Some of the main operation are explained using adequate examples. There are presented here also the advantages of ecommerce.e-commerce, small and medium enterprises, services, e-marketing

‘Fourth places’: the Contemporary Public Settings for Informal Social Interaction among Strangers.

This paper introduces ‘fourth places’ as an additional category of informal social settings alongside ‘third places’ (Oldenburg 1989). Through extensive empirical fieldwork on where and how social interaction among strangers occurs in the public and semi-public spaces of a contemporary masterplanned neighbourhood, this paper reveals that ‘fourth places’ are closely related to ‘third places’ in terms of social and behavioural characteristics, involving a radical departure from the routines of home and work, inclusivity, and social comfort. However, the activities, users, locations and spatial conditions that support them are very different. They are characterized by ‘in-betweenness’ in terms of spaces, activities, time and management, as well as a great sense of publicness. This paper will demonstrate that the latter conditions are effective in breaking the ‘placelessness’ and ‘fortress’ designs of newly designed urban public spaces and that, by doing so, they make ‘fourth places’ sociologically more open in order to bring strangers together. The recognition of these findings problematizes well-established urban design theories and redefines several spatial concepts for designing public space. Ultimately, the findings also bring optimism to urban design practice, offering new insights into how to design more lively and inclusive public spaces. Keywords: ‘Fourth places’, Informal Public Social Settings, Social Interaction, Strangers, Public Space Design

FLOODING AND PHYSICAL PLANNING IN URBAN AREAS IN WEST AFRICA: SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS OF ACCRA, GHANA

The need to explore the causes of the increasing incidences of flooding in West Africa in recent years motivated the investigation carried out in this research. It is natural to want to attribute the situation to climate change and the increased occurrences of high intensity rainfall predicted as a consequence. However, flooding and the devastation caused by it are not just determined by rainfall and runoff; human influences which significantly modify the nature of the ground surface and its hydrological response to rainfall do also play a major role. The research used Accra as a case study city and involved a visit to the city to interview local experts, officials of agencies responsible for flooding matters and physical planning. The visit also involved collection of data relevant to the problem and afforded the physical inspection of the infrastructural facilities in place for coping with the flooding problems. Analysis of the data revealed that for the city, there is no evidence that unusual rainfall has been occurring recently that could explain the increased occurrences of flooding being experienced. Rather, the cause of the problem is the lack of, drainage facilities to collect the storm water for safe disposal. These could in turn be attributed to the ineffective planning regulations which either ignore or even condone the illegal erection of buildings and other structures on floodplains, and the unhealthy habit of dumping refuse and other solid wastes in the usually open channel drainage systems. It is recommended that in order to have a long-lasting solution to the flooding problems, the city and others in similar situation should embrace sustainable urban drainage systems.Flooding, planning, urban cities, waste dumping.

The Lisbon Town-Center retailing : a study of consumers' drivers

Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo a procura e descoberta dos drivers que levam os consumidores a optar pelo CBD como o formato de retalho em que fazem as suas compras. Em particular, o estudo foi conduzido no centro da cidade de Lisboa. Este foi direcionado para uma perspetiva de reflexão no âmbito de centros comercias e o centro histórico. A presença dos drivers (accessibility, parking conditions, tenant mix, product range, merchandise value and sales personnel, atmosphere and orientation and infrastructural facilities) apresentados por Teller & Elms (2010) foi estudada. Foi tido em atenção o facto de que diferentes circunstâncias culturais poderem alterar o peso de cada driver. Adicionalmente, com a pesquisa realizada foi possível aceder a outros drivers. Finalmente, foram realizadas uma análise descritiva, uma análise de conteúdo e uma clusterização desses drivers.The aim of this paper is to find the drivers that lead consumer to choose CBD as the retail format to make a purchase. In particularly, the study was performed in Lisbon Town Center, and with comparison to opting for Lisbon Shopping Centers. The presence of the drivers accessibility, parking conditions, tenant mix, product range, merchandise value and sales personnel, atmosphere and orientation and infrastructural facilities drivers, which were summarized by Teller & Elms (2010), was tested. The fact that different cultural arrangements can impact the weight of each driver was present in the researcher work. With this research, other drivers emerged and were studied. Finally, a content analysis, a descriptive analysis and the clusterization of these drivers were performed

Impacts of Urban Sprawl on Livelihoods and Ecology in Peri-Urban Fringe of the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area

The rapid increase in population and urbanization continue to exert growing pressure on resources in most cities. Accra, the capital city of Ghana, has been attracting migrants from all over the country resulting in escalating congestion and housing shortage in the inner cities. The resultant effect of these phenomena is the sprawl of human settlements to peri-urban areas. As a result natural reserves and farmlands are being converted into residentialand non-residential developments in the urban fringes. This study assesses the impact of this trend on livelihoods sustainability and the ecology in the peri-urban areas of Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA). The study employed primary and secondary sources of data and used stratified sampling in the selection of major road corridors where sprawling was pronounced and intensive. A multi-temporal set of Remote Sensing data was usedto classify Landsat images of GAMA for the years 1986, 1991, 2008 and 2016 to know the extent of land use and land cover change. Environment for Visualizing Image 5.1 was used to process, analyse and integrate the spatial data. The findings revealed that between 2008 and 2016, dense vegetation had decreased by 226.98%. Settlements continued to increase to 120.29 percent during that same period. The study also revealed that the land market was lucrative and the resultant implications are on livelihoods and ecology. The study recommends proper planning policies, development of an eco-city model and affordable housing in the inner cities

September 1991

Culbertson Winery Battles Fiscal Woes 3 Good Grief! What Happened to My Bank? 3 Coachella Valley Firm Nets State Workers Comp Contract 5 End of the Commute-Employees Have Offices Brought to Them 7 Regional Government: A Recipe for Disaster? 8,9 Drugger on Banking 11 Focus on Telecommunications and the High-tech Office 16,17 Attention I.E. Hotels: Travel Tops Baseball 33 Can Outside CPAs be a Part of Your Business? 34 The Missing Link 36 Technology no Longer a Luxury: It\u27s a Requirement! 38 Newsmakers 0 Answers for the Inland Empire 7 Editorial & Opinion •••8 lEBJ Close-up: Sheila Brown KCKC4 Ideas for the Inland Empire................—10 People, Places & Events.........—......—15 The Lists: Savings & Loans........ .....—.~.—12 Independent Banks.—....—...... .13 Airlines Serving I.E.. .32 Comrcl. Design Rrms 38 Inland Empire People 16 Weekend Time Out Rancho Valencia Resort 18 Letters to the Editor 25 Real Estate Focus 31 Small Business Corner. 34,35 Desert Business Journal 37 San Gorgonio Pass Area News 40 Corporate Profile: Sun World International 41 City Focus: Redlands..............................42 Inland Empire Calendar 43 Inland Empire Profile 43 Business Listings 4

The NEBLINE, March 1996

Contents: Horticulture Rural $ense Family Living 4-H & Youth Environmental Focus Community & Leadership Development Extension Calendar Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) Nebraska Association for Family and Community Education News and other extension news and events Weed Awareness Editio

MANUFACTURER AND RETAILER BRANDS IN FOOD RETAIL ASSORTMENTS Notes from a shopping trip across Europe

Food retailers present consumers with a complex market offering. They offer consumers an assortment of products sourced from numerous suppliers, along with various services within a retailer-controlled environment (Burt & Sparks 2002). Food retailers aim to offer an assortment of products and perform a variety of activities and services, which provide added value in the eyes of consumers (Burt 2000). In this connection, branding is becoming increasingly important, as food retailers develop their own brands within and across product categories. Many retailers are attempting to cultivate an overall brand identity in order to protect and identify their market offering (Burt & Sparks 2002). The assortment of products food retailers offer typically includes manufacturer brands, re-tailer brands and generic or unbranded products. In recent years, increasing competition in food retailing has made food retailers focus on whether they offer the "right" assort-ment to consumers. Under headings such as efficient consumer response (ECR) and cate-gory management (CM), retailers have been readjusting their assortments, delisting many brands that were deemed to be under-performing and including retailer branded products in an attempt to differentiate themselves by offering goods only available in their stores. Despite the importance of branding to retailers, the branding literature has focused on how manufacturers develop and maintain strong brands. Relatively little work has been done in the area of retail brands and even less about the interaction between retailer brands and manufacturer brands. In contrast, this paper develops a concept of retailer brand architecture, which captures that retailers typically offer an assortment of manu-facturer brands, retailer brands and generic products. In doing so we adapt the concept of brand architecture to a retail context. The concept of 'brand architecture', as originally developed by (Aaker & Joachimsthaler 2002), describes how the different brands used to market a range of products from the same manufacturer are related. The concept of brand architecture is based on the assumption that brands are not evaluated in isolation, but are placed in and evaluated within a broader context. This assumption is also important in a retail context. Consumers do not look at an isolated product or brand on the shelf. Their evaluation of the individual brand depends on the context; for instance, what other products are offered in the product category and in the retail outlet, previous experiences with the product or other products from the same manufacturer, as well as previous experiences with the retailer in question. In this paper, we take the concept of brand architecture and apply it to food retailers, con-ceptualising the brand architectures of food retailers as the portfolio of brands (gene-ric, retailer and manufacturer brands), which are included in the assortment of a retail concept (ie, a retail chain). In addition to developing a concept of 'retailer brand archi-tecture', we use this concept to investigate the brand architecture of a number of European food retailers in order to determine similarities and differences in brand architecture strategies. The paper is structured as follows: firstly, the concept of brand archi-tecture is presented. Secondly, the concept of brand architecture is applied to a retail setting and a number of other concepts important for understanding the brand architecture strategies of food retailers are introduced and discussed. Thirdly, the methodology used to investigate the brand architectures of European food retailers is discussed. Then, the findings from a shopping trip across Europe are presented. Finally, a discussion of the findings is provided and it is briefly considered how the findings of this study were used as input for a study of consumer perceptions of the brand architectures of food retailers. This subsequent study investigated whether consumers notice differences between the brand architectures of food retailers and how these are evaluatedNo keywords;