Money Down the (Brand) Drain : An exploration of the constraints of the adoption of brand strategies and the adversity facing investment in brands by Chinese suppliers

This paper explores the perception by Chinese marketing academics and consultants of benefits and constraints of the adoption of branding techniques. We explore the lived experience of Chinese branding experts to capture their experience of branding in China by means of 19 phenomenological interviews. There are differences between the Western and Chinese conception of brands, these in China serve a more social function and are associated with social processes. The Chinese economy has the characteristics of a large state economy and has large state-owned conglomerates which have strong brands as a result of Government support. Non-state owned businesses have much more difficulties innovating and building brands because of scarce resources. Business leaders in China seem to have a short term orientation, and there is evidence that they tend to select strategies based on imitation of leading brands, as well as that of manufacturing and marketing mass produced, low cost products. This proliferation of generic products and “me too” brands is complemented by a plethora of counterfeit goods. Chinese leaders do not have incentives to invest in long term innovation and brands, nor in brand management as they feel these investments cannot be protected from counterfeiting; at the same time, the competitive climate means that Chinese non-state owned companies need to be very responsive and achieve fast returns in order to survive. Policy makers should strengthen IPR protection legislation and counteract counterfeiting; foreign investors and local companies are advised to adopt mobile defense strategies for their brands

Tutmania: An Exploration of Western Portrayals of King Tutankhamun and Orientalism in Egypt

Since his discovery on November 4, 1922, King Tutankhamun has been turned into a symbol of ancient Egyptian culture by the Western world. Through Orientalist representation, the West has ensconced Tutankhamun into their own visualization of ancient Egypt that is removed from most historical realism. He has become a symbol for a distant and exotified past, which further contributes to the romanticization of ancient Egypt by the West. Tutankhamun has had a profound influence on numerous Western cultural outlets including art, fashion, architecture, film, music, and much more. This is because Tutankhamun, or at least his Western portrayal, has captivated the imagination of the Occident. He has come to embody an idealized past filled with mystery, curses, and treasure. The Western world has turned Tutankhamun into a marketing tool using sensationalism and Oriental tropes of Egypt. This paper will explore the ways in which this has happened since his discovery, as well as discuss the role that Howard Carter had in all of it. Tutankhamun’s discovery happened right after Egypt achieved independence from Britain, and for the first time a former colony got to keep every artifact of a European archaeological find

Louvre Museum - Paintings

The Louvre Museum is the largest of the world's art museums by its exhibition surface. These represent the Western art of the Middle Ages in 1848, those of the ancient civilizations that preceded and influenced it (Oriental, Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan and Roman), and the arts of early Christians and Islam. At the origin of the Louvre existed a castle, built by King Philip Augustus in 1190, and occupying the southwest quarter of the current Cour Carrée. In 1594, Henri IV decided to unite the palace of the Louvre with the palace of the Tuileries built by Catherine de Medicis. The Cour Carrée was built by the architects Lemercier and then Le Vau, under the reign of Louis XIII and Louis XIV. The Department of Paintings currently has about 7,500 paintings (of which 3,400 are exposed), covering a period that goes from the Middle Ages to 1848 (date of the beginning of the Second Republic). By including the deposits, the collection is, with 12,660 works, the largest collection of ancient paintings in the world. With rare exceptions, the works after 1848 were transferred to the Musée d'Orsay when it was created in 1986. CONTENTS: Louvre Museum - Variety of exhibited works - The Royal Palace - The collections - - Eastern antiquities - - Arts of Islam - - Egyptian Antiquities - - Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities - - Paintings - - - French school - - - Northern Schools (Flanders, Netherlands, Germany) - - - Italian School - - - Other schools Painting - Definitions - Painting genres - - The landscape - - Still life Paintings - FRANCOIS BOUCHER - - Vulcan presenting arms to Venus for Aeneas - RAPHAEL - - Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione - RUBENS - - Helena Fourment with children - LOUIS DAVID - - Madame Récamier - REMBRANDT - - Portrait of Heindrickje Stoffels - VELAZQUEZ - - Portrait of the Infanta Margarita - SIMONE MEMMI - - Jesus Christ walking on Calvary - JAN STEEN - - The Bad Company - HANS HOLBEIN - - Erasmus - CORREGGIO - - Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine - LANCRET - - Conversation - JAN VAN DER MEER (VERMEER) - - The Lacemaker - VAN DYCK - - Charles I at the Hunt - FRANÇOIS CLOUET - - Elisabeth of Austria (1554-1592), Wife of Charles IX and Queen of France (1570 - 1574) - DELACROIX - - The Barque of Dante - EL GRECO - - Saint Louis, King of France, and a page - REMBRANDT - - Pilgrims at Emmaus (The Supper at Emmaus) - GERARD DAVID - - Marriage at Cana - RAPHAEL - - Portrait of Dona Isabel de Requesens, Vice-Queen of Naples - RUBENS - - La Kermesse (The Village Fête, or Noce de village) - FRANS HALS - - The Gypsy Girl - DECAMPS - - The Sonneurs - HOLBEIN THE YOUNGER - - Anne of Cleves - P. PRUD’HON - - Psyche transported to Heaven - PHILIPPE DE CHAMPAIGNE - - Portrait of Richelieu - LANCRET - - The Autumn - L. DAVID - - Madame Seriziat - COROT - - Recollection of Mortefontaine - LEONARDO DA VINCI - - La belle ferronnière - CORREGGIO - - Venus and Cupid with a Satyr - WATTEAU - - Pilgrimage to Cythera (The Embarkation for Cythera) - NICOLAS POUSSIN - - The Inspiration of the Poet - PRUD’HON - - The Empress Josephine (1763-1814) - FRAGONARD - - The Bathers - H. RIGAUD - - Louis XIV (1638–1715) - TERBURG - - The Concert - LEOPOLD ROBERT - - The Pilgrimage to the Madonna of the Arch - LARGILLIERE - - Family Portrait - MANTEGNA - - Parnassus - MEMLING - - The Virgin and Child between St James and St Dominic - FRAGONARD - - The Music Lesson - JEAN VAN EYCK - - The Virgin of chancellor Rolin - PAOLO VERONESE - - Susannah and the Elders - FRANÇOIS BOUCHER - - Diana leaving her bath - GÉRICAULT - - The Raft of the Medusa - MURILLO - - Assumption of the Virgin - CLAUDE GELLEE (LORRAIN) - - Ulysses returning Chryseis to her father (Marine, setting sun) - INGRES - - Madame Riviere - E. MURILLO - - The Young Beggar - GREUZE - - The Broken Pitcher - PIETER DE HOOCH - - Card players in an opulent interior - POUSSIN - - Et in Arcadia ego - QUENTIN MATSYS - - The moneylender and his wife - ANDREA SOLARIO - - Madonna with the Green Cushion - TITIEN - - Woman with a Mirror - DAVID TENIERS (the Younger) - - The Works of Mercy - LEONARDO DA VINCI - - Mona Lisa (La Gioconda) - Armand Dayo

What Makes Theatrical Performances Successful in China's Tourism Industry?

This study aims to explore the factors affecting the success of a popular tourist product, namely, theatrical performance, within the context of China's tourism industry and develop a model based on previously successful productions. Using qualitative software, 22 Chinese-language articles on theatrical performances are analyzed to generate a list of success factors, classified as internal and external. The internal factors are storyline and performing, market positioning and marketing strategy, investment and financial support, operation and management, performing team, outdoor venue, indoor/outdoor stage supporting facilities, continuous improvement, and production team. The external factors are collaboration between cultural industries and local tourism, government support, privatization, and social and cultural effect. This study also provides suggestions for the future development of theatrical performances in China

Beyond Marble, Medicants & Myth: Epidaurus' History, Material Culture, Purpose and Place in the Greater Mediterranean Area

'The most famous of sanctuaries of Asclepius had their origin from Epidaurus’, Pausanias writes in his Hellados Periegesis (‘Description of Greece’). All across the Aegean and beyond, word of the salutary reputation of Epidaurian divinity had spread. And as tales of Epidaurus’ sanctuary of Asclepius travelled the lands and crossed the seas, so did the urge to ensure that the Epidaurian success formula was, as we say, coming soon to a place near you. So we know Epidaurus had managed to make a name for itself: all the way from the Argolid Peninsula to Asia Minor and the shores of Northern Africa. But what exactly had led to its rise in prominence? What about Epidaurus allowed for it to transcend its local cult-status? And how did its celebrated reputation and meaning change across places and time? What, in other words, is the story of what is often simply referred to as the sanctuary of Asclepius at Epidaurus

The Impact of Personal Selling Orientation to Value Creation, Relationship Development, and Customer Satisfaction in Industrial Business

Industrial marketing is known as business-to-business (B2B) marketing and the process in the field is quite complex. Personal selling is chosen as one of the common type of promotion in industrial marketing. Though it is the most ancient art of sales ever in the history, it is proven to be an effective type of communication. While it is old-fashioned, personal selling become one of the most effective tool for generating the buying process, especially in building preferences, beliefs, and buying actions from B2B customers. Previous research in B to B relationship stated that customer orientation and selling orientation influenced customer satisfaction. It is also revealed that customer orientation and selling orientation will form "value" which will create a close relationship between salesperson and his customers since it has a positive influence between the two sides. This research aimed to investigate the influence of customer orientation and selling orientation to value creation, relationship development, and customer satisfaction on industrial business. The study was conducted in a stainless steel industry. Data collection of 120 respondents as the key person in the companies used purposive sampling method and analized using Path Analysis with LISREL 9.10. The result of this study leads and points to the direct relationship and indirect relationship between variables, where the direct relationship seen from the relationship between customer orientation to customer satisfaction, sales orientation to customer satisfaction, value creation to customer satisfaction, and relationship development to customer satisfaction

Strategic development of the built environment through international construction, quality and productivity management

This thesis presents a coherent, sustained and substantial contribution to the advancement of knowledge or application of knowledge or both in the field of construction management and economics. More specifically, this thesis outlines the strategic development of the built environment through lessons from international construction, quality and productivity management. The strategic role of construction in economic development is emphasized. It describes the contributions transnational construction firms made towards modern-day construction project management practices globally. It establishes the relationship between construction quality and economic development and fosters a better understanding of total quality management and quality management systems in enhancing construction industry performance. Additionally, it prescribes lessons from the manufacturing industry for construction productivity and identifies the amount of carbon emissions reduced through lean construction management practices to alleviate the generally adverse effects of the built environment on global climate change. It highlights the need for integrated management systems to enhance quality and productivity for sustainable development in the built environment. The thesis is an account of how the built environment has evolved, leveraging on lessons from international construction, quality and productivity management for improvements over the past two decades