Anti-Social" Strategy and Brand Equity: BOTTEGA VENETA´S case

Social media poses a dilemma for luxury brands, while luxury represents exclusivity, uniqueness, and outstanding customer experience; social media is accessible, characterized by the lack of physical contact and created for the masses. Despite this conceptual paradox, research shows that social media is a powerful addition to the marketing strategy of luxury brands and has a positive impact on brand equity. However, scant evidence is available on what happens to the image and awareness of a luxury brand when it stops creating content and interacting with consumers on social media platforms. This research aims to analyse Bottega Veneta’s brand equity after adopting an “anti-social” strategy (i.e., deleting their social media accounts). An online questionnaire was used to evaluate the current state of Bottega Veneta’s brand equity and perform a comparison with a similar brand present on social media, Balenciaga. Findings based on 147 participants suggest that Bottega Veneta has low levels of brand awareness and brand image, leading to reduced overall brand equity. When compared to Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta also presents a lower brand awareness and brand image. Overall, this research concluded that reducing brand communication and relying only on one-way communication could be negative for brand awareness since customers are not frequently exposed to the brand elements, consequently resulting in low levels of brand image since potential consumers cannot form solid brand associations.As redes sociais constituem um dilema para as marcas de luxo, enquanto luxo representa exclusividade, singularidade e uma experiência excecional para o cliente; as redes sociais são acessíveis, caracterizadas pela falta de contacto físico e criadas para o público em geral. Apesar deste paradoxo conceptual, a investigação mostra que as redes sociais são uma adição preponderante à estratégia de marketing das marcas de luxo e têm um impacto positivo no brand equity. No entanto, as evidências existentes são ainda escassas sobre o que acontece à imagem e à awareness de uma marca de luxo quando esta deixa de criar conteúdo e de interagir com os consumidores nas redes sociais. Esta investigação tem como objetivo analisar o brand equity da marca Bottega Veneta após adotar uma estratégia "anti-social" (ou seja, marcas que apagam as suas contas nas redes socias). Neste sentido, foi divulgado um questionário online para avaliar o estado atual do brand equity referente à marca Bottega Veneta e realizar uma comparação com uma marca semelhante presente nas redes sociais, Balenciaga. Os resultados baseados em 147 participantes sugerem que a marca Bottega Veneta apresenta baixos níveis de awareness e imagem de marca, levando a uma redução do overall brand equity. Quando comparado com a marca Balenciaga, a Bottega Veneta também apresenta uma menor awareness e imagem de marca. Em geral, esta investigação concluiu que a redução da comunicação da marca e o recurso apenas à comunicação unidirecional pode ser negativo para a awareness da marca, uma vez que os clientes não são expostos frequentemente aos elementos da mesma, resultando consequentemente em baixos níveis de imagem de marca, dado que os potenciais consumidores não podem formar associações sólidas referentes à marca

Characterisation of microbial attack on archaeological bone

As part of an EU funded project to investigate the factors influencing bone preservation in the archaeological record, more than 250 bones from 41 archaeological sites in five countries spanning four climatic regions were studied for diagenetic alteration. Sites were selected to cover a range of environmental conditions and archaeological contexts. Microscopic and physical (mercury intrusion porosimetry) analyses of these bones revealed that the majority (68%) had suffered microbial attack. Furthermore, significant differences were found between animal and human bone in both the state of preservation and the type of microbial attack present. These differences in preservation might result from differences in early taphonomy of the bones. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

Evaluation of a quality improvement intervention to reduce anastomotic leak following right colectomy (EAGLE): pragmatic, batched stepped-wedge, cluster-randomized trial in 64 countries

Background Anastomotic leak affects 8 per cent of patients after right colectomy with a 10-fold increased risk of postoperative death. The EAGLE study aimed to develop and test whether an international, standardized quality improvement intervention could reduce anastomotic leaks. Methods The internationally intended protocol, iteratively co-developed by a multistage Delphi process, comprised an online educational module introducing risk stratification, an intraoperative checklist, and harmonized surgical techniques. Clusters (hospital teams) were randomized to one of three arms with varied sequences of intervention/data collection by a derived stepped-wedge batch design (at least 18 hospital teams per batch). Patients were blinded to the study allocation. Low- and middle-income country enrolment was encouraged. The primary outcome (assessed by intention to treat) was anastomotic leak rate, and subgroup analyses by module completion (at least 80 per cent of surgeons, high engagement; less than 50 per cent, low engagement) were preplanned. Results A total 355 hospital teams registered, with 332 from 64 countries (39.2 per cent low and middle income) included in the final analysis. The online modules were completed by half of the surgeons (2143 of 4411). The primary analysis included 3039 of the 3268 patients recruited (206 patients had no anastomosis and 23 were lost to follow-up), with anastomotic leaks arising before and after the intervention in 10.1 and 9.6 per cent respectively (adjusted OR 0.87, 95 per cent c.i. 0.59 to 1.30; P = 0.498). The proportion of surgeons completing the educational modules was an influence: the leak rate decreased from 12.2 per cent (61 of 500) before intervention to 5.1 per cent (24 of 473) after intervention in high-engagement centres (adjusted OR 0.36, 0.20 to 0.64; P < 0.001), but this was not observed in low-engagement hospitals (8.3 per cent (59 of 714) and 13.8 per cent (61 of 443) respectively; adjusted OR 2.09, 1.31 to 3.31). Conclusion Completion of globally available digital training by engaged teams can alter anastomotic leak rates. Registration number: NCT04270721 (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov)

The surgical safety checklist and patient outcomes after surgery: a prospective observational cohort study, systematic review and meta-analysis

© 2017 British Journal of Anaesthesia Background: The surgical safety checklist is widely used to improve the quality of perioperative care. However, clinicians continue to debate the clinical effectiveness of this tool. Methods: Prospective analysis of data from the International Surgical Outcomes Study (ISOS), an international observational study of elective in-patient surgery, accompanied by a systematic review and meta-analysis of published literature. The exposure was surgical safety checklist use. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality and the secondary outcome was postoperative complications. In the ISOS cohort, a multivariable multi-level generalized linear model was used to test associations. To further contextualise these findings, we included the results from the ISOS cohort in a meta-analysis. Results are reported as odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals. Results: We included 44 814 patients from 497 hospitals in 27 countries in the ISOS analysis. There were 40 245 (89.8%) patients exposed to the checklist, whilst 7508 (16.8%) sustained ≥1 postoperative complications and 207 (0.5%) died before hospital discharge. Checklist exposure was associated with reduced mortality [odds ratio (OR) 0.49 (0.32–0.77); P\u3c0.01], but no difference in complication rates [OR 1.02 (0.88–1.19); P=0.75]. In a systematic review, we screened 3732 records and identified 11 eligible studies of 453 292 patients including the ISOS cohort. Checklist exposure was associated with both reduced postoperative mortality [OR 0.75 (0.62–0.92); P\u3c0.01; I2=87%] and reduced complication rates [OR 0.73 (0.61–0.88); P\u3c0.01; I2=89%). Conclusions: Patients exposed to a surgical safety checklist experience better postoperative outcomes, but this could simply reflect wider quality of care in hospitals where checklist use is routine

Critical care admission following elective surgery was not associated with survival benefit: prospective analysis of data from 27 countries

This was an investigator initiated study funded by Nestle Health Sciences through an unrestricted research grant, and by a National Institute for Health Research (UK) Professorship held by RP. The study was sponsored by Queen Mary University of London