Bend It Like It Beckham

Bend It Like It Beckham
Jesminder is unlike any other girl. She is very un-stereotypical. She has this intense passion and love for the ‘Beautiful-Game’ (as described by Pele) football. Her room is genuinely a holy place to the Manchester United player David Beckham. Jess’s room is filled with football posters. However, David Beckham has been described as a ‘skinhead boy’ from Jess’s mom. This is because she is tired of telling Jess not to watch football all the time.

Jess is British born and comes from a pious Sikh family. Jess is very talented and gifted at football. She plays like a professional footballer with skills and great balance. On the other side it is David Beckham who inspires Jess; David Beckham is highly inspirational to her as he is the stimulation of Jess’s mind.  Jess always admires him and claims “Nobody can bend it like Beckham”. 

Jess usually plays football in the park near her house to show off her rare talent with spectacular skills. Playing football keeps her alive and fresh. It is as if football is her medicine.

On other hand, her parents are very stereotypical throughout the film. They have high educational hopes for Jess. They want her to complete school, learn to cook Punjabi food and marry a proper Indian. This also goes for Jess’s older sister Pinky as well. She is already engaged and will be married within a few weeks. She is not football mad like her sister but both cross the cultural boundaries from two different scenarios. So, she does keep secrets about herself and her beau who lately have been having to feeling each other in his car. The two sisters; Pinky and Jess have a good relationship with keeping each other’s private life into secrets. One sister spending time with her future husband and the other playing in a football club, both without letting their parents know. This means both sisters have crossed cultural limitations on a daily basis. They try not to bring their private lives in their homes due to parental expectations. When parents don’t know about what is happening or what has happened e.g. like Jess playing football, then it won’t really matter. It won’t touch parent’s awareness unless if they find out or are told. This advice is also given by Jess’s best mate Tony “What your parents don’t know won’t hurt them”.       

However, their farther has a different view. He’s a liberal and a generous guy and he wants everyone to be happy in the family. But he is left confused wavering between his daughters’ choices and traditional minded wife. His main worry about Jess is not to be treated in the same as way as he was earlier on. When Jess’s farther arrived in England from Uganda as a young enthusiastic cricketer, with his wife. He wanted to join and play for a white team however as a return some racist comments were exposed – comments were thrown on his turban that he wore. Ever since, he has been with his own community, getting pleasure from his daughter’s position as she don’t get to experience the ordeal in the same way as her farther did. However Jess’s mom sees from a different point of view, she doesn’t want her daughter to show up with bare legs “to complete strangers”.

Fortunately, Jess is good at finding ways out of her difficulties as she gasps play for girls’ football club Hounslow Harriers. In the locker room, she tells and educates the white girls to enlighten the fact of what it feels like to be her. She explains by saying”Indian girls aren’t supposed to play football”. “That’s a bit backwards” notices one of her team-mates. Nevertheless, Jess has the idea of what it is that pulls her back from playing football as she says “It’s just culture, that’s all”.

For the most part the heartbeat of film is based on “culture”. The film also uses some montage editing. Montage editing is an art of putting pictures on top of another source.

Audience with similar age of Jess or viewers who remember themselves being in that position in the past will have the idea of Jess’s emotions as they been through this before. The reason for this was to draw a realistic character – that is Jess. She bemoans on her background and cultural restrictions. Viewers can understand the experience and her response to people around her. But her parents especially her mom cannot realize what it is with Jess and her football. The film highlights the contradictions and common features of life. It also highlights how the assumptions and expectations affect someone’s life experience especially girls.

Girls in any other films are not represented in the same way as Jess is in ‘Bend It Like Beckham’. Well-liked films like Yank, Princess Diaries or even What a girl Wants are cross-cultural girl movies. These are movies where girls go past their parental restrictions and easily break the rules as they are not aware of anything around them. Gurinder Chadha (Director of BILB) portrays her character as a persuasive one and draws adults as less realistic and over-stereotypical characters.

Later on in the film, the sisters have a grudge with reluctance of keeping each other secrets. Jess also repels with her best team-mate Jules. The two have a lot of things in common: parental-issues, both hunting for their football dream etc. Jules’s edgy mom thinks playing football or sports are activities that are unladylike. Both friends Jules and Jess hunt for a football a football future. Jules wants to attend the university in States with a scholarship. Jules’s bedroom is also filled posters but of Mia Hamm. Both friends develop a fast paced relationship above all this is where viewers get to see the sights of differences between the two backgrounds. Unfortunately, a few problems arise when Pinky’s future in law spot Jess and Jules on the pavement laughing together in public. Pinky’s futures in law observe the wrongs thoughts in their heads as they assume the shorthaired Jules was a male. They also thought Jess was in a relationship with a white male. On the other end, Jules’s mom thinks that Jules is lesbian, falling in love with a girl. Wrong thoughts like these shape the character and due to what Pinky’s future in law saw as a result they turned down the wedding. Similarly, another issue awakens when Jess falls in love with an Irish born coach, Joe.
All the wrong thoughts, grudges, hatred feelings end in a mixed mouthwatering dénouement that goes through Pinky’s wedding night and Jess’s very important football final. The cultures continue to strike one another with disagreement but in way of answering back respectively.

by NAVEED ABBAS

McDonald’s Monopoly Campaign

Compare one of the organisation’s promotional campaigns with the promotional campaign of one other leisure and tourism organisation.

McDonald’s Monopoly Campaign

1.     What are the objectives of the promotional campaign?

To sell certain types of product by holding competitions like monopoly. To make money and to get all their money back. McDonalds have three objectives for their campaign. The first, objective is to sell certain types of product e.g. Large Drinks, Large Fries, Chicken Select, Toasted Deli sandwiches and Premium Salads. The reason for this objective is to sell their unsold or well stocked products. Another objective is to make money. McDonalds do this by selling their products so they can get all their money back. So as a result, they make more profit and have a higher budget. Third objective is to attract customers to McDonalds.

2.     Who is the Target Market?

McDonalds Monopoly Campaign target markets those who are over 16 years old. They have to be teenagers or adults as it is illegal to gamble for those who are under 16.

3.     What promotional techniques will be used?

McDonalds uses variety of techniques to promote their product. One of the promotional techniques includes TV and website advertisement. They cleverly advertise this current competition to attract more customers. They do this by showing the top prize of a house or a Porsche at the beginning of the advertisement in both the TV and website adverts. This lets customers know that they can win these prizes that could change their life. Another way to promote their products is Displays. They make use of displays to announce new offers. They specifically advertise newly released products near tills. This is an incentive to encourage customers to buy that particular product. Also for this purpose posters are put on the wall or on windows to attract even more customers. They design the floor to make it look like a monopoly board. This is another technique of getting in more customers.

4.     What promotional materials will be used?

 McDonald’s have reduced the amount of packaging to have less impact on the environment. Another reason for remaking their packaging like Drinking Cups and Fries Box was to design it as a monopoly promotional material. The material consists of very small stickers that are easy to loose. McDonalds are always looking to improve their materials of packaging.   

5.     How will the success of the campaign be monitored and evaluated?

McDonalds has been a success in the past years and it still is. By managing to meet their objectives for example selling certain types of product, getting customers and as a result making more money helps them to be more successful. So if they sell more meals then they will make more profit. Finally, with that profit they will introduce additional products in the menu.

 

 

Production Stage

Production Stage:

To make an effective and powerful advert I will need to use an AIDA diagram.

AWARENESS	This will make sure that my product is heard. I will need to use a good slogan – ‘Your perfume, your way’ or ‘It’s the secret of success’. In my advert I will also emphasize the bottle to attract my target audience. My target audience are people in their mid 20s. I can have the name of the perfume written twice (top and bottom), so that it sticks into the audience’s mind. My main priority is to attract the attention of the customer and encourage them to buy my perfume.
INTEREST	It will capture their interest at some level. I’ll raise customer’s interest by demonstrating showing off my perfume in the best way possible.
DESIRE	I will try to increase the likelihood of buying the perfume. I will try to convince customers; that they want and desire the perfume and it will satisfy their needs.
ACTION	This will lead customers towards taking action and/or purchasing.

Evaluative Commentary

Planning
I designed two different full page magazine adverts and one billboard advert. I worked in a group with Shravan. I had to decide on the size and the layout of my advert. I did this in the planning stages and mock ups. Firstly, I gave out questionnaires for people to fill in to get an idea of their taste and preferences. It was well designed to attract other people. I kept my questionnaires short (2 side of A4). I also used multiple choice and yes/no answers to make it easier to analyse data. I had to start off with easier questions (age, occupation etc) and I finished off with the ones that have to be thought about a little more. Statistically, I aimed to get around 23 completed questionnaires. In addition, I also conducted interviews with other people. I asked them to discuss their media consumptions with me. I decided to ask closed question and open questions at the end.

So the aim of my production was to target people in mid 20s. This is because I realised (from the results of my questionnaire) that people in mid 20s are most interested in perfumes. Firstly, I decided to have a powerful slogan because it is the heart of my message. I want to tell other people to buy my perfume because it will make them feel smart, elegant, intelligent and attractive – “Only certain people have it”. This suggests that the product is for ‘special’ people – so if you buy it then you will become part of the exclusive elite.  My second slogan for the magazine is simple yet powerful – “That’s the secret to life”. My third slogan for the billboard is – “Live life to the fullest.” Other slogans that I had thought of before were:

– Scentsational!
-The Scentamental Favourite!
-The Fragrance of Life   
-The Smell of Success

I decided to use a slogan to convey a message. This is because a precise and a well defined message are important to a good ad. If the objective isn’t right then everything that follows will be off as well.

My target audience are Male in mid 20s. My aim is to speak to high income earners therefore the language will have to be more sophisticated. Target audience is very important because it will decide how my message is conveyed.

I carried out a background research to get a better idea about the perfume adverts. This included perfume adverts on TV, magazines ads e.g. Silver Shadow – Altitude and Givenchy – Very Irresistible. 

Production Process
I developed a concept by underlying a creative idea to drive my message. In all my print ads (including mag and billboard), the concept is typically the same but the only way in which the concept is expressed is different (esp. in billboard). I took time developing a concept that’s strong.

My add is typically made up of a photograph and some writing (i.e. slogans and the perfume name). I used a professional image editing software called Photoshop from Adobe. It provided a large library of effects, filters and layers. I used it to “alter” my image to make it more attractive. Photoshop lets you do a range of creative things to photographs including replacing colours, cutting out shapes, adding texture, adding lighting effects etc. I removed blemishes and I decided to brighten up the photograph.

Before capturing the photo-shots, I decided to do some mock-ups to help me decide what my visual will be. After the final draft, I decided to pose towards the camera. Shravan was the camera-man and I was the model for the ad. Shravan used a Canon Digital Camera (4 megapixels).     

In addition, I also used Photoshop to edit the way my slogan appears on the ad. I kept it short, snappy and attractive because people don’t read long sentences. I feel my slogan is powerful therefore it will touch a lot of people, making them curious and making them think.
I then decided to draw all the elements together to explain what the perfume is. My objective was to write something that links with the photograph. For example “Be rich…Be successful”. This could link with a picture of me wearing a suit (formal clothing – smartly dressed) with dark glasses representing the elite ‘certain people’, creating an impression that only ‘special’ people have this perfume.

The problems I overcame during the production process were mostly when I was using Photoshop. The disadvantage of Photoshop is that it does not have a dictionary therefore it can a little confusing (especially when you are looking for a specific tool). However, I met my needs by getting used to the software and fiddling around with features.

Evaluation
I feel my ads are successful and very effective especially the magazine ones. I feel it attracted a mass audience. This is because I used simple yet powerful slogans which conveyed a strong message to my target audience. Many people liked and praised both of my Magazine Adverts. In fact, one of my target audience said – “I can’t believe that this advert has been done by boy who goes to a secondary school. To be honest, it seems very professional to me.”

However, next time I will avoid visual clutters from my adverts because less is always better than more. This would have helped me improve my advert therefore I would have got a better grade.

My billboard advert looks a bit chaotic therefore it would have been better if I wrote less. Another weakness in my Billboard advert is that it was unclear therefore it was not easily understood. Next time I will safeguard against this by doing some rough sketches of my visual for the billboard advert then I could have shown it around. If people were unclear about the message, then probably I will need to change it. So I will proofread my ad and give it to my friends to proofread it again, then I will proofread it again to make the billboard advert stand out.   
 
In conclusion, I learnt a lot from my assignment. I learnt that advertisers use different techniques (such as imperatives, slogans, bright colours and models) to attract their audience. But before targeting, advertisers often research (e.g. give out questionnaires to people in an area) to get an idea about what people like. This is the reason why I used a slogan and bright colours in my advert. I also acted as the model (wearing dark glasses and a formal suit) to attract other people. It will make them think that when they my perfume, they will be rich, smart and think ahead of their time.    

NAVEED ABBAS

Discussing the representations of Jess in ‘Bend It Like Beckham’ and Hortense in ‘Secret and Lies’

Discussing the representations of Jess in ‘Bend It Like Beckham’ and Hortense in ‘Secret and Lies’
I have been asked to discuss the representations of Jess in ‘Bend It Like Beckham’ and Hortense in ‘Secrets and Lies’. In my assignment, I hope to look at different types of representations e.g. Age, Gender, Ethnicity and Social Class (AGES) for ‘B.I.L.B’ and ‘Secret and Lies’. I will look for the similarities and differences between Asian cultures and Black British Culture. 

To start with, the similarities between Asian culture and Black British culture are that the both migrated from their homelands and were fully prepared to live in UK during the 1950’s. Both cultures have strongly followed their religion regardless of what it may cost them. The reason for their immigration was their homeland lacked resources and people were not well paid and were living under poverty. Knowing that they knew UK had good housing and job opportunities to earn a good salary. Therefore, they moved over to UK for their lifetime. On the other hand, Asians are represented as successful people in TV as they do not get involved with drug or gun crimes whereas the Black culture is negatively represented. The two cultures have got a few similarities but they have got more of differentiation with the way they are represented to the media. Not only in films Asian people will turn out to be successful but also in soaps, newspapers, tabloids or even magazines whereas for the Black community sadly it is the other way round as they are represented as being involved in offensive conducts.            

Why did Asians + Afro Caribs come to the UK during the 50’s and 60’s and why did UK allow them/need them?  

Why did Asians and Caribbean immigrants migrate? Well it seems that there was no specific reason why Black people migrated from the West Indies and from the Asian continent to England. Verbal and hand-written evidence shows that there were many explanations for immigration. It seems as if the majority of people moved to England because of economic reasons. Mainly males migrated without their families. The main reason for this was to search for employment and to get hold of some money knowing that they will go back within a few years to feed their families from the money collected. However, the fact was they stayed for a lifetime. Therefore, more immigrants arrived in England with the knowledge of knowing that they will get a job. As a result, this turned out to be the recruiting scheme by the English in the 1950s and 60s – to get a job for those without occupation. That said, the recruitment offered jobs in areas like health, transport, engineering, and bakeries. Another reason that caused some people to immigrate was peer pressure. Although some immigrants were in safe jobs in the West Indies and had no particular reason to migrate but they chose to from the influence of their peers. They were completely ready to leave their lands and experience a different country. A few left their homeland because of their influence from parents. But most who left had high hopes of getting a good job and getting well paid throughout their lifetime. They knew that where they were heading to was a place that had decent housing better than their ‘Motherland’. Most people who migrated to England rudely reacted when they realized the conditions were far worse than they had thought of in comparison with their homeland. Soon, these problems were becoming more of a difficulty to handle since many of the local people were not ready to accept them. As a result, England tried to reduce the number of immigrants migrating to England.

Generally, the two cultures are represented on TV and in film as very stereotypical ones. A stereotype is when one bit of information is taken and is stretched out to everyone so that they get the image of it. On the balance most stereotypes are negative. Usually, black people are represented as either violent, aggressive and brutal gangsters or happy-go-lucky servants. Despite the fact that these stereotypes are still shown on T.V, viewers may now be seeing black people portrayed as upright, intelligent, middle class characters. On the other hand, Asian people are represented as either intelligent, decent and well educated doctors or fine butchers, shopkeepers and curry salesman.   One of most typical example is in a cartoon T.V series called ‘The Simpsons’. There is a character named Apu who establishes his identity by all the stereotypes. An example of Apu’s stereotype is his accent and his occupation. His accent is not very English as he speaks in an Asian tone and he works in a shop, which is a stereotype for Asians. Many Asians in TV programs are represented as shop owner. Another film called ‘Jackie Brown’ has as many stereotypes for the Blacks. The film represents Black people as drug addicts and they seem to be up on high. They also seem to have no sense of emotion when killing each other. In that film, a lot of explicit violence is shown and also some rape scenes (I think).

B.I.L.B basically represents the clashes of culture of an Indian Sikh family in London who try to raise their football-mad daughter Jess in a traditional way. Jess is s about 17-18 yrs old. It starts with a dream sequence where Jess is playing for M.U.F.C and scoring goals. Then, the Studio Match Of The Day football panel hosts praise Jess. However Jess’s mom criticizes her daughter for playing football.  Her older sister is called Pinky, who is engaged and will be married within a few weeks. On the other hand, Jess is a girl who hunts for her dream. That is playing football professionally like David Beckham. Jess knows her parents do not expect her to be playing football as they don’t want her to be showing off her bare legs to ‘strangers’. Jess usually plays football in the local park near her house with her mates including Tony. While showing off her spectacular talent Jess is seen by Jules and Jules advices Jess to join the girl’s football club. From then on, Jess and Jules become good friends and start to go to places. Yet Jess’s parents can’t understand why Jess is never settled and why can’t she be like her sister. On the other end, Jules’s dream is playing football in the States but she also has a conflict with her mum. Her mom wants her to be sort of girlie as she worries how is she is ever going to find a boyfriend without wearing a dress. But her mom doesn’t know that her daughter likes her football coach, Joe. Nevertheless, Jess has a different personality; she is unlike any other girl. She is very un-stereotypical. She is very talented and gifted at football. She plays like a professional footballer with skills and great balance. On the other side it is David Beckham who inspires Jess; David Beckham is highly inspirational to her as he is the stimulation of Jess’s mind. Jess always admires him and claims “Nobody can bend it like Beckham”. Her room is genuinely a holy place to David Beckham. Jess’s room is filled with football posters. However, David Beckham has been described as a ‘skinhead boy’ from Jess’s mom. This is because her mom is tired of telling Jess not to watch football all the time. Jess’s interests are playing football at the top of the level and she wants to go abroad and play more. She has this intense passion and love for the ‘Beautiful-Game’ (as described by Pele) football.

Jess comes from a Middle-Class background. Jess is British born and comes from a pious and traditional Sikh family. Jess herself is not very religious. Her one of the main interest is playing football. She usually plays football in the park near her house to show off her rare talent with spectacular skills. Playing football keeps her alive and fresh. It is as if football is her medicine. Even when she is cooking Punjabi food with her mom, she plays with the tomatoes as if it is a football. She is a football maniac, she can’t live without football. But her background seems to compress Jess’s ambitions – that is playing football freely. Her parents don’t want her to be so football loving and they don’t even want her to play football. Her parents want her to be a nice and a conventional Indian girl but Jess wants to play football. They have high educational hopes for Jess. They want her to complete school, learn to cook Punjabi food and marry a proper Indian. This also goes for Jess’s older sister Pinky as well. She is already engaged and will be married within a few weeks. She is not football mad like her sister but both sisters cross the cultural boundaries from two different scenarios. Above all, she does keep secrets about herself and her beau who lately have had to feel each other in his car. The two sisters; Pinky and Jess have a good relationship with keeping each other’s private life into secrets. One sister spending time with her future husband and the other playing in a football club, both without letting their parents know. This means both sisters have crossed cultural limitations on a daily basis. They try not to bring their private lives in their homes due to parental expectations. When parents don’t know about what is happening or what has happened e.g. like Jess playing football, then it won’t really matter. It won’t touch parent’s awareness unless if they find out or are told. This advice is also given by Jess’s best mate Tony “What your parents don’t know won’t hurt them”. This tells me that Jess’s parents are stereotypically minded especially her mom because if she finds out that her daughter has been playing football then as a result it will be all shambles for Jess. Jess is held back by these sorts of problems and her situation gets harder when the secrets are revealed. Jess’s parents are stereotypical mostly throughout the film. This is to convince the viewers because these situations are well realistic. The conflict in Jess’s life is coming from her culture and her background due to some restrictions. These problems hold her back from playing football. Fortunately, Jess is good at finding ways out of her difficulties as she gasps play for girls’ football club Hounslow Harriers. In the locker room, she tells and educates the white girls to enlighten the fact of what it feels like to be her. She explains by saying “Indian girls aren’t supposed to play football”. “That’s a bit backwards” notices one of her team-mates. Nevertheless, Jess has the idea of what it is that pulls her back from playing football as she says “It’s just culture, that’s all”.   
 
All the wrong thoughts, grudges, hatred feelings end in a mixed mouthwatering dénouement that goes through Pinky’s wedding night and Jess’s very important football final. The cultures continue to strike one another with disagreement but in way of answering back respectively.  However, as all movies at the end transformation takes place as her parents let her decide her future with good grades and with playing football abroad.    

It’s a film of edging moments that holds viewers’ nerves in every scene. Viewers always wonder what will happen next in an instant. It’s all about secrets and lies. The title says it all. Secrets and Lies is all about a family that is pushed to deal with personal issues they’ve been sidestepping in recent years. Cynthia is a white lower working class British woman whose life has been an ordeal for the past years. She works at a card box factory. She is a very unhappy character; she has not had enough love. Cynthia suffers from a trauma and serious depression and that is why she is stubborn as she has not had a very comfortable life. When anyone has trauma, they never seem to grow up. She lives in a council house with her daughter Roxanne. The house is vey small, untidy and not very neat. Roxanne is a street sweeper and is a very spoilt girl; she is a girl who consistently mourns. She is always in a foul-mood; it seems as if she never smiles throughout the film. She is basically a very moody girl. Cynthia has helped to brought up his little brother, Maurice. Maurice is a photographer specializing in wedding pictures. Most of the time in the film it shows the life of Maurice and his wife Monica.  Cynthia feels sad and upset for the fact that she has not been invited by her little brother Maurice in his house for more than about two years. She assumes its Maurice’s wife who has held him back from inviting her. Cynthia describes his wife as a “toffee-nose cow” for pulling apart the relationship between her and her brother. Then one day, Cynthia receives a call from a black woman called Hortense who claims to be her daughter. Hortense tries to convince that she is the one who Cynthia put up for adoption back ago. Oh, no, no, no, no, no dear – there’s been some mistake” she responses to Hortense. Hortense rings again and Cynthia picks it up knowing the fact it might be her daughter. Therefore, both arrange to meet outside a tube station and then in a close by café. Cynthia tries to say that Hortense is not her daughter by claiming “I mean…just look at you!” She also tries to say that she never had slept with a black male. But then moments arrive when no more lies could be told. Finally, the truth had met for once. When they met each other Cynthia discovered that Hortense is an eye-doctor at her thirties. Cynthia then tells the truth that she is her daughter and tells her about her family. Hortense and Cynthia start to build up their relationship and start to act like mother and daughter. Then as a conclusion the film meets its mouthwatering finale where the barbecue also took place at Maurice’s house. Cynthia introduces Hortense with a lie “A friend from work,” she says. But then the suspicion grows as the family starts to wonder why an eye-doctor would work at a card box factory. Through that dénouement all the secrets and lies are revealed coming across with clashing on each other. Secrets and Lies is also a funny and an enjoyable film than viewers expect it to be.

Hortense is a black woman, at her thirties with a posh-like name: Hortense Cumberbatch. At a young age she was adapted by a Jamaican family and since she has had a very happy life. She is well paid and is living a good life, she is an optometrist. She comes from a middle class and a well educated background. I can tell by looking at her house, she has got books in her house and that is the sign of an educated young woman. That also means Hortense can read to give her self- satisfaction feeling. She is very brave and determined who cares about other people as well as herself. She is sensible and does not judge people, for example when her friend says “she was sleeping around having casual sex”, as a result Hortense has the courtesy to not to laugh. When her foster mother passes away, she goes to an adoption agency in search of her real birth mother. Her main interest is to find out about her biological mum, Cynthia. While looking through her folders she thinks there is a mistake as the papers say that her real mom was white. However, there wasn’t even a scratch of mistake, it was all true. Later she discovers that her mom is white and decides to meet her. This was not the best thing to do as that avoids the real subject of the film since her biological family had been destroyed from all the secrets and lies. The black woman is the boost to cheer up the family even though she herself has a good life by means of being well-paid. But still she has the courage to enter their house. The conflict in Hortense life is coming from Cynthia’s family as no one except for Cynthia knows that Hortense is her child. Hortense stimulates the conflict in her life when she decides to go and search for her birth mother. Hortense deals matters with discipline and manner and when she meets her biological mom, she starts making progress with the relationship between the two. The way Hortense talks to Cynthia is in a polite manner. This tells us and Cynthia that she is an educated woman. Hortense takes control of the conversation and leads it all the way through with confidence. However, looking at her real mom, Cynthia has no self-esteem and she seems to hold her nerve throughout the conversation. But then Hortense starts to act like a kid being emotionally immature and Cynthia starts to act like a mother. This tells us that Hortense can fit and get along with any group of people whereas Cynthia doesn’t have the confidence in herself as she is lonely and fragile. Looking from director’s point of view, Leigh (director) handles the story well: the daughter is black and the mother is white and on the other hand the family doesn’t know whether Cynthia had another child. The family starts to think hard in every ticking second whether they are right or wrong. Dénouement holds the climax as all the secrets and lies are revealed by the end.

In the film ‘Bend It Like Beckham’, Jess is represented in two different ways. Asian British when she is at home with her family and British Asian when she is with her football team or her mates. People are represented in four different ways, Age, Gender, Ethnicity and Social Class. Her character changes throughout the film. All the aspects, Age, Gender, Ethnicity and Social Class and her personality changes by the end.   

AGE
In ‘Bend It Like Beckham’ Jess has excluded and ignored certain restrictions from her parents.  I think Jess is represented as not a very stereotypical girl in comparison with her sister or other girls of her age. She is basically very different from those of her age. She is just ‘football-crazy’ and neglects to go shopping like most girls do. I can tell when she replies to her mom moaning “Mom, do I have to go shopping again,” This straight away tells me she is extordnary and untypical. Her blood interest is football while kids from her age will prefer to go shopping and hang around with boys. At first Jess has a split personality and low self esteem – basically, mature from inside but not outside. But then, Jess is transformed when Joe touches her, her sexuality awakens and starts being mature. She starts taking life matters as a mature young lady. The movie tells us she is changing herself. She’s bringing her outside life to inside which sort of builds pressure on the whole family. When Jess departures for Germany with her football team she only takes her kit, and no other clothes for going out. Everyone is expected to roam around the city after the football match however Jess does not know that and she does not know that they will be clubbing until she arrives. Jess does not have any clothes to go out in decently, instead her friend Jules gives her some clothes and styles her hair and puts some make up on. When she comes out she looses that low self-esteem she had with her in herself. In this scene she wears a figure hanging sexy clothing. She soon starts to realize she is a mature young lady therefore she gets more and more confident. She is gets to be sophisticated and sort of stylish as the film moves on. She wears smart clothes. She also seems to be in touch with her emotions. She is basically emotionally intelligent. At this point in the film while clubbing a stereotype is shown and that is white men cannot dance as Joe dances clumsily. Later in the movie, Jess lets her hair down physically to look better when Joe approaches her from the back – this is a classical metaphor. In Jess’s mind her intention is to attract Joe. When Jess tells her sister that she fancies her coach, Pinky is freaked since then onwards Jess is under-pressure from her sister but Jess is still confident and is ready to move on. This is the point where she represents her self with confidence as she is maturing to become an assertive woman. Audience with similar age of Jess or viewers who remember themselves being in that position in the past will have the idea of Jess’s emotions as they been through this before. The reason for this was to draw a realistic character – that is Jess. She bemoans of her background and cultural restrictions. Viewers can understand the experience and her response to people around her. But her parents especially her mom cannot realize what it is with Jess and her football. The film highlights the contradictions and common features of life. It also highlights how the assumptions and expectations affect someone’s life experience especially girls. Jess breaks most of the stereotypes as being a girl and an Asian. An example of this is when Jess meets her friends; they always talk about school work and exams. This breaks the Age stereotypes because a girl wouldn’t talk about work. A girl of Jess’s age would rather be worried about their Social life.

GENDER
Because of Jess’s gender she undergoes severe difficulties. It would’ve made her life 10 times easier if she would have been a boy instead of a girl however her parents have restricted her from playing football. I know this when Jess tells Joe (her football coach) “Indian girls aren’t supposed to play football” Girls in any other films are not represented in the same way as Jess is in ‘Bend It Like Beckham’. Well-liked films like Yank, Princess Diaries or even What a girl Wants are cross-cultural girl movies. These are movies where girls go past their parental restrictions and easily break the rules as they are not aware of anything around them. Gurinder Chadha (Director of BILB) portrays her character as a persuasive one and draws adults as less realistic and over-stereotypical characters. Later in the film, Jess repels with her best team-mate Jules. The two have a lot of things in common: parental-issues, both hunting for their football dream etc. Jules’s edgy mom thinks playing football or sports are activities that are unladylike. Both friends Jules and Jess hunt for a football a football future. Jules wants to attend the university in States with a scholarship. Jules’s bedroom is also filled posters but of Mia Hamm. Both friends develop a fast paced relationship above all this is where viewers get to see the sights of differences between the two backgrounds. Unfortunately, a few problems arise when Pinky’s future in law spot Jess and Jules on the pavement laughing together in public. Pinky’s futures in law observe the wrongs thoughts in their heads as they assume the shorthaired Jules was a male. They also thought Jess was in a relationship with a white male. This is the point where Pinky and Jess have a grudge with reluctance of keeping each other secrets. On the other end, Jules’s mom thinks that Jules is lesbian, falling in love with a girl. Wrong thoughts like these shape the character and due to what Pinky’s future in law saw as a result they turned down the wedding. Similarly, another issue awakens when Jess falls in love with an Irish born coach, Joe.

But then, transformation tale once again takes place as Jules mom changes from hating football by the end.

ETHNICITY
Jess has been restricted from wearing shot skirts; due to this she is sort of unhappy. Elsewhere in the dressing rooms, she tells her football partners “My parents think that Asian girls shouldn’t play football.” This represents her ethnicity and tells us she has the idea of what is expected from her parents. She also knows whether she is committing something that is against her culture. However, their farther has a different view. He’s a liberal and a generous guy and he wants everyone to be happy in the family. But he is left confused wavering between his daughters’ choices and traditional minded wife. His main worry about Jess is not to be treated in the same as way as he was earlier on. When Jess’s farther arrived in England from Uganda as a young enthusiastic cricketer, with his wife. He wanted to join and play for a white team however as a return some racist comments were exposed – comments were thrown on his turban that he wore. Ever since, he has been with his own community, getting pleasure from his daughter’s position as she don’t get to experience the ordeal in the same way as her farther did. However Jess’s mom sees from a different point of view, she doesn’t want her daughter to show up with bare legs “to complete strangers”. This tells us Asians are educated, laws abiding and family cultured.

For the most part the heartbeat of film is based on “culture”. The film also uses some montage editing. Montage editing is an art of putting pictures on top of another source. It also has some slow motion scenes, which indicates a changer signifier.  

In the outside world one may say Jess is a happy and a very cheerful girl but from inside she feels tired as she has to follow and undergo cultural restrictions. When outside, she is just free and she has the right to do anything regardless of what it may cost her. However, it’s the other way round when it comes to her inside restrictions. Jess is unhappy as she has a strong followed Indian background and she is expected to wear an Indian Sari in her sister’s wedding which makes her feel sort of uneasy. No sexual, she wants her Sari to be looser. On the other hand, she has got a picture of David Beckham and she regards him as a god by talking to him while her parents downstairs worship Guru Nanak. By the end Jess thinks the only thing that matters to her is the love of her parents. She say “My parents love me and that’s all what matters”    

Another stereotype that establishes Asian ethnicity is when Jess’s mom says “What family will want a daughter who runs around kicking a football all day but can’t make round chapattis.”

Jules mom is also typically ethnic. I can tell when she says to Jess “I expect you parents are fixing you with a young doctor”. Obviously she expects Jess as an Asian to not to be playing football but she expectations are proved wrong when Jules mom is told that Jess plays for a football club.  

SOCIAL CLASS
Jess is represented as a little girl earlier on in the film. Jess comes from a Middle-Class background. Jess is British born and comes from a pious and traditional Sikh family. Jess herself is not very religious. Her one of the main interest is playing football. Jess is sporty, lives athletically and football crazy.

The typical Asian accent of English from her parents is the signifier of representing Asians. Middle-class people seem to be living a normal good life and that is what Jess is living her life along with her own few problems. When Jess is at home, she behaves traditionally and when she is outside she behaves untraditionally. Her personality becomes alive when she goes out. She starts becoming active in telling lies. But then due to traditional problems she is under pressure by the whole family. Both sisters are an obstruction as Pinky says “Jess, don’t you want all of this, this is the best day of your life.” However Jess’s reply is “I want more than this”. This tells me she fights hard for her dream. Later notably she gains confidence and starts to change herself to a woman. The reviewers of BILB say that Gurinder Chadma gives her character complexity and self-understanding that other movies like ‘Princess Diaries’ don’t.

Secrets and Lies
AGE
In Secrets and Lies, Cynthia is represented as a middle aged cockney and she works in a card box factory. She lives with her bitter and a moody daughter who is aged about 23-25. Mother and daughter are always arguing and are always in a conflict. They spend most of the time on arguing.  

When Cynthia was young she was unmarried and pregnant therefore she was forced to give away her own black daughter.

Sooner, that daughter named Hortense by her foster mother looked forward to meet her mom. An example of her determination was her enthusiasm and eagerness to meet her mom. This was a sign of her drive.

Cynthia and Hortense met in the Café and it seemed as if Cynthia was acting like a mom and Hortense was acting like a child. We know that there is age difference between the two and that is why they try to do this. This is done to show the age difference moreover it shows that the relationship is building as they have met couple of times.

In Media; people at the age of mid-thirties or even old people are represented as grumpy, ill-tempered who always seem to be complaining. Above all, this is how Cynthia is represented as she suffers from a trauma and despair. Media does not pay a lot of attention to people at the age of mid-thirties. They mainly focus on younger people like Jess but everyone knows that Jess breaks all the stereotypes and she is unlike any other girl. The only thing she cares and worries about is football; she is always concerned about football. However, normally young people are represented as being ‘sexy’ and successful and maybe sporty.      

Ethnicity
Stereotypes have been sidestepped in this film by the director. For example a black woman is well-paid black however Cynthia and Roxanne are represented as uneducated and poor whites.  Leigh did this to repel the racial pressure. The story sums up when it comes to the conclusion when Maurice says “Secrets and Lies…We’re all in pain! Why can’t we share our pain?” The director succeeds by gripping his audience and making the film worth watching.   

Social Class
Cynthia and Roxanne are represented as British lower working class citizen. Usually, lower working class people don’t have a good occupation. They seem to be poor and their job is likely to be a not so good one. They are expected to be road sweepers, Labourers or Window Cleaners. Roxanne is a street sweeper and is always in a foul mood. 

However, Hortense is represented as an intelligent middle class citizen. Middle class citizens are likely to be teachers, MPs or dentists. Hortense is an optometrist (an eye-doctor) and she is proud of it. She is living a good life however the only thing missing in her life is her real mom furthermore she goes forward to complete that task.  The film plays a rhythm of realism in British families. Actors like Cynthia and Roxanne are also very persuasive to draw the audience in the film. There is a scene set at a backyard barbecue and this enlightens the viewers of how family gatherings take place in such area. The film has shown a simple life story in a nerve-wracking climax. This is Mike Leigh best work so far.

Gender
I think the director deliberately chose a mom to be searched by her daughter because if Hortense went to look for her dad then may be it wouldn’t have been as affective since moms are more caring and are more loving than fathers. Moms have a cleaner relationship with their children, so that is why I think the director chose Cynthia to be searched by her daughter moreover this shows how much love is to be devoted.   

Stereotypes
Stereotype is when bit of information is taken and is stretched out wide to everyone. To establish a character or the character in Media, therefore stereotypes are used for identification. Stereotypes portray a representation and picture of a group of people or a person. Stereotypes can be show in anyway or in any form of Media. In TV, stereotypes can be recognized by a dress e.g. cultural or traditional wearing and by the culture shown. It can also be identified by their accent and even their behavior. On a balance, overall stereotypes are negative, this means that stereotypes represent negative views and portray a bad image to A or THE character. A classical stereotype most seen in TV for men is being represented as “real-man”, who is very brave, courageous, sophisticated and extremely intelligent and looks to attract pretty women. Everyone knows that James Bond plays this role as he is exceptionally bright and smart. These sorts of representations give audience an idea of an identifiable character. However, the disadvantage of stereotype is that it can shape viewers’ views and it can change expectations from others’ personality and the way they should be seen behaving.

Females are represented as either housewives who are sort of posh or educated or else they can be represented as girlfriends who seem to be ‘sexy’ looking. Children’s representations depend on their gender – so a representation for a girl can be playing with dolls whereas boys can be busy playing with their console games or sports. Although they are cute and charming but they talk as though they are adults for e.g. a kid reminds her mom to eat the medicine or go to the doctor.

Culture and class seem to be playing a major role in Media and frequently opinions overtake facts within stereotypes. For e.g. Black people are always seen as being involved in drugs, which is not true for every black in the community as some people strongly avoid drugs. Most stereotypes are seen as opinions because this is like judging people to what they wear and how they act. It is as if TV has blocked way of living.

Even though in ‘BILB’ Jess breaks all the stereotypes of being nothing like any other girl, she seems to form a new stereotype – that is portraying an image of a ‘wannabe’ as a stereotype. Some people may look at her and mention that she is ‘wannabe’ as she wants to be completely like the ex-England captain David Beckham. One can also say she is a ‘wannabe’ as she wants be a man since she wears tracksuit bottoms and does not put on any make-up.

I believe the director is trying to communicate with us here, I think the director is clearly giving and passing a message and that is not to consider and believe in stereotypes because they are not specifically factual. They are sort of an opinion and that opinion which is a stereotype has changed people’s minds and shaped their thoughts on something specific.

Yet in ‘BILB’ the story moves on and audiences get to see Jess slowly maturing and turning into a lady. Jess surprisingly puts some make-up on and styles her hair up. She also wears a jean moreover she starts to hang around with girls instead of boys.

In ‘Secrets and Lies’, Hortense is stereotyped as an intelligent, well paid black woman at her mid-twenties. Hortense is a confident woman and she is very brave. At some point in the film even Maurice praises Hortense by saying “You’re a very brave person, you wanted to find the truth and you were prepared to suffer the consequences and I admire you for that”. Hortense is and seems well-educated; I can also tell that she cares very much about her future. Hortense likes reading books, which is a sign of educational interest. This tells me she has time to pay attention to education as she enjoys reading a book. Hortense feels confident of reading a book by herself even on her birthday. This way Hortense finds her self-satisfaction and herself being happy. With this personality, Hortense is capable of inspiring anyone and this is what she does when she meets her biological mom, Cynthia – a mom who had saved words for her ‘long time no see’ daughter. Cynthia is inspired by Hortense therefore she tries to boost her mobility. She introduces Hortense as a “friend”. Dénouement (climax) takes place in the film by the end when secrets and lies are revealed.

Stereotypes lead children to the road of wrong thoughts, which basically shapes their expectations. This is why it is important to know and be able to recognize stereotypes otherwise viewers can possibly observe the false thoughts. To understand these stereotypes, people must watch different program and point out how media has pictured their community.

 Tying up the whole essay I think the film ‘Bend It Like Beckham’ has a point to make. That is women do play soccer. End of. Therefore BILB dispels that cliché and the films itself breaks the stereotypes. The film’s title actually means something – Bend It Like Beckham. It is not just Jess wanting to bend the ball like Beckham but it’s bending her own life in front of her parents. When Jess is about to take the free kick, she sees her family in the way as the wall which prevents it from getting the ball into the net. That wall is stopping Jess from playing football but as we know Jess spins her life and gets what she wishes. So that means her goal is accomplished. ‘BILB’ tells the viewer what it’s like is to be a teen in London from Indian heritage.

Alternatively, I personally think that representation of Hortense was more satisfying because she handled her situation very well with full of confidence as she is mature. Whereas, Jess was hiding from her parents that she was off playing football and this shows that Jess is still a young girls even though her sexuality awakens by the end. We all know that Hortense is older and she is wiser as she inspires her biological mom. She took the risk of going after her biological mom regardless what it cost her.   

I believe in my essay I have shown the strength and weaknesses of stereotypes and how they affect children. I have also written about the representation of Jess from ‘BILB’ in comparison with Hortense from ‘Secrets and Lies’. I have given the idea of what Secret and Lies the film is about as well as BILB. Lastly, I have stated the similarities and differences between Asian culture and Black culture and how they are represented in TV.  

Written by: Naveed Abbas

           

EVALUATION

Evaluate the appropriateness of the customer service provide by the organisation.

EVALUATION

Services that meet the customer’s needs:

Drive Thru
The first area that I think meets the customer needs is Drive Thru. This is because it is very convenient and it allows customers to order their meal on the move. McDonalds make good business by this approach because customers can use this service to get the products quickly and it saves a lot of time. Customers do not have to park their car, get out and wait in the long queues because staff at McDonalds will serve their customers who pull up in their vehicle.

Advantages of Drive Thru are that it is not time consuming as the service is quick. This service is very useful for business people because they are always on the move, therefore they require quick service. Drive Thru clearly provides easy access for their customers.  Orders are taken and the meal is quickly provided through a window while the customers remain in their vehicle. Even though Drive Thru is quick, but it also has a few drawbacks. One example is those customers have to know what they are going to order. In a Drive Thru, customers will not be able to look at the menu therefore they will have to know what to order.

Another disadvantage is that some McDonalds (mostly in the High Streets) don’t have a Drive Thru. This is because there is no space. Overall, Drive Thru is very convenient because it can feed a lot of customers in less time. Drive Thru is a fast service and that is the reason why a lot of people use this service.  

Play Area
Second area that I think meets the customer’s needs is the children’s’ Play Area. Play Area keeps children occupied and puts parents at rest so that they can comfortably eat their meal. Play Area allows children to play and romp around. Play Areas have some sort of interactive activities for children. For example, they have wheels to spin and little mazes to play with etc. This makes eating out a more enjoyable experience for children. 

However a drawback is that not all McDonalds have Play Areas and this does not meet the customer’s needs. For this reason some McDonald’s restaurants are better than others.

Birthday Parties

McDonald’s run Birthday Parties for children. Parents can arrange the Party and the meal. Customers can order a cake or bring their own if they prefer. McDonalds offer a proper birthday area for children. When parents book a Birthday Party for their children then they will receive a welcome letter, a confirmation sheet with all the details of when and where the party being held and a food order pad etc. The party is usually held in a reserved area. The staff will also entertain to provide all the fun for children. They will also play games with children to keep all the children amused. The party usually last for one and a half hour and at the end of the party children receive a Ronald McDonalds gift box. This meets the needs of both the children and the parents. This is because children experience all the fun at their Party in McDonalds and Parent are put at rest. So overall, this is a very effective area.

Internet

 

McDonalds allow people to have free access to the Internet. They have installed Wi-Fi hotspots in the restaurant so people can go online anytime they want. This service is mainly targeted at students because they might not have access to the internet at home therefore they may use this facility. They can cheerfully pop in and surf through the internet. In my opinion, this is a very convenient service and it allows people to complete their work. In addition, it allows people to be connected with their friends, family and others. Furthermore, it allows people to check their e- mail and chat with friends while the kids have fun in the Play Area. However, a disadvantage of Wi-Fi Service is that you need a device that is Wi-Fi enabled (like a laptop or PDA) otherwise it wouldn’t connect. On the other hand, this service benefits business people who are on their lunch break and so they may want to surf through the internet service.

Staff Presentation

 

Staff spend a lot of time dealing with different customers and so they have to present themselves the best way possible to give a good impression of the company. It is not appropriate for staff to wear untidy clothes. This is because customers will get a bad impression of the company. Staff should be good representatives of the company.

Nearly all the staff at McDonalds have direct contact with the customers and it is important that the staff look presentable. Staff at McDonalds has to think about the way they dress to work. Staff at McDonalds has to dress the right way for a number of reasons. Staff at McDonalds is part of the company’s image in the uniform –their dress also has a logo printed. Another reason is that staff will be easy for the customers to identify because they will be wearing the same clothes. Staff at McDonalds should have no nail varnish because it can wear off when the food is being prepared and handled. Staff are also not allowed to wear jewellery because it can get tangled up. So the staff at McDonalds not only wear uniform for personal presentation but also for Health and Safety reasons. If the staff is not dressed appropriately then I would think that they cannot do their job properly. Staff Presentation is very important for customer’s satisfaction.  

Cleanliness and Personal Hygiene       

Customers will also look how clean the clothes of staff are. So McDonald’s staff is very cautious of cleanliness.  It would be useless for staff at McDonalds to wear a uniform that has stains on the trousers or tops. So clean clothes, clean hair, clean shoes will make a staff presentable. Hygiene of the staff is a legal requirement for health and safety reasons. Staff at McDonalds are also required wash their hands.

 

Staff at McDonalds are also required to use different gloves for different meal. For example, Staff use different gloves for cold and raw meat. If they don’t use different gloves then this may lead to cross- contamination. Cross Contamination is when bugs and bacteria spread between the food. It happens when people touch raw food and then touch other food. So staff should keep raw foods and other foods separate. Staff at McDonalds should also make sure that they have clean surfaces to avoid cross contamination. In addition, Staff with long hair should tie back their hair by wearing hair nets.          

 

 

Health and Safety

Cleanliness is a Health and Safety component. Staff should maintain McDonalds’ cleanliness. Staff are required to clean the floor and mess at the restaurant – staff are basically required to clean everywhere. For health and safety reasons while cleaning the floor they should have Wet Floor Signs. This is done to prevent people – especially children – from slipping on the floor. On the other hand, McDonalds are responsible for customer’s litter. There is a law about inside/outside rubbish. It states that a company (i.e. McDonalds) is responsible for packaging disposed as rubbish within a 100 metres radius and they will also receive a fine. However, people in the high street just dump their litter and this makes it difficult for McDonalds’s staff to collect all the rubbish.

Staff helpfulness and friendliness

Staff are also required to have a very good personality, attitude and behaviour. Personality basically means ‘having a distinctive character’. All of these different aspects are basically related with each other. This is because if a staff has a good personality then that will mean that they have a good attitude to work. In addition, it will also mean that their behaviour is good.

 

It is good for staff to be extrovert and also funny. Personally, I like those staff with a good sense of humour. I have met some staff at McDonalds who are very kind, friendly and cheerful. It is also good for staff to be confident so they can do their job. Personally, I feel more comfortable with staff who is confident and enthusiastic. Staff should also just get on with their job rather mourn about something. Staff should also get on their customers to meet their needs. So they should be adaptable with what they do as well as flexible.    

Furthermore, the staff at McDonalds is required to be truthful and honest. They should basically be more open to get along with customers.

Overall, the staff is required to have a distinctive personality. They should be likeable, outgoing and someone who is good to be around with. Customers feel more comfortable with the staff that is pleasant and caring. So customer service requires a good personality. In addition, staff must have a good attitude and behaviour towards their customers because can be a little sensitive to the way staff respond to them. If the staff does not meet the customer’s expectations then it will affect the way customers respond to them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recommendations

 

What areas of customer service are the most effective

 

My personal experiences at McDonalds

 Positive Experience

Some of the staff at my local McDonalds is great at customer service. The staff is quick and polite to me. They listen to me very carefully and always smile. One of the staff at my local McDonalds is extrovert and humorous. It is as if I and he are very good friends. I like staff that are chilled out and so this is my positive experience at McDonalds.
 

Halal products at Southall McDonalds

In my opinion, the providence of Halal products at Southall McDonalds shows effective marketing. This is because this service attracts Muslims and it also meets their needs. Before, the meals that Muslims could buy were Fish or any other vegetarian product but now Muslim food lovers can come in and cheerfully eat Halal products at McDonalds. There were many requests from customers to McDonalds for Halal food and so McDonalds provided this service.  

 

Play Area at Norbury McDonalds

Play Area at Norbury McDonalds is great. This is because hyperactive kids have the opportunity to let their steam off while their parents eat. Play Areas have a lot of interactive things for kids such as crawl tubes with ball pits and slides.

This meets the needs of both Parents and the kids.

 

Internet Service (Wi–Fi) at McDonalds

 

I think the Internet Service at McDonalds is another area that is very affective for customers and this has also increased their publicity. McDonalds have basically installed Wi-Fi hot spots so that people – mainly business men – can use their laptops to log-on for free while eating. Customers can also use their Mobile Phones to go online. This service mainly meets the needs of business men and women. This is because it allows them to check their e-mails between meetings. Other people can also use this service to download songs in their laptop. In addition, they can also surf through the internet. Young people can come in and complete their coursework while eating. They can also use portable handheld devices like PSP and Nintendo DS to connect to the Wi-Fi. So overall, I think this is a great service as it allows people to connect to the internet while eating.       

 

 

 

Areas of Customer Service that can be improved:

 

My personal experiences at McDonalds

 

Negative Experience

 
However, in my own town sometimes the staff at McDonalds doesn’t look happy. They seem stressed out and it is as if they don’t take pride with what they are doing. On many occasions at McDonalds I have felt that staff are not really interested in serving me. So no matter how good the product that I bought was, I still went back as an unsatisfied customer. Some of my friends haven’t gone back since then – because of the poor customer service.

I think staff should attend me straight away in order to show that they really want to serve me. They should also express their interest in what I have to say. In addition, it is good to ignore distraction and to concentrate on me all the time. They should be more friendly and encouraging rather than depressed. They should also smile at all times because this will tell me that they are happy to serve me.

So overall, staff should be professionals at customer service and should also maintain their personal presentation.  

Halal Products in all McDonalds

I think the providence of Halal products in all McDonalds is an area of customer service that can be improved. Not all McDonalds have Halal products

and this is a facility that I am looking forward to. McDonalds can have a lot of benefits because it will attract a lot of customers – mainly Muslims. This means McDonalds will be more popular across the whole of UK.

On the other hand, McDonalds can also earn a lot of profit. From this profit they can make new and better products for customers.

 

Film Area for Children

On the other hand, McDonalds should also have a Film Area for children. This will be a place kids can watch films like Shrek 3, Lion King, Tarzan etc on a HD Plasma screen. To organise this facility I would recommend McDonalds to have a timetable of different films played at each day. This will enable parents to see what film would be available for them and their kids. This service and facility will meet the kid’s needs because they like watching films. The area will have colourful seats for children and their children. 

 

If this facility is further developed then McDonalds can decide to have different rooms for different films. It will be a good idea to watch different films in different rooms rather than waiting for the film that you want to be played in one room.

Kids can also eat food while they are watching films.

 

McDonalds Interactive Service

I think McDonalds should have an interactive service on the TV. This can be a service that customers can get when they buy Sky box.

It will allow customers to get latest information about McDonalds. In addition, this service will help viewers get to know about new products or discounts and promotion schemes in their area.
 
Naveed Abbas

Comparing two promotional campaigns

Comparing two promotional campaigns

 

What are the objectives of the promotional campaign?

Both campaigns Spiderman and Monopoly seem to have similar objectives. Both campaigns are willing to earn money. But there is also a difference between the two campaigns. McDonalds want to sell their products and promote competitions and their prizes. However Spiderman campaign is slightly different from McDonalds, Spiderman campaign will not just try to promote their film but in addition they will also try to promote and sell their merchandise, posters and ticket to encourage people to watch this great film. Moreover, both campaigns want success and want to earn great amount of profit to get all their money back. Both campaigns want to attract people to get the best out of it. 

Who are the target markets?

Both of the campaigns seem to have different target markets. The target market for Spiderman 3 is anyone who is above twelve (12A). For people who are younger will have to be accompanied by an adult. However McDonalds Monopoly Campaign target markets those who are over 16 years old. They have to be teenagers or adults as it is illegal to gamble for those who are under 16. So as a result both campaigns target market people of different ages.

What promotional techniques will be used?

McDonalds and Spiderman campaigns use variety of techniques to promote their film or product. One of their techniques includes TV and website advertisement. McDonalds and Monopoly campaigns put Displays as it is another way of promoting their product or film. Posters are put onto the walls to attract people and this is what both campaigns do. However, there are many differences such as the Talk Shows of Spiderman 3 are held where they invite the starring stars in the show e.g. Tobey Maguire or Kirsten Dunst etc. Spiderman campaign has also done some trailers to promote their film. In internet you can also get Spiderman wallpapers and screensavers as it is another way of promoting films but with McDonalds you can’t get screensavers or wallpapers.

What promotional materials will be used?

Promotional material used for Spiderman 3 and Monopoly campaign will be posters. Other displays will be in a prominent and well-known place where it will be easy to attract more people.  

However McDonalds campaign do packaging but the Spiderman campaign don’t. McDonald’s have reduced the amount of packaging to have less impact on the environment. They have also made their packaging in a monopoly style to promote their products and to attract more people. Their packaging has small sticker that are very easy to loose. McDonalds always seem to be improving their packaging.

How will the success of the campaign be monitored and evaluated?

Both campaigns will target to meet their objectives. If they are successful with this then they will be monitored and evaluated as great successors with great achievement. McDonalds will try to sell all their products in order to get money and with that profit they will introduce more products. However, Spiderman 3 campaign will try to get all their money back and make profit from all the efforts and special effects they have put in the film.    

If McDonalds get all their money back then they will hold this campaign again to earn money and get profit to introduce more products. McDonalds will also have a look at other McDonalds’ restaurants all over the UK in order to see if they are getting their money back. If not, then they will decide to add a different meal to the menu to get all their money back.

Evaluated success of the McDonalds will be taking away the cost of the campaign away from the profit. The money left over will be the total profit made from this campaign.

On the other hand McDonalds will also look at numbers of meals sold and if there is an increase in customers.

It will be monitored and evaluated with what they have achieved and whether they have been a success at what they were doing.

by Naveed ABBAS

My Campaign (Spiderman 3)

My Campaign (Spiderman 3)

 

 

1. What are the objectives of a promotional campaign?

The objective of this promotional campaign is to promote Spiderman 3. It wants to attract people and it encourages people to watch this film. They use these promotional techniques to make money.   

 

1. Who are the target markets?

   The target market for Spiderman 3 is anyone who is above twelve (12A). For people who are younger will be accompanied by an adult.

 

1. What promotional techniques will be used?

   With Spiderman 3, they will hold talk shows with starring stars in the film like Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst. They were also welcomed by Jonathan Ross in a show called ‘Friday Night with Jonathan Ross’. Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst were trying to promote this film in the show. This is one of the promotional techniques to promote films. Tobey Maguire also said that there will more Spiderman movies coming out.

   Another way of promoting Spiderman 3 is with releasing trailer in websites and in TV. This is one most effective way of promoting films as it grabs attention to all the people who are watching T.V.

   In addition, they will also use promotional posters as a technique to promote this film – Spiderman 3.

 

 

1. What promotional materials will be used?

   Promotional Material used for Spiderman 3 will be posters and other displays in a prominent and on a well-known position.

2. How will the success of the campaign be monitored and evaluated?

   It will be monitored and evaluated with what they have achieved and whether they have been a success at what they were doing. So with Spiderman their great achievement will be earning great amount of profit. This will mean they get all their money back to what they have spent on making this film: Spiderman 3. All the computer generated special effects cost a lot of money. So if a lot of people come and watch Spiderman 3 then that means all the money they have spent on making these breathtaking scenes will pay off and as a result they will get all their money back. If that happens and if Spiderman is a big hit then it will be evaluated as great successor with great achievement. 
        

Monopoly Campaign

Compare one of the organisation’s promotional campaigns with the promotional campaign of one other leisure and tourism organisation.

McDonald’s Monopoly Campaign

 

1.    

What are the objectives of the promotional campaign?

To sell certain types of product by holding competitions like monopoly. To make money and to get all their money back. McDonalds have three objectives for their campaign. The first, objective is to sell certain types of product e.g. Large Drinks, Large Fries, Chicken Select, Toasted Deli sandwiches and Premium Salads. The reason for this objective is to sell their unsold or well stocked products. Another objective is to make money. McDonalds do this by selling their products so they can get all their money back. So as a result, they make more profit and have a higher budget. Third objective is to attract customers to McDonalds.

2.     Who is the Target Market?

McDonalds Monopoly Campaign target markets those who are over 16 years old. They have to be teenagers or adults as it is illegal to gamble for those who are under 16.

 

3.     What promotional techniques will be used?

McDonalds uses variety of techniques to promote their product. One of the promotional techniques includes TV and website advertisement. They cleverly advertise this current competition to attract more customers. They do this by showing the top prize of a house or a Porsche at the beginning of the advertisement in both the TV and website adverts. This lets customers know that they can win these prizes that could change their life. Another way to promote their products is Displays. They make use of displays to announce new offers. They specifically advertise newly released products near tills. This is an incentive to encourage customers to buy that particular product. Also for this purpose posters are put on the wall or on windows to attract even more customers. They design the floor to make it look like a monopoly board. This is another technique of getting in more customers.

4.    

What promotional materials will be used?

 McDonald’s have reduced the amount of packaging to have less impact on the environment. Another reason for remaking their packaging like Drinking Cups and Fries Box was to design it as a monopoly promotional material. The material consists of very small stickers that are easy to loose. McDonalds are always looking to improve their materials of packaging.   

5.    

How will the success of the campaign be monitored and evaluated?

McDonalds has been a success in the past years and it still is. By managing to meet their objectives for example selling certain types of product, getting customers and as a result making more money helps them to be more successful. So if they sell more meals then they will make more profit. Finally, with that profit they will introduce additional products in the menu.

 

 

Facilities and Services

Leaflets

McDonalds have designed new leaflets that will include the menu and other information in all languages for example now days they will not only have information in English but also in French, Italian, Dutch, Spanish and Japanese etc. McDonalds do this because they want customers from abroad who may not be able to speak English Language to order their food comfortably. It is very helpful to Non English customers therefore I think it meets their needs.  

Packaging

McDonalds have symbols in packaging to ensure that Non English people understand what they are getting.
 
The Nutrition guide is also written in different languages to make sure Non English Speakers understand what they are buying. Nutrition Guide is very important as it tells the how much calories they need each day. This allows them to see and be aware of what is not healthy to their diet. McDonalds have provided this facility to show that they are aware of health risks. This helps them to gain good publicity and it helps to bring in more customers.

Special Needs and People with Specific Needs   
Automatic Doors

Some customers require special needs therefore they will need good customer service e.g. if a customer is in a wheelchair and is struggling to get through the swing door then staff have the responsibility to look at the situation and quickly react to it in order to offer help to the customer.

This situation tells us that Swing Door are not very helpful to customers who are in wheel chairs therefore it does not meet their needs. But the customer service provided does meet their needs as they are getting help.

Some McDonalds have now got Automatic Doors so that customers with specific needs won’t struggle to get through. This surely meets their needs however not all McDonalds have automatic doors which is not very convenient to customers with specific needs.

Swing Doors

Swing Doors are not good for customers who are in wheelchairs. People in Wheelchairs will have difficulty getting through therefore this does not meet their needs. McDonalds need to have Automatic Doors in all McDonald’s Restaurant.

 

Naveed Abbas