Christianity as Mediated by America's Entertainment Culture & Justin Essay

Christianity as Mediated by America's Entertainment Culture & Justin Bieber - Essay Example Consequently, it is why celebrities are marketed and angled to entice a larger devotion, exploring more possible target consumers. A prime example of this scenario is Justin Bieber and how he projects his image as a devote Christian. He even inked a portrait of Jesus on his calf. In an article entitled â€Å"Are young, religious stars like Justin Bieber and Tim Tebow making Christianity cool?† (Foxnews.com, January 10, 2012), Jo Pizza also mentioned other stars such as Demi Lovatto and NFL player Tim Tebow credit and praise their religion for their success in . Whether it is a packaging and publicity stunt to showcase Bieber as a devoted Christian in order to further his career, it is important to scrutinize the effects that in entails to society, to popular culture and its followings, and also the impact towards the Christian religion or simply just to religion. It is also critical to note that while Bieber’s influence does not generally include the adult population, h e rather has a strong hold of fan base on the youth who calls themselves as â€Å"Beliebers†, wherein the influence and impression is more potent and lasting to society, notwithstanding the support that it garners from the religious sector. Thus, there is also a need to explore the link between how pop culture transcends from an idolizing and cult-like following into a significant religious influence. To understand better the American society and how religion is practiced, the media and its proponents must also be discussed. It is also important to delve and examine how religion evolved in the United States and outline how the secular theory has adopted through time through the aid of mass media and technology. Understanding how religion is now availed by the community through means of cable televisions and especially the internet will give better grasps as to how pop culture has found a way and rooted itself through the religious diversities of America. Celebrities are Sales men and Religion is a Product When someone is propelled into the spotlight, directly or indirectly, they sell something. Whether it is in the form of movies, appearances, albums, advertisements, and the like, celebrities are vessels to sell something. In fact, in today’s culture, the celebrities are even the product themselves.1 Compared to the previous decades, the consumers demand to know everything about their lives. Noteworthy is the emerging unprecedented growth of paparazzi and gossip chasers who literally stalk celebrities in chase of the latest piece of conversation or controversy that can be made. In this age of technology and media, the interesting is defined by what is visible. Following on that premise; the invisible is uninteresting, thus unpopular, and ultimately unsellable. Therefore, celebrities must constantly reinvent and find ways to be more and more noticeable to the public eye in order to be successful salesmen of their products. Religion is no different than any commodity. It is also a product that is like any other where it needs to be marketed and sold to the consumer.2 After all, one needs to be convinced of a product before one purchases it or (in this case) adheres to it. It is worth highlighting that in this modern age, forms of religion are being marketed and advertised through the media. Evidence of these are the television channels

Business Corporate Strategy (Starbucks in China) Essay

Business Corporate Strategy (Starbucks in China) - Essay Example To go ahead with this task, Starbucks needs to have a detailed customer profile depending on the targeted segments because in general, as a long term strategy, customers are segmented based on their demographics, marketing habits etc. Such an analysis is to be preceded by a detailed analysis of the company, with a Chinese perspective, using some of the following strategic tools. A committed managerial team is headed by Howard Schultz, the present Chairman, who has proved to be a man with a mission. A dynamic person, he known to be full of energy who successfully transformed the US operations to their present proposition. Over time and with experience, Starbucks has developed a sophisticated store-development process based on a six-month opening schedule. This target driven strategy helped the company in opening large number of stores in US and elsewhere. Starbucks has been doing the ground work in China since 1994. Therefore comparing the growth of its operations in other nations, Starbuck could not successfully implement this experience in China and had to be content with relatively modest success. The company has taken little too long in building the foundation. Though Starbucks has shown its commitment to environment and health by maintaining a no-smoking policy, but in this part of the world, people prefer to sit out and chat with a cup of coffee on the table and a cigarette in hand. Opportunities For long China carried the reputation of being the world's greatest opponent of globalisation. But now things are perceptibly different. Today China has transformed itself into a committed member of WTO. Under the globalization, China is a rapidly growing market Though dominantly a tea drinker nation, Chinese consumer is rapidly accepting Coffee as one of the main beverages. According to Euromonitor, total sales of coffee in China has grown by nearly 90% between 1998 and 2003. Estimates for future point out that the market is bound to grow by about 70% in the period 2004-2008. Consumption of coffee has so far been concentrated in big cities only. Now with the establishment of a firm foundation the company can plan out a formidable plan for mediums sized cities and hamlets. Chinese beverages market is still vastly (more than 42%) dominated by Tea drinkers, this leaves enough room for inviting these people