A study of traffic noise affecting residential building along Essay

A study of traffic noise affecting residential building along expressways - Essay Example (Wiberg, Mardh, 2008). Hong Kong can be considered as one of the densest cities in the world facing traffic noises issues especially with the growth in the economy leading to the demand for housing and transportation. Different people react differently to the level of noise. However, at certain level, noise starts affecting everyone in the form of irritating and frustrating people (Environmental Protection Department (2006). Noises can also affect the daily activities of life like watching television, talking over the telephone and doing household chores. Just like any other metropolitan city; Hong Kong also faces noise issues and more than 1 million people have been affected by it in last few years. (Amundsen, Klaeboe, 2005) Excess traffic noises can be considered as the major reason behind the noise pollution that is mainly because of the poor planning leading to cramped development of residential properties alongside the highways (Crawshaw, 2008) Moreover, the growth and developme nt in 80s and 90s marked serious noise pollutions along with a rise in residential properties and constructions. ... With land paucity, constructors are forced to look for lands that are outside the city and next to expressways. However, living alongside the expressways has its own disadvantages in the form of being exposed to high level of traffic sounds at wee hours along with getting affected by heavy vehicles sounds. The government cannot stop the movement of vehicles on expressways and therefore is bound to look for other options that can help residents to bear with the increasing traffic sound on expressways (Wiberg, Mardh, 2008) The government can improve the quality of roads along but the numbers of cars, lorries and trucks increase during nights that affect the sleep pattern of people considering the sound created by moving vehicles. The concept of low noise road surfacing can be considered as an option to mitigate the level of noise pollution but the concept requires time and research to be implemented and more importantly it requires huge investment considering the number of highways in Hong Kong. As per the information collected from the website of HKSAR Government, it was found that a number of flyovers and expressways cut though the main district of the city and people living beside such flyovers and expressways have been greatly affected by the traffic noise in last few years. The government stated that because of the previously built flyovers and expressways and currently developed urban areas, there have been some serious concerns over the quality of life among residents. Despite the introduction of planning standards and the Environmental Impact Assessment, there cannot be done anything that will reduce the level of traffic noises instantly (HKSAR Government (2012) 2.0 BACKGROUND TO THE

Rising Tuition Essay Example for Free

Rising Tuition Essay Most people have heard an elder complain about rising prices saying, â€Å"When I was your age I could go to the store with a quarter and buy a bag of chips, a few pieces of candy, some cookies, a drink and still have change left over.† Although the prices from decades ago are ideal, the concept of inflation and the decrease in the value of money have been accepted. Inflation affects the price of everything like milk, clothing, medical care, gas, and especially college tuition. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, college tuition prices have increased at the highest rate compared to any consumer item, medical care, or even gas. In fact, college tuition and fees, as of 2012, are 600% of the tuition and fees in 1985 (Rampell 4). This statistic poses the question of why the cost to obtain higher education is steadily rising. A simple explanation can be found in the key economic principle that demand drives prices up, but the issue goes much deeper than that. The structure of the financial aid system, additional accommodations offered by colleges, and most of all the decrease in government funding toward higher education are the causes directly correlated to the continuous rise in tuition. Firstly, the structure of the financial aid system is a contributing factor to the steady increase in college tuition. Dr. Joshua Robinson, an economics professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, explained that it is often argued that the increase in federal aid simply leads colleges to raise their tuition costs to reflect the financial aid in hopes that it will buffer the increase. This idea represents the Bennett Hypothesis, which was created by U.S. Secretary of Education, William J. Bennett (Robinson). There is much argument over this hypothesis, but there have been many credible findings that support this idea. Title IV deals with the federal student aid programs. According to an article by Judith Scott-Clayton, similar programs offered by non-Title IV â€Å"cost about 75 percent more when offered at Title IV institutions – with the difference in tuition roughly approximating the size of a Pell Grant (Scott-Clayton 8).† In addition, the amount of financi al aid given out to undergraduate students on a national level has sharply  increased over eight billion dollars since 2007, which means that more students are attending college and needing financial aid (Schworm 3). Referring back to the same information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it is especially interesting to note that from the year 2007, when financial aid increased, to present day the percentage increase in college tuition became exponentially higher than the rest of the increasing percentages (Rampell 4). This proves that the federal aid system has a significant connection to the increasing tuition rates. Another way that the structure of the financial aid system contributes to the rise in tuition is through the scholarships that colleges give out. In the academic article entitled â€Å"Why Tuition Costs are Rising So Quickly,† Robert Martin explains how the scholarships that colleges offer are a factor in the rising tuition crisis. He shares that when colleges offer scholarships they are really price discounts, so â€Å"the education and general expenses are overstated by the amount equal to scholarships.† Martin also shares that for colleges to ensure that their f unds balance out, they â€Å"record tuition revenue as if every student paid the posted price for tuition (Martin 93).† In other words, the amount of revenue that a college lacks once all tuition is paid is equal to the amount in scholarships given. As a result, the tuition goes up for the non- scholarship students as a whole to make up for the amount dispersed in scholarships. With this occurring at colleges all across the nation it is clear to see how financial aid is a causal factor in the increase in tuition. The rise in college tuition is also affected by the additional accommodations that these institutions have found to be â€Å"necessary† benefits. Just as the world evolves, institutions of higher learning evolve in the same way. This means colleges have become much more dynamic as far as the things they offer to their students and employees. For instance, many institutions have invested in having emergency alert systems. Most colleges did not have this feature many decades ago, so implementing this requires additional funding, which can explain a portion of the increasing tuition cost. For example, public universities spend 23% more on offering services like counseling compared to what they were spending in 1995 (Clark 6). This additional focus on accommodating the student is partly stemming from the rise in tuition, which means that colleges are trying to satisfy their consumer by bettering their services to sustain or increase  demand. Though the previous reasons are factors of the rising tuition, the primary factor of the continuous increase is due to the decrease in government funding toward higher education. Ronald Ehrenberg, the director of the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute and a trustee of the State University of New York System, explains that â€Å"If you’re a state legislator, you look at all your state’s programs and you say, ‘Well, we can’t make prisoners pay, but we can make college students pay (Rampell 10).’† This particular reasoning clarifies the thought process that led to the decrease in funding colleges receive from the government. The basis of the issue stems from the fact that these institutions of higher learning now have to come out of pocket on expenses that the government used to fund. In 2006, â€Å"the per-student subsidy state taxpayers sent colleges† was $1,270 less than the amount sent in 2002 (Clark 4). That is a significant decrease in funding that colleges had to find a way to make up for, which resulted in raising the tuition cost. When interviewing Dr. Robinson, he also explained that at one point professors salaries were paid completely by taxes, but because of cutbacks in government expenses tuition must cover their salaries now. If there was not a decrease in government funding for higher education, colleges would not have to raise tuition to offset financial aid or the implementation of accommodations, which is why it is regarded as the primary reason for the rising tuition. Inflation is a very relevant concept in today’s society because prices of all types are rising. As previously stated, college tuition costs are increasing at the highest rate compared to any consumer item, gas, and medical care. This is quite ironic because most people equate obtaining a college degree to financial stability. Even so, the explanation for this steady increase in tuition is a very popular topic. On a very simple scale the rise in tuition can be explained by the basic economic principle that explains demand increases prices. However, the explanation goes much deeper than this economic principle to include the structure of the financial aid system, additional accommodations offered by colleges, and most of all the decrease in government funding toward higher education. Nothing in life ever truly comes free, which shows to be true when observing how the structure of the financial aid system contributes to the rise in tuition. The same  concept proves to be true as colleges provide additional accommodations or benefits for their students and employees, but these too come at a cost. Even so, there is a large amount of money no longer available to these institutions of higher learning due to the lack of government funding. In order for these institutions to sustain, the money must come from somewhere, which results in the increase in tuition and fees for the students. It is important to understand these causes of the rising college tuition because this is the only way a solution will be reached. Works Cited Clark, Kim. â€Å"The Surprising Causes of Those College Tuition Hikes.† Usnews.com. U.S.News World Report, 15 Jan. 2009. Web. 28 Feb. 2013. Scott-Clayton, Judith. â€Å"The Hidden Majority of For-Profit Colleges.† New York Times. New York Times, 24 Feb. 2012. Web. 5 March 2013. Martin, Robert. â€Å"Why Tuition Costs Are Rising So Quickly.† Challenge 45.4 (2002):88- 108. Jstor. Web. 1 March 2013. Rampell, Catherine. â€Å"Why Tuition Has Skyrocketed at State Schools.† New York Times. New York Times, 2 March 2012. Web. 3 March 2013. Robinson, Joshua. Personal interview. 4 Feb. 2013. Schworm, Peter. â€Å"Colleges Boosting Financial Aid to Students.† Boston.com. The Boston Globe, 17 August 2012. Web. 5 March 2013.

Habitat Destruction :: essays research papers

Habitat Destruction Overview   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In this new age of technology and advances in every possible field of study, many people forget about the environment. Some will just throw their trash all over the place with no concern for the possible consequences. Of course, there are many consequences, but only one comes to my mind. That is the demolition of species’ homes or habitat destruction. Habitat destruction or habitat loss is the altering or elimination of the conditions that plants and animals need to survive. â€Å"The primary threat to the world’s biodiversity is habitat destruction† (Okey p.1). Prairies have been greatly affected. The â€Å"loss of prairie habitat ranges from 20 to >99 percent depending on the region† (Benedict, Freeman, & Genoways, p.161). Habitat destruction can be caused by many things. These include: The introduction of alien (exotic) and domesticated species Pest and Predator control The collection of animals for pets and research Pollution Ecological factors Loss of keystone species Overexploitation Disease Limited distribution Many of these causes could be prevented fairly easily. If people today would just follow some simple rules, none of these would be as big as they are now. The Introduction of Alien (Exotic) and Domesticated Species   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Introducing exotic species has been a highly debated issue. Why should we bring another animal or plant into a region to eradicate another species? That’s the question that people have been asking for ages. Of course, there are positives to bringing in another species, but many times, there are just as many negatives. Also, these species can be introduced accidentally or intentionally. The new organism may cause no obvious problems and eventually, it will be considered â€Å"native† to the area. For example, corals are â€Å"perhaps the oldest animals on the planet, and these long-lived corals have evolved in one of the Earth’s most stable environments† (Eichenberg, p.2). If a new type of fish were to be put into the ecosystem with the corals, the coral would be affected. First, the fish might eat the coral. Second, they could use the coral for shelter, and possibly damaging it that way. Third, the fish could bring predators that might also eat the coral. Introducing an exotic species has the â€Å"rippling affect† of dropping a stone into a pool of water. Everything outside the epicenter is affected. A study was done at Cornell University, and they estimated that $120 billion per year are spent fixing the problems caused by exotic species† (Chiras, p.

King Lear Essay

â€Å"King Lear† is one of the greatest dramas written by Shakespeare. It is a poetic tragedy in which the good as well as bad characters play their role. King Lear has three daughters; Goneril, Regan andCordelia. Cordelia is the youngest daughter. She is an important character of the play. In the last act, she is hanged and her death seems unjustified. But it is not true. Shakespeare changed his source material to give his â€Å"King Lear† a tragic ending. Thus there is the defeat of Cordelia’s army,the imprisonment of Lear and Cordelia, and Cordelia’s murder in the prison. This tragic end did not find favour with some critics who felt Cordelia’s death is unjustified. The other school of thought how ever feels that dramatic inevitability demands the death of Cordelia. Before justifying Cordelia’sdeath, it is necessary to understand some points of her nature. In the first Act of the Play, when it is Cordelia’s turn to tell her father how much she loves him, she surprises everybody by saying that she has â€Å"nothing† to say. In this context when asked by her father if she has really nothing to say, Cordelia repeats the word â€Å"nothing†. Lear then tells her:â€Å"Nothing will come of nothing. †Cordelia elaborates the reply she has already given. She says that he as her father, has brought her up and loved her and that in return she has always obeyed, loved and honoured him. She says thatwhen she gets married, half of her love will go to her husband and remaining half for her father. This reply irritates Lear and he dis inherits her. Then the Duke of Burgundy refuses to marry her on being told that she will bring him no dowry at all. Cordelia makes a dignified remark: â€Å"Peace be with Burgundy! Since, that respect of fortune are his love, I shall not be his wife. † We also see that she has a deep love for her father. Later in the play, when Cordelia and Lear are united, she looks after him in his illness. When Lear says that she has sufficient cause to be annoyed with him, she says: â€Å"No cause, no cause. † It is a touching moment in the play. As a consequence of a plot hatched by Edmond, Cordelia is hanged, and we then see Lear carrying her dead body. The death of Cordelia comes as a shock to all of us. To justify her death, we should look at the weakness of her nature. The whole conduct of Cordelia in the opening scene shows that she is a woman of few words. She is by nature reticent. She does not believe in showing off her affections for her father. At the sametime, we cannot deny that this incapacity on her part to express her love for her father is a fault in her nature. If the old man wanted to gratify his dignity, Cordelia should have come out with some sort of assurance that she loved her father deeply because sometimes it is better for a person toexpress his love in words in order to satisfy the other person. There was no need for her to be asblunt as she has proved to be. Her father is aware that she loves him the best but he wants to hear her speak about her love; and her failure to speak annoys him greatly. Thus the fault is not entirelyon Lear’s side; Cordelia cannot completely be exonerated. Her sere nature proves to be the, causeof Lear’s undoing (ruin) and her undoing too. Later on, when she comes to fight against the BritishForces, she makes it clear that it is not on account of any military ambition or any desire for conquest that this invasion is taking place but on account of her love for her father an for therestoration of his rights to him. Thus it cannot be another fault because she could succeed in her purpose by some other means than by fighting. .Bradley rightly points out that Cordelia suffers from a tragic imperfection. It is true that she isdeeply wronged by Lear in the opening scene, but we cannot assert that she her was wholly rig inher behaviour. At a moment, when a momentous issue is under discussion, Fate makes on her theone demand which she is unable to meet. It is a demand which other heroin of Shakespeare’s playscould have met. They could have made the old, unreasonable king feel that he was loved fondly bythem . But Cordelia could not do so because she is Cordelia. We neither blame her, nor justify her completely; we simply experience the tragic emotions of pity. It is noteworthy that Cordelia is notalways reticent; she is not always tongue-tied as several passages show in the play. But tender emotion, for her father makes her dumb as she says: â€Å"Unhappy that I am; I cannot heaveMy heart into my mouth. † But this particular trait in Cordelia’s nature is n the only cause of Lear’s rage in the opening scene. When he asks her to mend her speech a little, she gives him a lengthy answer saying that half of her love will go her husband and that she cannot â€Å"love her father all†. Now even if she is speakingthe truth here, she is not speaking the absolute truth because to give love to a husband cannotmean taking away any part of love from a father. Her responsibility for tragic events cannot bedenied. Through her tragic imperfection, she contributes something to the conflict. While thetragedy is largely due to Lear’s own fault, it is in no small measure due to a deficiency in Cordelia. As the dying Lear gives us a perfect picture of her nature in a few Words: â€Å"Her voice was ever soft;gentle and low, an excellent thing in woman. † She is a loving daughter as in the play it has beensaid:â€Å"Thou hast one daughter,Who redeems nature from the general curseWhich twain have brought her to. †Mrs. Jameson compares Cordelia as the heroine of filial tenderness, with the self-devotion of Antigone, the daughter of Oedipus, saying: â€Å"To Antigone, we give our admiration; to Cordelia our tears. Dr Johnson felt that the tragic ending of â€Å"King Lear†, especially the death of Cordelia,violates poetic justice (the virtuous to be rewarded and the wicked to be punished). Besides, he feltthat is the play, the wicked prosper, and the virtuous miscarry (be unsuccessful). The veryconception of a Shakespearean tragedy cannot be squared with such a simple theory of poetic justice of the reward due to virtue. The wages of sin is always death though the rew ard of virtue isnot always happiness. Cordelia’s death is a final crushing blow inflicted upon the repentant King. Atragedy in which everything can be explained and justified is not a tragedy at all. Dr Bradley is of the opinion that the end is to be tragic, it is bound to be completed with the death of Cordelia. It was not possible for Shakespeare to have given King Lear peace and happiness at Cordelia’s fire-side. We cannot dissociate Lear from Cordelia and think of one surviving the other. Lear’s fate,therefore, involves the fate of Cordelia. Her death is sacrificial, and upon such sacrifices whatever gods there may be pour their incense. Goodness and wickedness are each its reward and a truereward— that reconciles us to the close of tragedies in which the great suffer, Lear and Cordelia aremore victims than offenders. The death of Cordelia constitutes an appropriate ending for the play. Some critics are of the opinionthat this death makes the play too sad. Nahum Tate went to the extent of altering the event at theend in order to give it a happy ending. But a happy ending to the play would not really be suitable. Cordelia’s death seems to be gratuitous (uncalled-for) but in tragedy, the suffering of a goodcharacter is always excessive. Therefore, if Cordelia meets her death in spite of her being innocent,we should not protest against the author’s judgment. The divine forces are not unjust. It should be remembered that it is human error that has broughtabout the sufferings of Lear and Cordelia; fate has little role in the matter. Cordelia’s dumbnesscaused all her suffering— that indeed is a concept of justice few can quarrel with, and her deathmakes her character memorable.

Apple’s marketing relationship building with the target customers Essay

1. Introduction With the intensified competition and the rapid development of information technology, firms are facing unprecedented both opportunities and challenges in marketing. Marketing is a social platform to provide chances for individuals and groups to obtain what they need and want through exchanging various products with others (Kotler, 1974).In the contemporary society, people can not live without marketing with others which is much more important to firms. This report tends to evaluate how Apple-one of the most innovative and creative companies builds marketing relationships with its target customers through brand building. What is more, this report attaches much importance to customer profile which reveals some basic information about customers. This report is organized as follows. The first section is the introduction. The second part shows how Apple’s customer profile affects its brand building to have a closer marketing relationship with customers. The third one illustrates how Apple builds its brand and gradually builds the marketing relationship with customers through branding and customer profiles. From this part, it will be clearly clarified how Apple’s brand has amazing magic to attract so many fans. The last section is the conclusion. 2. Evaluation about customer profile of Apple According to Barron’s Marketing Dictionary, customer profile is the description of a customer group based on various demographic and psychographic characteristic. Apple collects customer profile through customers’ downloads in the app store. And these downloads are limited to Apple-buyers who have credentials. From these credentials, Apple can trace customers’ information thus finishing its profiles collecting. From Apple’s customer profile, it can be found that: ï  ¬Most Apple-users are young with professions and students take great part in the using of Apple products. A recent survey in 2008 based on the profile of iPhone users showed that most of the iPhone users are young and about 75% of iPhone users have used products of Apple before. (The Apple iPhone: successes and challenges for the mobile industry, 2008). It can be found from the picture below which shows the age distribution of iPhone users that most iPhone-users are beyond 40 years old and half of iPhone users are under the age of thirty. Figure2-1: The age distribution of iPhone-user Besides Apple’s customer profiles show that most of (79%) Apple-users are employed and 16% of Apple-users are students. In general, iPhone users tend to adopt progress of new technology. The research found that most iPhone-users are in the position of professional and scientific services, arts and the information and technology industry (The Apple iPhone: successes and challenges for the mobile industry, 2008). In addition, about 66% of households with Apple devices earn $60,000 or more in their income, compared with just over half of non-Apple users can earn that much (Apple profile report, 2008). In addition, from these two pictures below, it can be found that Apple users have obtained a higher educational level. From the Apple profile report 2008, it can be found that 68% have completed a 4-year university degree and even higher educational level like post-graduate degree or doctor degree. By comparison, only 45% of non-Apple households have reached this high educational level. It seems that Apple-users usually have higher educational level and higher incomes which help to afford them a higher disposable income, so that Apple’s high price not a barrier to them. (Apple profile report, 2008). In all, it can be concluded that Apple is favored by the economically elite. Figure 2-2: The working conditions of Apple-users Figure 2-3: The Educational level of Apple users Figure 2-4: The educational level of non-Apple users (Sources: The data comes from Apple profile report 2008) ï  ¬Apple-users take good advantage of internet. From the picture below, it can be found from the Apple profile report 2008 that 63% of Apple users spend more time using their computers to search the internet than watching TV. But only 57% of non-Apple users spend more time on computers than watching TV. While when comes to enjoying the fun on the internet, the difference between Apple users to non-Apple users is only slight. It has been found that there are almost 60% of Apple users keep discovering more ways to use the internet for fun and about 58% of the non-Apple users try to do that (The Apple iPhone: successes and challenges for the mobile industry, 2008). Since Apple-users are usually with higher level of education and most of them are employed, it is not strange that they take good advantage of internet and they also know better to use their devices for a better life. But Apple users still do not have better ideas to enjoy the fun of internet with their innovative devices. It could be a challenge for Apple to come up with new ways of enjoying the fun of internet with Apple devices. Figure 2-6: Comparison of Apple-users to non-Apple users on time-spending with computer and TV (Sources: The data comes from Apple profile report 2008 ) ï  ¬Apple-users are loyal to Apple’s products. What is more, it has been found that about Apple-users are loyal to products of Apple. From a survey on whether customers who use iPhone now have any other Apple devices, it has found that 49% of iPhone-users have used iPod previously. 20% of iPhone-users have used Mac and iPod and only 5% iPhone-users have once used Mac but no iPod. Only 26% of iPhone users do not use iPod or Mac before. So from the survey, it can be found that about 3 quarters who use iPhone today once have used Apple devices previously. These findings show that Apple-users are loyal to Apple’s various kinds of products and customers are quite satisfied with products of Apple. Figure 2-5: Did you own an iPod before you got your iPhone? To conclude, Apple with its various kinds of fantastic and innovative products such as iTunes, iPod, iPad, iPhone attract young people and turn them to be loyal customers of Apple. These customers who have high income or high educational level help to make the brand of Apple to have high status in the markets. And these customers’ love of Apple not only maintains brand loyalty of Apple but also attracts more and more customers get in love with Apple. 3. Analysis of how Apple builds marketing relationship with customers 3.1 Apple’s brand building with branding Brand has many advantages which companies can take to get closer to customers for more sales including improved perceptions of product performance, greater customer loyalty and increased marketing communication effectiveness (Keller, 2009).It is well acknowledged that brand has vital importance to a company even to a product or one kind of service. Especially in this fast-changing world, products are getting to be more similar because of the fierce competition which makes brand to be the difference between various products. Brands help to build sustained relationship with the customers. Strong brands lend endurance and performance to an organization and protect it from the market turbulence and uncertainties (Kapoor & Kulshrestha, 2011). In addition, brand gives customers a sense of reliance even makes them feel a better quality of life. Brands make meanings that become conventionally understood and shared across interpretive communities. (Holt, 2010, McCracken, 1996, and Kats, 2006 etc). The brand concept of Apple is â€Å"think different† which has last for over 30 years. From the creative and innovative products like iPod, iPad and iPhone, Apple always brings customers surprise and defines how to â€Å"think different†. In addition, Apple pursues to build a humanistic corporate culture with a strong corporate atmosphere to inspire employees to work voluntarily which can leave good impression on customers (Kahney, 2012). The famous global brand consultancy Interbrand which aims at creating and managing brand value released â€Å"2012 Best Global Brands† list, Apple jumps into the ranking 2 in the world, and the brand value growth is 129%. The brand of Apple has been a miracle in the global world. How dose the brand of Apple grow so quickly in the contemporary society? The following part will investigate this problem. The first step of is to get the customers’ attention. The advertisement of Apple has always maintained surprise which arouse the attention of customers. Since Steve Jobs returned Apple, the first release of iMac, either the video or the outdoor propaganda is featured with characteristic of Apple which makes the brand of Apple unique. Al Ries and Jack Trout pointed out in the book of 《The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing》in 1994 that if an enterprise can not be the â€Å"first† in the consumers’ choices in the industry, then the best way is to create a new category to attract consumers. And the â€Å"opposite Law† pointed that to occupy the minds of consumers as the â€Å"second† best choices; the brand communication strategy is not to try to go beyond the â€Å"first†, but to be different. In the early eighties, Apple is trying to compete with the industry leader-IBM and then rapidly gain the attention of consumers. Through the long advertising campaign, such as â€Å"1984†³and â€Å"Think different†, Apple has built the spirit of innovation and fearless which brings the concept of the brand. Later with the promotion of iPhone and iPad, the advertisement of Apple started to focus on elite people. The people who use Apple’s products in the advertisement are usually well educated and pursue a higher quality of life. Through these advertisements, the brand of Apple has been positioned as elite and high quality of life. With customers’ attention, they are interested in the product of Apple and have the desire to buy the product. The productions of Apple’s products are tools for those who are ambitious and passionate to change the world. To conclude, through segmenting the targeting markets, Apple finds its own position and its target or potential customers. Products like iPhone, iPad, iMac are innovative and fashion which are favored by those who have high income with professions or those who are pursuing fashions. To them, Apple’s products are unique and innovative. By meeting customers’ demands and satisfying their psychological needs, Apple has built its branding and gradually makes the brand meaningful and attractive, thus making the brand o f Apple world-famous. 3.2 Building marketing relationship with branding and customer profile Marketing relationship is a process including identifying target or potential customers, establishing relationship with them, maintaining these customers and finally enhancing relationships with them (Gronroos, 1997). And in order to build marketing relationship with customers, it is of great importance to know better about customer relationship management. Customer relationship marketing is to maintain brand loyalty and stimulate repeat and even more purchases of customers (Murdy & Pike, 2012). Kumar (2010) pointed out that customer relationship management is the strategic process of targeting the important customers and provide them with well-considered services to shape the relationship between a company and these customers. The goal of the marketing relationship of customers is to optimize the interest of the customers and satisfy their needs. What is more, Taleghani, Vhirani and Mirrashed have mentioned in 2011 that the strategy of relationship marketing is based on creating, developing and maintaining relationships with customers. Through the brand building, Apple gradually establishes marketing relationship with customers. Customers start to pay attention to products of Apple and they are quite satisfied with these products. And with the brand being more meaningful and inspiring, customers are impressed with positive brand images of Apple. Gradually the brand of Apple has been identical for customers which help Apple to build the first step of marketing relationship with customers. And the second step for marketing relationship building is achieved by collecting customer profiles. Apple takes advantage of its customer profile to find their target customers, and to maintain brand loyalty. Through the information of customer profile, Apple knows exactly who bought their products, when did they buy the product and how many times did they buy the products. Depending on customer profiles it collects from these downloads of customers, Apple get a better understanding of its customers and can use these information to satisfy customers’ needs, thus maintaining brand loyalty and providing warm services according to customers’ needs. In all, the customer profile of Apple provides the knowledge needed to posit its target and potential customers and enable Apple to focus on marketing and branding efforts more effectively which finally help Apple to build marketing relationship with its customers. Thirdly, despite the innovative and amazing products of Apple, it also provides customers with the delicate services which help to enhance marketing relationship with customers. It has been said that Apple has five stages of service including approach, probe, present, listen and end. â€Å"Do not be manipulated by the machine but to manipulate machine yourself† is Apple’s customer-oriented concept to produce new products. In 2007, one month before the iPhone is officially on sale, Jobs asked developers to switch the phone’s plastic screen to tempered glass screen. This has solved the problem of the screen be scratched by keys. In addition, the Voiceover helps the blind to read texts and ever enter information. Apple always stands on the side of customers and think for them. These warm services and Apple’s caring about customers help Apple maintains brand loyalty of customers. By the three steps of establishing the brand of Apple, maintaining the loyalty of customers and enhancing connection between customers, Apple builds the marketing relationship with customers. Although Apple’s marketing strategies has been quite effective which make the brand of Apple known all around the world. While there still exists some problems in Apple’s marketing. First of all, Apple’s marketing is too dependent on the leadership of Jobs Steve. He gives the brand of Apple the name of fashion, innovation and esthetics. Depending on his public influence, many of his followers choose to buy the products of Apple. With the left of Jobs, the brand of Apple may face some challenges. Secondly, the price of Apple is too high among its competitors. Although most Apple’s customers are of high income or well educated, the high price of Apple also make Apple lose some customers since some other products can satisfy their needs with fair prices. Last but not least, Apple has a big competitor-Samsung. As a latecomer to the mobile phone industry, Samsung has defeated Motorolaï ¼Å'Nokia and other competitors to become the world’s second largest mobile phone maker. The competition between Apple and Samsung will challenge the brand value of Apple. 4. Conclusion To conclude, brand is of vital importance to a firm or an organization. A strong brand offers reliance for customers and thus becomes a link to maintain customers’ loyalty. Branding helps to make products different and can choose the target customers. Through branding, Apple builds the brand which establishes the first step of marketing relationship with customers. By collecting customer profiles, Apple knows better about its customers which help Apple to maintain brand loyalty of target customers. In addition, through the delicate services and innovative products, Apple enhances the marketing relationship with customers. In all, Apple builds the marketing relationship by three steps including establishing the brand of Apple, maintaining the loyalty of customers and enhancing connection between customers. Although Apple has successfully built its brand and has good relationship with customers, Apple still faces many challenges including the left of its famous leader, the high price of its products and the strong competitors. Reference Gronroos, Christian. (1997) ‘From marketing mix to relationship marketing-towards a paradigm shift in marketing’, Management Decision, 35/4, 322-339. Holt, D.B. & Cameron, D. (2010) Cultural Strategy: Using Innovative Ideologies to Build Breakthrough Brands, Oxford University Press. Kahney, Leander. 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