UNIT IV. ACTIVITY B. TIME MARKERS

A History of Visual Merchandising in Retail Stores
By Sarah Marie

In our current, consumer-oriented culture, people do not shop merely to obtain items they need, but also to satisfy their wants. Frequently, shopping does not even involve making a purchase. For consumers, window-shopping has become a popular pastime. Visual merchandisers create "miniature worlds" for merchandise in an effort to attract the attention of consumers, draw them into the store and keep them coming back in the future. Despite the advanced techniques seen in visual displays, visual merchandising is not a new concept or art. As early as the 18th century, merchandise was staged in interesting and unique arrangements to attract consumers.

The Early Stores

Prior to the late 18th century, when the contemporary methods of visual merchandising began to evolve, store owners and managers cared little for the appearance of their stores and the presentation of merchandise. Very little merchandise was displayed within the store. Rather, a customer would enter the store and speak with the retailer, who would then present merchandise that was kept in a back room. "Sales talk" and an ability to persuade were very important in convincing a customer of the quality of a product and making a sale. The evolution in store design brought about a new "process" of shopping. It was not longer a verbal engagement between retailers and customers, but now a "sensory experience". The first step in the evolution of store design occurred when small stores began to display their merchandise openly to the public, instead of keeping it stored in back rooms. Eventually, the deliberate displaying of goods became an important tool for retailers. What was once unattractive stores that were not meant to visually appeal to consumers, slowly became exciting shopping venues.

B. Seleccione otro texto relacionado con su área de experticia y extraiga las palabras claves, diga si son de instrucciones, o de secuencia u ordenamiento del tiempo. ·

Marcadores de Tiempo
current,
new,
early,
18th century,
prior,
late,
18th century,
when,
began,
new,
longer,
now,
first,
when,
began,
eventually,
became,
was,
slowly became.

Tipo de texto

Descriptive, time sequency

Idea general del párrafo

The text is about the history of a marketing technique called visual merchandising and how this technique has evolved. This part of the text just covers the first years of the technique`s evolution, in the 18th century.

Source and Images:
http://hubpages.com/hub/A-History-of-Visual-Merchandising-in-Retail-Stores

UNIT IV. ACTIVITY A. DEFINITIONS

The Six Simple Principles of Viral Marketing
by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, E-Commerce Consultant

Web Marketing Today, February 1, 2005. Originally published 2/1/2000 I admit it. The term "viral marketing" is offensive. Call yourself a Viral Marketer and people will take two steps back. I would. "Do they have a vaccine for that yet?" you wonder. A sinister thing, the simple virus is fraught with doom, not quite dead yet not fully alive, it exists in that nether genre somewhere between disaster movies and horror flicks. But you have to admire the virus. He has a way of living in secrecy until he is so numerous that he wins by sheer weight of numbers. He piggybacks on other hosts and uses their resources to increase his tribe. And in the right environment, he grows exponentially. A virus doesn't even have to mate -- he just replicates, again and again with geometrically increasing power, doubling with each iteration:

1
11
1111
11111111
1111111111111111
11111111111111111111111111111111
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

In a few short generations, a virus population can explode. Viral Marketing Defined What does a virus have to do with marketing? Viral marketing describes any strategy that encourages individuals to pass on a marketing message to others, creating the potential for exponential growth in the message's exposure and influence. Like viruses, such strategies take advantage of rapid multiplication to explode the message to thousands, to millions. Off the Internet, viral marketing has been referred to as "word-of-mouth," "creating a buzz," "leveraging the media," "network marketing." But on the Internet, for better or worse, it's called "viral marketing." While others smarter than I have attempted to rename it, to somehow domesticate and tame it, I won't try. The term "viral marketing" has stuck.

Unidad 4. Patrones de Organización de un Párrafo

A. Seleccione un texto relacionado con su área de experticia.Lea el texto y extraiga las definiciones y los marcadores del discurso.

VIRAL MARKETING:

Viral marketing describes any strategy that encourages individuals to pass on a marketing message to others, creating the potential for exponential growth in the message's exposure and influence.

MARKERS:
describes,
has been referred to,
is called.

Source:
http://www.wilsonweb.com/wmt5/viral-principles.htm

IMAGE FROM:

(1) blaugh.com;
(2) http://blog.delucio.com/2008/07/11/marketing-viral-con-videos-en-internet/

UNIT 3. ACTIVITY. PREDICTION, SCANNING, SKIMMING

Sidewalk Catwalk: Mannequins to Land in Manhattan

Get ready New York. Fashion is hitting the streets, quite literally (and visual too!). Launching in June, an outdoor public fashion parade dubbed "Sidewalk Catwalk" will debut along the Broadway Pedestrian Plaza between Times Square and Herald Square in the heart of Manhattan's Fashion District. High-end mannequin manufacturer Ralph Pucci Intl. is taking part in the public art event, featuring 31 female Pucci sculptures, which are part of the Pucci MANIKIN series. "The Timeless Walking Women" are made in one piece, constructed as sculptures rather than traditional mannequins. Inspired by the work of Alberto Giacometti, the fiberglass sculptures are finished in a foundry slate, with industrial fittings as added reinforcement to be able to handle the outdoor elements. The women will share the landscape with British sculptor Antony Gormley's 31 life-sized male sculptures. But fear not, fashionistas. Those sculptures aren't going to be standing out in the street nekkid (Diva would never approve). No, they'll be wearing clothes designed by 31 high-profile designers, including Calvin Klein, Diane Von Furstenberg, Michael Kors, Anna Sui, Betsey Johnson, Kenneth Cole, Tommy Hilfiger, Norma Kamali, Isabel Toledo, John Bartlett, Catherine Malandrino and Carlos Falchi. And thanks to weather-resistant fabrics from Material ConneXion, those outfits will be durable and fashion-friendly the whole season through. They better be. The Sidewalk Catwalk runs from June 24 to Sept. 6, rain or shine!

http://retaildesigndiva.blogs.com/retail_design_diva/visual_merchandising/


Técnicas de lectura: prediccion, scanning y skimming
Seleccione un texto que tenga una imagen.
Observe la imagen y conteste las siguientes preguntas.

• De acuerdo al título y la imagen, ¿cuál cree usted que es el tópico que está a punto de leer?
I think the topic is related to a fashion exhibition in the streets of New York City.

• ¿Cuál es la idea general del texto?
It describes some fashion activities that are being celebrated in the streets of New York where some of the most important fashion designers are taking part.

• ¿Que palabras se repiten?
the, sidewalk, catwalk, in, and, are, to, women, be, outfits

• ¿Que palabras se parecen al español?
mannequins, visual, June, public, debut, plaza, district, manufacturer, part, event, sculpture, series, pieces, constructed, traditional, inspired, industrial, elements, approve, designed, designers, including, durable.

• ¿Cuales son las palabras en negrita, el titulo, subtitulo o gráficos que te ayudan a entender el texto?
Sidewalk, catwalk, the picture which illustrates the article.

• ¿De qué trata el texto? Lee el primer párrafo y el último o la ultimas ideas del último párrafo.
The selected text is about an activity called Sidewalk Catwalk which will be holding in the streets of New York until September. It describes the mannequins that are being used, the material are those mannequins made of and also mentions the fashion designers are taking part of this activity. It also describes who inspired the mannequins confection and how were constructed, and mention as an important topic that the exhibition is made using materials resistant to the weather.

Lectura 2
Ejercicio 1. Lea el siguiente texto y extraiga las palabras claves, diga si son de instrucciones, o de secuencia u ordenamiento del tiempo.

a) Project planning is part of project management, which relates to the use of schedules such as Gantt charts to plan and subsequently report progress within the project environment.
Initially, the project scope is defined and the appropriate methods for completing the project are determined. Following this step, the durations for the various tasks necessary to complete the work are listed and grouped into a work breakdown structure. The logical dependencies between tasks are defined using an activity network diagram that enables identification of the critical path. Float or slack time in the schedule can be calculated using project management software. Then the necessary resources can be estimated and costs for each activity can be allocated to each resource, giving the total project cost. At this stage, the project plan may be optimized to achieve the appropriate balance between resource usage and project duration to comply with the project objectives. Once established and agreed, the plan becomes what is known as the baseline. Progress will be measured against the baseline throughout the life of the project. Analyzing progress compared to the baseline is known as earned value management.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_planning, consultado el 30/06/2008

Marcadores de Tiempo:
subsequently
initially
following
then
at this stage
once

Tipo de texto:
Descriptivo de secuencia

Idea general del párrafo:
It´s about project planning as a part of project management. It describes the steps and the components of the project planning.


IMAGE FROM: http://www.novamind.com/planning/project-planning.php