Jake French: May 2012

Coca-Cola: The Power of a Brand by Bob Zurn

There are few images as recognizable throughout the world as the Coca-Cola brand. Travel to the furthest reaches of the globe and you will probably encounter it on a clock or a sign, if not on the drink itself. Marketers today look to the Coca-Cola brand as a model of marketing power. Its image has transcended national borders and cultural barriers to reach almost everyone on earth. How did the Coca-Cola symbol become such an omnipresent image?

Beginning in 1886, Coca-Cola president John Pemberton began traveling the country introducing pharmacists to the drink. At that time it was considered a medicinal substance that could relieve headaches and other minor woes. Candler distributed clocks, calendars and other items laden with the Coca-Cola logo as he toured the country, spreading the brand and selling his product.
From there the brand continued to penetrate further around the world. The bottling rights to Coca-Cola were sold in 1899 and in 1915 the Root family submitted a standard size bottle for distribution, but it was too fat in the middle. The Coca-Cola Company liked the bottle so much they thinned it down and has been used ever since and is called a Hobbleskirt Bottle. By 1920, with new bottlers springing up all the time, the brand had expanded into Cuba, France, Puerto Rico and other territories. Its world dominance would increase further with World War II, when Coca-Cola promised that "every man in uniform gets a bottle of Coca-Cola for 5 cents, wherever he is, and whatever it costs the company." Suddenly Coca-Cola could be found throughout Europe as American GIs carried it with them, and by 1960 the number of countries with Coke bottling plants had doubled.
Today Coke remains a powerful brand with over a century of history behind it. As a result, items featuring previous incarnations of the Coke image have become classic pieces of Americana. The success of the Coca-Cola brand has made it an icon not just in the world of brand marketing but of American history. It symbolizes the popularity of a soft drink as well as the dominance of American entrepreneurialism in the twentieth century and beyond.

Article found on 28/05/12 from; http://www.experience.com/alumnus/article?channel_id=advertising_marketing_pr&source_page=additional_articles&article_id=article_1172770548217

The Facebook Phenomenon by Barzan 'Tony' Antal

It all started when Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook on February 4, 2004 with two of his roommates and another computer science comrade from Harvard College. Their vision was to create a networking site where they could remain in touch with friends. For this reason, at first this socialization network was restricted to Harvard College students but since September 2006 the network is open to users worldwide. This article takes a look at where Facebook has been, and where it is going.
As of 2007, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has become an instant billionaire; according to some sources he owns approximately 30% of the company and this equals more than $4 billion of total net worth. Forbes ranked him the youngest billionaire at 23 years old, and he is certainly one of the wealthiest 20-something of the world.
Facebook's growth is still increasing exponentially. As of October 2007, Facebook can count 42 million active members, and is expected by the end of the year to pass the 60 million milestone. Through the years numerous negotiations and deals were rejected due to Zuckerberg's plans to run the company independently.
The blossoming period for Facebook's valuation started in September 2007. It was rumored that Microsoft might buy a stake. These rumors were proven right on October 24, 2007 when Microsoft bought a 1.6% share of the company for $246 million. Now if you do simple second grade mathematics, you realize that the total "worth" of the company equals nothing less than $15 billion! This is where I've derived the data at the beginning of this article stating that Mark's net worth is more than $4 billion.

Article found on 28/05/12 from; http://www.seochat.com/c/a/Search-Engine-News/The-Facebook-Phenomenon/1/

Take-Two 4Q loss triples but sales beat forecast by The Associated Press

Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. said Tuesday that its fourth-quarter net loss more than tripled as revenue fell and the video game maker failed to repeat the success of "Red Dead Redemption" from a year ago.
Sales were slightly better-than-expected and its shares rose 69 cents, or 6.2 percent, to $11.85 in after-hours trading following the release of the earnings report.
The company's net loss in the three months to March 31 came to $66.8 million, or 79 cents per share, worse than the loss of $22.1 million, or 27 cents per share, a year ago.
Excluding stock-based compensation expenses and other items, the adjusted loss came to 60 cents per share, steeper than the 54 cents per share loss expected by analysts polled by FactSet.
Revenue fell 19 percent to $148.1 million from $182.2 million a year ago, but that topped the $144 million expected by analysts.
Game makers have faced a tough market with sluggish sales of games on aging consoles. NPD Group said earlier this month that U.S. retail sales of video game hardware, software and accessories fell 32 percent in April from a year ago, the fifth month of decline.
For the fiscal first quarter, Take-Two expects an adjusted loss of 60 cents to 75 cents per share on revenue of $225 million to $275 million. That's worse than the 9 cents a share profit on $280 million in revenues analysts were looking for.
It also said it expected annual adjusted earnings of $2 to $2.25 per share on revenue of $1.75 billion to $1.85 billion in the year through March 2013. That's below the $2.76 per share in earnings expected by analysts. The revenue forecast bracketed the $1.79 billion expected by analysts.

Article found on 28/05/12 from; http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/take-two-4q-loss-triples-but-sales-beat-forecast-1.3734014

MashUp

Their vision was to create a networking site where they could remain slightly better-than-expected and repeat the success of previous incarnations. The brand continued to penetrate further around the world increasing sluggish sales and revenue by 32 %. As of 2007, that the total "worth" of the company equals nothing less than $15 billion! Today, the success of the company symbolizes the popularity achieved and there are fewer images as recognisable throughout the world with 42 million active members, and is expected by the end of the year to pass the 60 million milestone.

The monument i have designed and constructed in Google SketchUp and then imported into CryENGINE 3 (to further develop along with the landscape and its surroundings), came from the following concepts;

Sigeru Ban: Framing views of the landscape
Sukiya Style: Form follows the landscape

"Electroliquid Aggregation":
Views of the landscape are followed by formed framing