YOUR TIME HAS COME by JOY YESUTOR

Where am I coming from? Where am I, And where am I going?

Does it matter from whence I come? Or where I am?

But I want to go somewhere, A place better than where I am right now.

What does it take to get there? I must possess strong will power,

To propel me to the tower, Faith to see me through, When my fears come nigh.

Courage, to stand the test of time, so I can get there on time.

I have waited too long, Dormant and idle enough,

Nonchalantly I have whispered away My plans to go a long way

But now, believe me, I have repositioned myself,

And you should too

Alas the dawn of a new era has come, A time to reposition yourself

A time to let go achievements and loses Of the past we so much hold on to,

And embrace a bright future, By working it out now.

For a better tomorrow, We must work up to date, So we are not out of date,

When the time comes for us to prove To the world, the vision we have so jealously kept,

We must not be blurred, But with great pride prove beyond all reasonable doubt

What great feats we have achieved.

Hence the need to reposition ourselves,

our thoughts, our lives, our visions, our desirires and our values.

Let us stand tall and not slack slow,There is so much to be done

Reposition yourself, wake up to reatlity

Your time has come

BY JOY YESUTOR

P.O.BOX KF 460

KOFORIDUA

LOVE THAT SURPASSES ALL by JOY YESUTOR

He knows when I am happy; He knows when I am sad,

He knows when I smile, when I laugh and when I cry

He knows what makes me tick, what makes me sick

Where I get stuck, He says to leave it all to Him,

To think on nothing else but Him.

Let it all go and walk with Him, He will lead me,

All the way, through this life,

Never He, wants me to stand alone, He is always near,

Right by my side, walking always beside me,

Leaving when I cause him pain by disobedience.

I love Hi with all my life, above all else,

I leave it all to Him; He chose to give his life for me

Just for me

Love that surpasses all herein is found.

1 December 2011

BY: JOY YESUTOR

ADVERTISING NIVEA

                                                         INTRODUCTION

As the director of corporate communications of Nivea, I have a passion to move the product, Nivea visage toner. This product is one very good product that needs to be a household name. The Nivea visage toner is a facial cleanser which contains almond oil and calendula extract which is very good on extremely dry skin to sensitive skin types. It clears acne and fades spots. It also has anti ageing elements that leave your skin looking beautifully supple, aside that, it thoroughly clarifies normal to mixed skin in an efficient yet gentle way. This product is especially good for ladies who are looking for that smooth skin and youthful look. In order to make this product a household name I would use the Integrated Marketing Communications strategy.

The Integrated Marketing Communication is a combination the tools from the promotional mix to facilitate a company’s communication objective. These tools include, Advertising, Personal selling, Sales Promotion, Sponsorship Marketing, publicity and Point-of-purchase Communication.

In my proposal to management on how to develop the promotional strategies for the Nivea visage toner, I will explore these tools, define them and explain how they can be exploited to help us gain the fullest benefits they have to offer.  Demographically, we want to reach out to, mainly women, who come from dual income earning households, and also students of the tertiary institutions all over Ghana. Also we would reach out to women from 18 years to 50years. Most of the tertiary students are between the ages of 18 upwards. They always like to look young and fresh, and avoid early wrinkling of their skins. They also have the capacity to buy the product which is even less than the amount they spend on fixing their hair every week. Also women who fall in the dual income earning household range also can afford the product. Since they are women on the go, and some of them having children, they definitely will not like to age early, and they would love to always look young and have their skins beautifully toned and rid of all acne and spots.

1.      ADVERTISING: Advertising is any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods and services through the mass media and with an identifiable sponsor. Belch and belch also define advertising as any paid form of non-personal presentation about an organisation, product, service or idea by an identified sponsor. Under advertising, there are so many options we can choose from, and as such we will work with the broadcast media and also the print media. Under the broadcast media, television will help us better to achieve our aim. We are going to have adverts bombarding the television with the message that our product, Nivea visage toner gives one a more youthful skin and reduces wrinkles whiles clearing spots and fading marks, all at an unbeatable price. From the medium of the television, we are expecting to reach out to 6,436,204 of the Ghanaian female population. Through television advertising, we want to capture the attention of women who are very particular about their skin, and especially their face. Most of the women we are targeting watch a lot of television, especially Telenovela’s and the evening news. So during commercial breaks in these programmes, they will be exposed the product through the advert. The visual effect the advert will create will help propel our cause. Also in the adverts, there will be demonstrations to further convince them. Also we will make use of the print media, especially the newspapers and magazines. Daily Graphic which is one of Ghana’s most read news paper reaches a wide number of Ghanaians. Women of the working class also get exposed to the newspapers since most institutions expect their employees to read the dailies. We will also make use of outdoor and transport advertising. We are going to Mount Massive bill boards in all the major interchanges in the country. Apart from that, we will also put advertising on most of the metro mass busses in the country.

2.      PERSONAL SELLING: With regards to personal selling, we will let some of our employees go to the main tertiary institutions in the country, that is University of Ghana, The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, most of the Poly techniques, University of Education, Winneba, University of Cape coast and as many more to go and educate them and encourage them to buy the product.

3.      SALES PROMOTION:  In order to boost our sales for the product, we will give our retailers and wholesalers amazing discounts. Aside that, we will give them sample products and assure them that because of our heavy investment in advertising, their products will be off the shelves in no time, and some promotions we will put up will make people rust to get the product.

4.      PUBLICITY: Armed with this tool, we will organise press releases and also write captivating publications. Publicity is also a non personal communication that is not paid for and as such we will get the media houses to write favourable stories about the product and the company, and how we have been taking good care of the skin needs of our clients. Also we will make some donations as they are reported in the media, we will get attention to ourselves.

5.      PONT-OF-PURCHASE COMMUNICATION: We will do this by putting a lot of our posters in as many shops and supermarkets as possible. We will erect very large size poster stands to attract the attention of customer, create awareness which will end up influencing the buying decision of the customer.

6.      SPONSORSHIP MARKETING: The product is going to be associated with the Miss Odwira event during the Odwira festival. During this festival, most young people come along to celebrate and have fun. By being associated with Miss Odwira, we will be positioning the product in the minds of most of the ladies who will come to witness the event, especially the contestants themselves.  

With these tools used effectively, Nivea visage toner will successfully be established on the market and have as many customers as we can think of.

REFERENCES

Belch and belch, advertising promotions

Scott Cutlip, Effective public Relations

www.index mundi.com, the population of Ghana

www.nivea.co.uk/products/face-care

AND WE REJOICE by JOY YESUTOR

In these times

When we are called hypocrites, What identity do we carry?

When our meekness is called hypocrisy, And our firmness wickedness

How do we show the world, Who we really are, among the lot?

The mark of difference lies within, Consciences not seared, but walking standing, sitting

In the very footsteps of our master, ignoring all, But loving as well.

The light that shines , and the darkness cannot extinguish,

Shines in our hearts, the very presence of Jesus

In our lives as Lord, over all affairs

Gives us the quiet assurance within that we are His,

Children of the light,

That Light, and so we shine,

We shine in the dark, in the open,

In secret we shine and shine on,

Striving, never to dim, this is what we carry

THE LIFE THAT IS LIGHT THAT SHINES

Concealed in the carcass they see,

But we see what lies wihin

And we Rejoice.

29^th November 2011

By Joy YESUTOR

BIOMETRIC REGISTRATION

Ghana has come a long way with regards to our political systems and structures. Right from political systems that were not very effective to one that to a large extent has become highly technological.  From the time when Ghana was then the Gold coast to now, there have been changes in the republic. All these changes have called for registration and then voting. In analyzing the effectiveness or otherwise of the of the electoral commission’s biometric registration movement plan, we would explore and get to know who the electoral commission are, what their duties and functions are and why the introduction of the movement plan and how effective or less effective it has been.

Now we are in another electioneering year and the Electoral commission of Ghana came up with a new system of registration called the biometric system of registration that ended on the 5^th of May but then for the sake of the prisoners who have not registered will be extended for some time. Now the question pops up, what or who is the electoral commission and what at all it the biometric registration?

The electoral commission according to the guide they made available to the public on their website is provided for under Article 43 of the 1992 constitution and established by an act of Parliament, Act 451 of 1993. The Electoral Commission of Ghana is bound by law and by the constitution and by law to supervise all public elections and referenda as a way of advancing the course of democracy and good governance for enhanced development of Ghana through institutionalising free and transparent elections. The functions of the electoral commission include

·         To compile the register of voters and revise it at such periods as may be determined by law.

·         To demarcate the electoral boundaries for both national and local government elections.

·         To conduct and supervise all public elections and referenda.

·         To educate people of the electoral process and its purpose

·         To undertake programmes for the expansion of the registration of voters.

·         To perform such other functions as may be prescribed by law.

This is a summary of the duties that the electoral commission is supposed to perform.

 Now that we know about the electoral commission and what they stand for, let us go into what the voter registration is or what it is all about. Still from the guide provided by the electoral commission, the voter registration refers to the entire process of making the register of voters, also known as the voters register, voters list, voters roll or the electoral roll. Usually, the process consists of four distinct stages, namely;

1. The field of collection of biographic data of eligible persons; key amongst them are the name, sex and residential address.

2. The compilation of the collected data into a provisional register of qualified voters.

3. The exhibition of public display of the provisional register for purposes of affording persons who successfully applied for registration opportunity to make sure that their names have been included and that their personal details are correct.

4. The production of the final voters register as the official list of persons qualified to vote in election.

The voter’s registration did not just come to exist, but over the years it has evolved. In 1925, those who were eligible to vote were supposed to be land owners and this is how far the registration dates back. In those days (1925 -1994), voter identity cards were not issued. In 1988, the system became computerized but yet no identity cards were issued until 1995. The process was not so cumbersome but the queues were very tiring and frustrating enough. The registration was done personally by the persons who wished to be registered at the designated centres. They first filled out a paper form and then they had their photographs taken, after which they are given a counterfoil of the paper registration form which serves as the identity card. It is laminated and contains a photograph of the voter. The registration forms are scanned and the data is captured using a combination of optical mark registration, also known as the O.M.R, optical character recognition O.C.R, and intelligent character recognition I.C.R technologies.

Double and multiple registrations do a lot of damage and mayhem during voting and the electoral commission tried to curb this by the application of the indelible ink. Still some unscrupulous individuals managed to register and vote more than once.

The biometric registration seeks to address this problem. According to Mr. Nicholas Amoah, the human resource manager at the electoral commission head office, the biometric registration has in place an inbuilt system or mechanism that is able to multiple registrations and even some culprits have already been arrested. This is possible because the biometric system uses unique features such as finger prints and no two individuals have the same finger prints, also there was a criteria for those who are eligible to vote. They should be Ghanaian citizens. In order for you to register, you must be a Ghanaian citizen, 18years and above, of a sound mind and also a resident or ordinarily resident in an electoral area or are permitted by law to register in the electoral area.

The process was quite simple. All that one needed to do was to be at the registration centre with proof of his or her nationality and citizenship. The team of registration officials was at the pollen stations or registration centres with a set of equipment. First of all they take down your details and then the details are fed into the machine. Then they give u a paper containing your information details that were fed into the system. From there you get it laminated and then you dip your hand in the ink and that was it.

The biometric registration was done in phases also known as the movement plan. It started on Saturday the 24^th of March and ended on Saturday the 5^th of May. During this time, those registering did not just stay at one pollen station or centre but moved through out for a period of 10 days each in all the pollen stations. This movement plan made it possible for all the killer queues to reduce.  Because of the movement plan, more pollen stations were created and there was enough time to spend at each pollen station since it spread across a span of 10 days. The system was also so simplified. It took one just a number of minutes to be registered and then have your I.D. card.

The registration was carried out in four phases in all the regions of the country. Each phase took ten days including Saturdays and Sundays. The first phase started on the 24^th of March and ended on the 2^nd of April. Phase two followed on the 4^th of April and ended on the 13^th of April. The third phase then took off on the 15^th of April and ended on the 24^th of April, while the final phase took off on the 244th of April and ended on the 5^th of May 2012.

Another good thing about the movement plan is that after each day, they had to put together all the previous day’s registration. Because of this so much stress was not put on the personnel. They did not have to count and count at the end of the whole exercise.

Some of the citizens we spoke to said they were very happy about the movement plan because they did not have to travel a long distance to come and be registered and that even encouraged them to go and get register. The movement plan made it possible for registration centres to be as close to a large group of people at a time. In the past, a whole constituency could have just about four centres and all of them would be registering at the same time. Once you miss it, then that is that. It meant you were not going to vote. But with the biometric movement plan, the story is different. If for some reasons or the other you miss the registration at the centre closest to you. You can go to another centre and get registered.

I am sure the movement plan has come to put a smile on the face of a number of Ghanaians because it is very evident that those who registered more than once are facing the music. Also under this new movement plan, more and more Ghanaians have been able to register and this for me is a step in the right directions. As well meaning Ghanaians the next step to take is to pray for free and fair elections and also behave ourselves very will so as not to cause any mayhem.