Brand Equity Case Study Nike Marketing Essay

Brand Equity Case Study Nike Marketing Essay The world constantly changes and disparities, however, some top brands seem to keep their leadership position in their industry to this day. Strong brands are amazingly durable and have the ultimate ability to overcome many challenges. Either does Nike. Since its creation in 1971 in the USA, the Nike swoosh is still one of the worlds most valuable brand despite of the severe crises. Ranked at 26 on the list of Interbrands Best Global Brands in 2009 with a brand value at $13.2 billion dollars, up 4% from a value of $12.7 billion last year, Nike is the best among sports brand, left the big competitors, Adidas and Puma far behind (Interbrand report, 2009). So how has Nike got ahead and stayed ahead? Figure 1: Swoosh = achievement. Source: www.nikefootball.com This article will be employed Elliott and Percys structural framework of brand equity synthesis to investigate in four dimensions of Nike brand equity, namely: brand attitude (functional and emotional features), symbolic meaning, brand awareness and brand loyalty to draw the deposit picture of Nike brand equity in the sportswear industry. About Nike In 1962, inspired by athlete aspiration, Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight shook their hand to cofounded Blue Ribbon Sports, precursor of Nike. The initial business then was to distribute low-cost and high quality Japanese athletic shoes to American. Today, Nike not only designs and sells athletic shoes at every profitable market worldwide, but also operates in athletic apparel, sport equipment and subsidiary venture including Cole Haan, Converse Inc., Hurley International LLC, Nike Golf and Umbro Ltd (Nike report, 2009). Headquartered at Oregon, United States, Nike has been presented across more than 160 countries around the world targeting its primary market regions: United States, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Americas. Nike employs about 32,500 people as of May 31, 2008 (Datamonitor Research, 2009). By indirect or direct way, Nike touches the lives of millions more with its innovative products that transform every sport into a winning battle (Superbrands, 2002). Nike customers The decade ago, Bill Bowerman, the co-founder of Nike once said If you have a body, you are an athlete (Nike company overview, 2010). This motto transmitted not only the whole brand characteristics but also the main targeted customers. They are athletes and anyone with a body. Nike offers a wide product portfolio of sport-inspired lifestyle apparel, accessories and equipment. Nike provides athletic footwear for runners, trainers and basketball players. The company also offers shoes and equipments specially designed for those addicted tennis and golf players and etcetera. Such diverse product extensions enable the company to satisfy the varied athletic needs of its customers (Datomonitor Research, 2009) Nike and its rivals Sportswear has been a thriving market in recent years. According to the research Global footwear: Industry profile releasing by Datomonitor in 2009, the global footwear market generated total revenues of $ 196,617 million in 2008. Thus, Nike has experienced intense competition from the moment its first sporting shoes being introduced to their customers. Globally, this market is dominated by the big three namely Nike, Adidas, and Puma (Sport+Markt Report, 2008; Keynote Report, 2010). Adidas Adidas was truly the first sports company, it was founded in 1920. They once really blew in the decade of 70s and 80s. By the early 90s, Adidas realized itself forgotten in the back of game. In the 21st century, the brand has steadily affirmed its position and seems on renaissance. Adidas brand increased its value at 6%, ranked 62th on the list of Best Global Brands 2009 and continued to take the second largest sporting goods manufactures behind Nike (Interbrand, 2009) The overall Adidas brand competes straightly and closely with Nikes value proposition. Nike aims To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world, meanwhile, Adidas mission is Improving every athletes performance through innovation. The brand values of Adidas have been claimed that authenticity, inspiration, honesty and commitment are derived from sport. (Datamonitor research, 2009) Puma Figure 1: the leaping puma symbolizes the combination of speed, power and elegance exhibited by professional athletes Placed at 97th, Puma brand appeared at the first time on the Interbrand annual report. Interbrand analysts gave the positive compliments for Pumas effort to compete against the big rivals. Through new design, co-branding and partnerships with celebrities and famous designers such as Alexander McQueen and Hussein Chalayan, Puma refreshes their brand image. The company defines its brand as the mixes of sport, lifestyle and fashion to increase its desirability (Puma report, 2009). The Puma brand differentiates itself from Nike by communicating lifestyle driven style with active lifestyle themes whereas Nike focusing on performance driven style. Nike brand equity Having and holding customers is likely to be a competitive battle which each brand tries all efforts to win. They compete for functional attributes, distinctive services or innovative technologies (Aaker, 1991). So what are emotional and functional benefits which Nike provides for their customers? Functional and emotional features of the brand Since Nike was set up by someone who has a deep passion for athletics and running, it should come no surprise that product is important. Products that are comfortable, authentic, functionally innovative and uniquely designed (Nike report, 1985). The innovative technology is considered as one of the defining dimensions of Nikes brand identity and corporate culture. The simple driving concept has led to some impressive innovations which is considered as one of the defining dimensions of Nikes brand identity and corporate culture. The first highlight was Air cushioning, using pressurized gas to cushion impact and new materials such as Urathane, that was used first with the Air Max running shoes (Nike report, 1987). More recently, to obtain maximum performance, Nike Sport Research laboratory has discovered the innovative technology such as Shox, which are made mostly of rubber and spring back adding more power to a runners stride and Total 90 Concept, a range of equipment to help players perform over 90 minutes of a soccer match (Keller, 2008) Such innovative technology which Nike has used has gained the strong hold in consumers perceptions. The research of Ross and Harradine (2004) focusing on relationship between young school children and branding, particularly sportswear shoes brands showed that children aged from 4 7 years old believed that these brands could improve their personal performance. They do very fast shoes. They make you run faster. They are also comfortable and look good, they added. Clearly, functional benefit is the fundamental and classical features to communicate with customers. However, if Nike just provided high quality running shoes to enhance athletic performance, Nike would not be strong brands. According to Aakers (1991), big brands need to be beyond the purely functional relationships. They should create a more strong emotional attachment with core consumers because emotional bene ­fits add richness and depth to the brand and the experience of owning and using the brand (Aakers, 2009) Figure 2: Nike Commitment to win Source: Nikefootball.comGuinn et al (p219, 2008) stated that Nike offers emotional benefits which are the exhilaration of athletic performance excellence; feeling engaged, active, and healthy; exhilaration from admiring professional and college athletes as they perform wearing your brand when they win, you win too. Associated brand with the top athletes, Nike tells story of brands which the main themes is sportsmanship and unrelenting effort. These are the story of Michael Jordan who won a record 10th scoring title and was selected as one of the 50 Greatest Players (NBA history, 2010) in Americans National basketball association championship. Lance Armstrong survived and won a second straight Tour de France while Tiger Woods completed the career Grand Slam, ensuring his place in golf history at the age where most of us are still wondering what we will do when we grow up (Nike report, 2000). The most three prominent athletes has generated the inspiration for young and next generation of athletes. Nike has succeeded to transfer their inspirations to every single purchaser. Wearing every pair of Nike shoes is to engage a passion for excellence and encourage to do your own thing. Just do it the tagline could sum up all the greatest values of brand which is (Superbrands case study, 2002). Symbolic meaning Products are no longer just products, they move beyond the functional meanings. Nowadays, they are definitely social tools serving as a means of communication between the individual and his significant references (Grubb and Grathwohl, 1967 as cited by Banister and Hogg, 2003). Products are considered as a symbol of individuality and uniqueness, and also symbol of affiliation and social identification. It is particularly trued with the fashion brands. Fashion brands such as clothes, bags, shoes and etc satisfy opposing functions, both social identification and distinction among individuals (Banister Hogg, 2003) Nike must have understood the recipe well. The Just do It campaign in the early 1990s would be a perfect example. Losing ground to archrival Reebok which was quick initiative on designing style, fashion aerobics shoes in 1980s (Keller, 2008), Nike responded dramatically and forcefully by launching the Just do it campaign which was mainly focused on person wearing on products instead of product itself. Purchasing an athlete-endorsed product is one means of symbolically and publicly demonstrating aspirations to be a part of the group and such behaviors are directly influenced by the extent to which a fan identifies with an athlete endorser Carlson and Donavan (2008)Heroes and hero worship was being built as the main themes of advertising. Celebrity endorsements such as Bo Jackson, John McEnroe and Michael Jordon appealed to the consumers sense of belonging and hipness. In other words, Americans consumers were convinced that wearing for every part of your life was smart (the shoes are designed for comfort) and hip (everyone else is wearing them; you too can belong to this group) (CFAR, 1998). Just Do It campaign succeeded (Nike increased its share of the domestic sport shoe business after launching this campaign in America from 18 percent to 43 percent, regained the leader position) because it could fascinate customers in both separating ways. Wearing Nike as a self fulfilling image declaration if you are hip, you are probably wearing Nike. But perhaps most importantly, it could create the desirable needs -if you want to be hip, wear Nike (CFAR, 1998). Symbolic meanings of Nike brand are also tracked in the research on Symbolic and functional positioning of brands of Bhat and Reddy (1998). This study showed that Nike scored high on the prestige and personality expression scales (See Appendix). The findings of Hogg et al (1998) also support the success of attached the symbolic and emblematic meanings to sportswear brands. The youth showed facility in interpreting the symbolic meanings attached to the sports brands which were associated with the different sports stars (such as footballers, rugby players, athletes and tennis players) and with different sports (e.g. football and rugby.) Brand Loyalty Luring by good shoe with innovative functionality and athletic aspiration value, Nike has indeed come to mind and heart of its customers. By the mid of 1990s, 77 percent of male Americans from the age of 18 to 25 chose Nike as their favourite shoe, according to Rozanski et al (1999). The figure still remains stably despite of that up and down year Nike has been experience, gaining the high score of customer satisfaction at 79 percent rated by The American Customer Satisfaction Index Organization (2009). Figure: 3NIKE The American Customer Satisfaction Index Base- line 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 Previous Year % Change First Year % Change All Others NM 73 76 79 79 78 81 81 83 79 81 83 82 83 1.2 13.7 Athletic Shoes 79 74 74 76 79 76 79 79 82 77 76 79 79 80 1.3 1.3 NIKE 82 74 73 73 78 74 76 76 78 75 72 75 78 79 1.3 -3.7 adidas 75 74 74 75 78 73 76 74 77 75 78 77 78 78 0.0 4.0 Source: American customer satisfaction index organization, 2010 It could be said that loyalty to the Nike brand is driven by many external and internal factors such as brands subjective and objective characteristics and loyalty building programs. One visible example of creating innovative method to capture the strong relationships with Nike users is that creating Joga.com, a social network site for foot ball fans. Launching quietly in the early 2006, the site became an instant hit, peaking at 7.5 million viewers when Nike showed Ronaldinho video clips, according to Nike (2006). More than 1 million members from 140 countries signed up by mid July. In this site, fans can create their personal blogs, build communities around favorite teams or players, download video and organize pickup games. By enrolling consumers in building and shaping the content of the website, Nike pulled their loyal customers closer, nurtured deeper bonds of loyalty and advocacy. (Kotler and Amstrong, 2007) Brand Awareness Brand awareness is the first and crucial stage of consumers preference. It refers to the strength of a brands presence in the consumers mind (Aakers, 1996). Nike has been successful in building awareness. The Swoosh symbol has been appeared everywhere, on shoes, hats, billboards and soccer balls across the globe too remarkably to such extent that one author used the title The Swooshification of the World on Sports Illustrated column that imaged a future in which the swoosh could surpass sports to become a letter of the alphabet and the new presidential seal, among other things(Keller, 2008). True be told, the recognition of the swoosh is extremely high. According to Keller (2008), as of 2000, 97 percent of American citizens recognized the brand logo, as the strong brand penetration. The studying of Arona and Stoner (2009) on understanding brand personality also assists this fact. The findings indicated that Nike was perceived as a dominant force or authority in the market place, reaching at nearly 90 percent (Figure below) Figure 4: The difference between Nike and Adidas. Source: Arora, R. and Stoner, C. (2009) a mixed method approach to understanding brand personality, Journal of product and Brand management, 18(4), 272-283. The results of Ross and Harradines research (2004) on brand recognition and awareness on children is also supportive, which showed that Nike could be recognized consistently without identification of brand name, even by the youngest group (aged from 4 to 6 years old). This perhaps may reflect the general level of advertising and promotion that children are exposed to. How has Nike done to build brand awareness? Sponsorships, advertising and experience focused retailing (Nike town) are three vivid channels that Nike has applied to enhance its brand image and awareness. Among these strategies, athlete endorsements could be considered as the most significant success of Nike brand. Nike has been invested millions of dollars to associate their brand names with easily recognizable athletes with the aim of brand image building (1.6 billion dollars is spent on multiyear athlete endorsement by Nike according to Horrow (2007). Athletes at the top of their respective sport such as Micheal Jordan, Tiger Woods, and Lance Armstrong who are well liked and respected by members of the brands target audience are chosen as endorsers to associate the Nike brand with the athletes celebrity image. This strategy has been paid off, for example, since Tiger Woods and Nike cooperated, annual sales for Nike Golf have exceeded to nearly $500 million dollars with an estimated 24 percent growth per year in the first five years of the agreement (Pike, 2006 cited by Carlson and Donavan, 2008). Conclusion Since the Nike name is chosen in 1971 with the concepts of victory, success and speed, Nike has been keeping its great speed in the fierce competitive environment. Building brand image and its associations around a famous person and conducting the two way conversation with power consumers through innovative digital channels, Nike has hold the strong presence in the heart of consumers. REFERENCE Aaker, D., 1996. Building strong brands. New York: The Free Press Aaker, David A., 1991. Managing Brand Equity. New York: The Free Press Elliot, R. and Percy, L., 2007, Strategic brand management, Oxford: Oxford University Press Guinn, T., 2008. Advertising and Integrated brand promotion. South Western: South Western Educational Publishing. Keller, K., 2008. Best practice cases in branding: lessons from the worlds strongest brands. 3rd Ed. NJ : Pearson/Prentice-Hall. Kotler, P., and Armstrong, G., 2007. Marketing: an introduction. 8th Ed. N.J. : Pearson Prentice Hall Aaker, D. (2009) Beyond functional benefits, Marketing news, 30, 23-24. Arora, R. and Stoner, C. (2009) a mixed method approach to understanding brand personality, Journal of product and Brand management, 18(4), 272-283. Banister, E., and Hogg, M. (2003) Negative symbolic consumption and consumers drive for self-esteem, the case of the fashion industry, European Journal of Marketing, 38(7),850-868. Carlson, B., and Donavan, T. (2008) Concerning the Effect of Athlete Endorsements on Brand and Team-Related Intentions, Sport Marketing Quarterly, 17 (3), 154-162. Court, D. et al. (1997) If Nike can just do it, why cant we, The McKinsey quarterly, 3, 24-34. Hogg, M., Bruce, M. and Hill, A. (1998) Fashion brand preferences among young consumers, International Journal of Retail Distribution Management, 26 (8), 293-300. Ross, J. and Harradine, R. (2004) Im not wearing that! Branding and young children, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 8(1),11-26. Ross, J., and Harradine, R. (2004) Im not wearing that! Branding and young children, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 8 (1),11-26. Rozanski, H., Baum, A., and Wolfsen, B. (1999) Brand Zealots: realizing the full value of emotional brand loyalty, Strategy and Business Fourth Quarter ,19, [Online] Available at http://www.strategy-business.com/article/13741?gko=31937 The American Customer Satisfaction Index, Score by company NIKE, [Online] Available at: http://www.theacsi.org/index.php?option=com_contenttask=viewid=149Itemid=157c=NIKE (accessed 20/05/2010). Brandrepublic (2002) Superbrands Case Studies Nike, [Online] Available from:http://www.brandrepublic.com/news/148384/superbrands-case-studies-nike/(accessed 22/04/2010) Center for Applied Research CFAR (1998) Mini case study Nike -Just do it advertising campaign, [Online] Available from: http://www.cfar.com/Documents/nikecmp.pdf(accessed 20/05/2010) Datamonitor research (2009), Nike, Inc. Company profile, [Online] Available from: http://www.datamonitor.com/store/Product/nike_inc?productid=8E563969-FC1C-4D3A-8EEE-F9D79F81F0C3 (accessed 14/04/2010) Datamonitor research (2009), Global footwear industry profile, [Online] Available from: http:www. datamonitor.com (accessed 14/04/2010) Horrow, R. (2007), A countdown of 10 top sports and entertainment business issues, [Online] Available from http://community.foxsports.com/blogs/TheSportsProfessor (accessed 22/05/2010) Interbrands annual report (2009), Best global brands, , [Online] Available from: http://www.interbrand.com/best_global_brands.aspx?year=2008langid=1000 (accessed 14/04/2010) Keynote Report (2010), Clothing, Personal Goods Home Goods 2010, [Online] Available from: www.keynote.com (accessed 18/05/2010) National basketball championship, NBA Encyclopedia playoff edition, [Online] Available from: http://www.nba.com/history/players/jordan_bio.html (accessed 22/05/2010) Nike (2010), Company overview, [Online] Available from: http://www.nikebiz.com/company_overview/ (accessed 12/04/2010) Nike report (2000), Nike annual Report 2000, [Online] Available from: http://invest.nike.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=100529p=irol-reportsOther (accessed 16/05/2010) Puma (2009) About company, [Online] Available from: http://www.puma.com/about (accessed 12/04/2010) Sport+Markt Report (2008), Jersey Report 2008/2009 , [Online] Available from: http://www.sportundmarkt.de/en/reports/list/jersey-report-200809.html (accessed 18/05/2010) Superbrands (2002) Nike Company, [Online] Available from: http://uae.superbrandsmena.com/images/spreads/NIKE%204-4.pdf (accessed 22/04/2010)

Spring Choir :: essays research papers

Spring Choir Concert   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The spring choir concert that I went to was like the percussion concert just with singing. I enjoyed listening to the singers as they sung the different melodies. As I was sitting there listening to the different singers sing I could not help but to think about how strong there voices are and how strong they must be to get over the big space of the performance center. Voice is just lost in such a big space like the one in the Price performance center, they have to work on their voices and make sure that they can sing loud, clear and strong to get it across to the audience. Also, while trying to do that they must make sure that the quality is not lost while trying to increase the loudness of their voice. I could also tell the different voices such as the tenors the sopranos and the altos. I could not help but to realize how these different voices interacted with each other and how without one set the sound would not be the same and would be lost. I don’t und erstand how some people can sing as high as they do, such as the alto section. They must have some hard exercising for their voice to get as high as it does and to sound just as good.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I enjoyed watching the way the conductor conducted the choir and I noticed how much effort goes into conducting. At first I thought that he was just waving his hands in the air, but then I realized that there was a pattern to it and that not only keep it on beat but it also did other things as well. I like how when the choir was singing that different parts of it would stop and other parts would keep going and then it would switch and the parts that stopped would start again and the ones that were just singing would then stop. I think that this gave the performance dimension and kept your mind moving and gave u something to think about rather then just the entire choir singing for the entire time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In all, I think the choir concert went very well I thought that the performers did a great job and worked very hard to get where they are today.

Gay Marriage Essay

The issue of gay marriage remains controversial. Some people think that this trend has adverse effects on the society while others believe that it is seen as a natural trend and right for people to choose this type of marriage. My essay will discuss causes and effects of this problem. First, gay marriage is the result of psychological, legal, economic and biological effects. Medically speaking, if someone is born to be gay, the tendency is that he will not change his nature and want to live with people of the same sex. There are cases of men who marry the opposite sex and end up being unhappy till the day they decide to lead their own lives and stay with the same sex. Another reason is derived from economic drive. Despite not being inborn gay, several people, for sake of profit, opt for the solution to marry the similar sex. Besides, only after undergoing painful break-ups with so many people of the different sex do people lose their belief in love, and hence, choose to be by the side of the same sex. These people are believed to sympathize and care about them more. In addition, in such an open society where equality is recognized, it is inevitable that people can marry the one they love, despite the differences in age, race, family background and marriage notion. There are both positive and negative effects in this problem. As a result of recognizing the right of gay people in form of marriage, the society bestows upon these people the feeling of equity which makes them motivated to work as hard as other people. It is the acknowledgement of gay marriage that talented gay people continue contributing their best to social development, without bias. However, the fear is that no sooner has gay marriage become official than the society lacks the next generation since hardly could gay couples give birth. Another disadvantage is that children who are raised in gay families can rarely receive comprehensive education. Such purely male environment or female one is not enough for kids to develop normally, which might result in their mental disorders and sexual disorientation.

Sexual Assault And Harassment Incidents in College - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1122 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2019/02/20 Category Law Essay Level High school Tags: Sexual Assault On College Campuses Essay Did you like this example? Though the college experience is oftentimes one of personal growth, increasing social life, and educational opportunity, campuses are faced with the rising issue of sexual assault and how to handle allegations every single day. It is reported that up to 11.2% of all students experience rape or sexual assault, and only handful of those victims are reporting it (Rainn). Reasons as to why the report levels aren’t higher has to do with campus policies and their reputation on how they handle the issue at hand. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Sexual Assault And Harassment Incidents in College" essay for you Create order In order for colleges to avoid discrepancies on their campus or bad reputations, they unfortunately, tend to keep these types of matters in the dark. However, efforts have been instated to promote awareness and promote education sexual harassment and rape on general terms. Campuses have observed that alcohol/drugs, low reports, and overall peer pressure are the general factors that lead to sexual harassment charges and rape. College is usually a place where young people are on their own for the first time and get a chance to really experiment with both sex and alcohol. Oftentimes the combination can lead to inappropriate or even dangerous situations for young women and sometimes, young men. Based off of just the mass media, drugs and more consistently alcohol, are both considered to be pivotal moments in the college experience, however their recreational abuse aids in leading reports of sexual harassment (Mintz). In some cases, the aggressor will use some form of substance to lower the victim’s resistance or decrease their ability to fight back by discretely inserting it into an alcoholic beverage, which is considered a â€Å"date rape drug†. At least one-half of all violent crimes involve alcohol consumption by the perpetrator, the victim, or both (Collins and Messerschmidt 1993). Sexual assault fits this pattern a little too well. Hence, across the contrasting populations studied, researchers routinely have found that roughly one half of all sexual assaults are committed by men who had been drinking alcohol preceding the attack (NIAAA). It is also crucial to emphasize that although a woman’s alcohol consumption can lead her to a dangerous place with an increased risk of sexual assault, she is still in no way responsible for the attack. The perpetrators are legally and morally responsible for their actions and can only be judged upon their own behavior. To tie some loose ends, alcohol consumption at college campuses is at an all time high, and rules and regulations regarding underage drinking and consumption laws in general, aren’t necessarily at the top of the priority list. Unfortunately, the victims of assault oftentimes do not prioritize reporting their attacks. Only 20% of female students reported their abuse to the authorities. In most cases, this is because women fear they could be belittled, no one would listen, or they’d be shamed for putting themselves in an unsafe environment. Often, the suspects of sexual assault are defended over the victim, who is then shamed or even scolded for behavior seen to be contributing to the assault. It should also be considered that most victims of sexual assault know their defiler on some sort of personal level. As reported by RAINN, around seven out of ten sexual assaults are carried out by someone the victim knows. This is another factor contributing to women underreporting their assaults. A victim who withholds from telling anyone, out of fear they’ll be shunned or won’t be believed, is even less likely to report abuse from a boyfriend/girlfriend, a mother or father, a teacher, or a teammate (NIAAA). This unfavorable truth stems from a victim’s stereotyped and corrupted assumption that they are less likely to be believed in such a situation. Regrettably, the media in terms of a range between news channels and award-winning Hollywood movies, there isn’t much of a voice or safe place for these victims to tell their stories without second guessing if it’d be worth the slander and bashing they’d receive. Lastly, when women have confided in close individuals, they are often advised to ignore it, forget it, and move on. The oppression of emotional warfare that exists in the minds of the victims isn’t a big enough headline to be considered noteworthy or pressing enough to call a change to. Peer pressure plays a role in sexual assault as well. These young adults are on their own for the first time, some of them breaking the shackles of a 9:00 curfew off their wrists, and finally able to be free and participate in activities they couldn’t so much do with their parents around. Students may feel pressured to participate in unfortunate popular social activities like drinking, drug use, hopping from party to party, or even going so far as engaging in sexual activities that aren’t uncomfortable to them. There is a lot of tension, especially, for students to drink, leading to situations where women may consume more alcohol than they intend, leaving them vulnerable to assault (Mintz). This comes from dismantled portrayals and identity crisis within them, so they reach for a bubbly friend to make them more, â€Å"comfortable.† The limit a person is willing to drink is usually based on however much their friends are or as much as it seems the people around th em are ingesting. If they perceive that their peers are drinking a lot, they will take normal precautions to match them, even if their perception is inaccurate. With skewed views on how to fit in and colleges past the inspirational posters that middle schools are holding onto, instead of finding friends, students are turning to alcohol, which in turn is becoming the cause of sexual assault crimes on campuses across the United States (RAINN). Sexual assault is spreading across colleges with no intention to slow down because of alcohol abuse, women not reporting their attack, and students feeling pressured to act in a certain way when in college situations for the first time. With colleges focusing their attention towards money jackpot deals and promoting their latest football gear, women are still hiding in their shame, deciding to never follow through with reporting their abuse. Alcohol use continues to skyrocket with campuses loosening their policies and rules concerning its consumption. Peer pressure is still considered an issue in the social development of people entering college, and no one seems too rushed to push towards social acceptance. Sexual assault cases are on the track to being pushed under the rug and ignored. Campuses continue to struggle to find the time to figure out a solution to this rapid issue, however, in the meantime women might just need that one push of confidence and bravery to rise as a hero, instead of a foul human.