How to hook the ball in ten pin bowling

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accuracy, ball action, bowling, curve ball, downswing, fingertip grip, follow through, full-roller, hook ball, lift and turn, lifting power, release, spin, ten pin bowling, tenpin, turn, turning the ball

(originally published to Helium writing site, now gone)

Most novice bowlers will naturally bowl the ball fairly straight and down the center of the lane. The ball will skid and then travel end over end the rest of the way down the lane. This isn’t the most effective way to score as the ball will deflect more and be likely to leave pins standing.

By turning the ball during delivery, the ball will roll in such a way that it follows a curved path and will result in better pinfall. Basically, the way to do this is to twist the hand and arm slightly just before release. The thumb will move from a 12 o’clock position to about a 10 o’clock position, while the fingers will move from a 6 o’clock position to about a 4 o’clock position at release.

It is important to get the hand underneath the ball at the start of the approach and maintain this position throughout the swing. Many bowlers trying a hook shot for the first time will bend their wrist too far back and will come over the top of the ball, with the fingers coming out at the same time as the thumb or even before the thumb.

They will also rotate their hand around in a fairly rapid, even violent movement. This will probably result in a ball that spins all the way down the lane like a top, gaining little or no turn. This delivery is popular in some Asian countries where lane conditions are poor and such a shot can be used to counteract them with good results. It is often called a helicopter shot and is aimed straight down the middle of the lane. However, on lanes with an even and generous coating of oil, the delivery is ineffective, and is likely to leave corner pins and pocket splits such as the 5-7 or 8-10, even if angled in from the first or second arrow.

By keeping a straight wrist throughout, the hand will remain under the ball as it comes to the bottom of the downswing. At this point let the thumb go loose and it should come out of the ball smoothly and easily. The ball is then left on the two bowling fingers (the middle and ring fingers) momentarily. This is where lift is generated.

Try and flick the fingers outwards and upwards as the ball is about to come off the fingers. The action is rather similar to bringing your fingers up the side of a tennis ball when thrown underarm, or an American football for that matter, with your fingers at about 4 o’clock. You will see the ball spin sideways as it goes through the air. Your bowling ball should spin in a similar manner as it travels down the lane, the spinning motion being in an anticlockwise direction for right-handers.

A proper follow through is essential too. The instant after release, the hand and arm should keep following the same line, that is, they should extend out in front of you and upwards in one fluent movement. Your hand should finish in the handshake position, like you’re reaching up to shake the hand of a giant. Your arm will finish about 45 degrees past the horizontal position, although this will vary from bowler to bowler and on how quickly you come out of the ball.

Some bowlers will bend their arm after the release as a natural part of their follow through. Generally a straight arm is recommended. Other bowlers will bend their arm before release, giving the ball extra lift, or have their arm bent throughout the swing. For novice and intermediate bowlers, it’s best to keep the arm straight as much as possible, to get better accuracy.

Spin or turn can also be generated by not rotating the hand during release, but by holding the hand at the right side of the ball or between the back and right side of the ball (for a right hander). This will result in a curved ball which will travel down the lane in a fairly even curve, with the spin on the ball looking pretty much the same for the length of the lane. This shot could be quite effective in years gone by, when accuracy was more important than action. The problem with it is that it can fade over the last 10 or 20 feet and doesn’t quite come up into the pocket all that strongly.

On today’s oily conditions and with the urethane and reactive resin bowls, a hook ball will be more effective than the curve ball (and be far more effective than a straight ball or a spinner). A hook ball travels down the lane in a straight line or with a slight curve for the first 38 feet or so (the length of the oil), and will then grip the lane and ‘flip,’ before turning sharply into the pocket.

A hook ball can be achieved by turning the ball. This can be done in a number of ways. It can be achieved by keeping the thumb at 12 o’clock through the swing, including at release. The bowler then turns the ball with the fingers. This might be difficult for many bowlers as there is only a split second between the thumb release and when the ball leaves the fingers.

A better way for many bowlers will be to rotate the arm in order to move the thumb from 12 o’clock to about 10’clock and the fingers from 6 o’clock to 4 o’clock. It is best to do this mainly by turning the arm, rather than mainly the wrist. Turning with the wrist alone is likely to result in topping the ball, and a delivery that slides too far. Also, by turning the wrist alone, the risk is that the thumb will come out last. This will result in a ball that slides and spins all the way to the pins with hardly any turn. Such a shot will need to be just about millimeter perfect to get a strike.

Another way to bowl a hook is to move the arm and hand outwards in the upswing, so that the thumb is at about 1 or 2 o’clock at the top of the swing, and then rotate the arm the other way in the downswing, bringing the thumb to the 10 o’clock position at release. Some bowlers perform this whole action on the downswing, but it is difficult to master and may result in loss of accuracy and a weaker roll for the novice and intermediate bowler.

In the old days, many bowlers used to move the bowl the other way, that is, with the thumb going from 12 o’clock to 9 o’clock or even right round to 6 o’clock, and then back to about 10 o’clock at release. This results in a full roller, which is a curve ball rather than a hook ball and is less effective on today’s conditions and with the modern bowling balls.

Remember that in order to bowl an effective hook ball, both turn and lift are essential. Also important are a host of other factors. You will need the right equipment, which means balls with resin or particle cover. A plastic ball is good for spares as it will travel straighter. The balls need to be drilled properly, based on your hand and fingers and the way you bowl. A fingertip grip will greatly enhance your lifting power, compared with conventional grip where your fingers go into the finger holes up to the second knuckle. Good timing throughout the approach and swing are necessary, as is a strong and clean release, and proper follow through.

Get your local ball driller to watch you bowl a game and ask them to drill you an appropriate set of bowling balls in the way that is best suited to your game and the way you lift and turn the ball.

Rules of ten pin bowling

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approaches, arrows, bowling, bowling balls, foul line, frames, head pin, lanes, leagues, oil, pins, playing area, rules, spare, strike, synthetic lanes, ten pin bowling, tenpin, tournaments, United States Bowling Congress, wood lanes

(originally published to Helium writing site, now gone)

The rules of ten pin bowling are set down by the regulator in each country. In the US, this is the United States Bowling Congress, first established as the American Bowling Congress in 1895. All sanctioned leagues and tournaments must abide by these rules. The rules vary little between countries. Most of the rules are concerned with the playing area, the bowling balls used, and the pins, as well as rules relating to league and tournament play.

The playing area includes the lanes themselves plus the approaches. All lanes are 62 feet 10 3/16 inches in length. The distance from the foul line to the middle of the head pin, or 1-pin, is 60 feet, with a half inch tolerance, although the head pin must be 2 feet 10 3/16th inches from the end of the lane. The lanes can be between 41 and 42 inches wide and consist of 39 boards. These used to be made of maple and pine wood but are now synthetic.

There are small arrows about 15 feet down the lane, which are used as targets. The lanes are flat, to a tolerance of 40/1000th of an inch or one millimeter. Each lane has about 0.6 of an ounce of oil applied daily to protect it. For leagues and tournaments, this increases to around 0.8-1.0 ounce. The approach area must extend at least 15 feet back from the foul line. This area has two sets of dots about 12 and 15 feet from the line. These are used by bowlers to work out their starting spot.

Bowling balls must be between 26.7 and 27 inches in circumference and not exceed 16 pounds. There is no limit at the lighter end, although six pound balls are generally the lightest ball in most centers and used by young children. Balls must be free of marks and indentations, except for thumb and finger holes, manufacturer markings, and those through normal wear and tear.

The balls are made of a solid inner core and a non-metallic outer shell of rubber, polyester, or more recently, urethane, or reactive material. Modern bowling balls have a greater range of core densities and now have to be measured along three axes to ensure they comply with the rules and don’t give an unfair advantage: the x-axis which is a line through the ball parallel to the foul line, the y-axis which is a line parallel to the boards, and the z-axis which is the vertical line through the ball. Surface hardness must be at least 72 on the durometer scale.

Pins are made of maple wood coated with plastic 3/32nd of an inch thick. They are 15 inches tall and 4.766 inches in diameter at their widest point, which is 4.5 inches from the base, or where the ball makes contact. Diameter at the bottom is 2.031 inches. There are many additional measurements to make sure pins are a consistent shape. Pins must weigh between three pounds six ounces and three pounds ten ounces. The pins have one or two voids or cavities towards the bottom in order to balance the wider lower part with the narrower upper part; otherwise, the pins would be bottom heavy and wouldn’t fall properly.

The pins are configured in a triangle at the end of the lane. The headpin or 1-pin is in the middle and in front of the other pins. The second row has two pins, called the 2-pin and 3-pin (from left to right), the third row has three pins, or the 4-pin, 5-pin, and 6-pin, and the back row has four pins, or the 7-pin, 8-pin, 9-pin, and 10-pin.

A game of ten pin bowling is divided into ten parts or frames. A player has two opportunities to knock the pins down in each frame. If the bowler knocks all pins down with one ball, this is a strike (denoted by an X), and the bowler has completed this frame. If any pins are left standing after the first ball, the player has a second chance of knocking down the remaining pin or pins. If the remaining pins are knocked down with this second ball, the bowler is awarded a spare (denoted by a /). The next player or team member then has their turn, and so on, until everyone has bowled their first frame. The lead bowler then starts their second frame.

Each pin knocked over counts for one point. If a player bowls down six pins with the first ball and then another two with the second ball, they score eight for that frame. Where any pins are left standing after two deliveries, this is an open frame, and remaining pins are swept away by the sweep attached to the pinsetting machine. When a bowler gets a spare, the score for that frame equals the ten pins they knocked down plus the next shot. If the next bowl is a seven, the player achieves a score of 17 in the first frame, i.e. ten for the spare plus seven for the next ball.

When a bowler scores a strike, the number of pins they knock down with their next two deliveries is added to the value of the strike. Thus if the player follows a strike in the first frame with a six and a three in the second frame, their score in the first frame is 19, i.e. 10 + 6 + 3. The second frame score is 28, obtained by simply adding the six and the three to the first frame score. If the bowler strings strikes together, their score will go up by 30 a frame, i.e. the value of the strike plus the next two balls. A perfect score is thus 300.

There are various other rules laid down by the United States Bowling Congress and the bowling associations of other countries. Crossing the foul line at the start of the lane results in no score for the delivery, except if you hang onto the bowl, in which case you can have your shot again.

Leagues and tournaments have various rules such as those for tardy bowlers, blind scores for absent players, bowling on the wrong lane (the ball must be rebowled on the correct lane), the system of handicapping (unless a scratch competition), how many points a team earns if they win a game, and so on. Finally, there are some basic etiquette rules such as giving way to the bowler on your right and participating in a sporting manner.

How to score in ten pin bowling

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300, all spare game, bonus ball, bowling, Dutch 200, frames, games, how to score, perfect game, pins, scoring, spare, strike, ten pin bowling, tenpin, Turkey

(originally published to Helium writing site, now gone)

Scoring in ten pin bowling isn’t quite as easy as counting the pins knocked over on each shot and adding them up. If all pins are knocked over with one ball (a strike), the pinfall for the next two deliveries is added to the strike as a bonus. Where all the pins are felled with two shots, the pins knocked over with the following ball count as the bonus. With automated scoring systems since the 1980s, social bowlers no longer have to know how to score, as it’s done for them. However, in league and tournament play, a bowler must know how many pins have to be knocked down to beat the opposition, and knowing how to score is essential.

A game of ten pin bowling consists of ten parts or frames. A player has two opportunities to knock the pins down in each frame. If the bowler knocks all pins down with one ball, this is a strike (denoted by an X), and the bowler has completed this frame. If any pins are left standing after the first ball, the player has a second chance of knocking down the remaining pin or pins. If the remaining spins are knocked down with this second ball, the bowler is awarded a spare (denoted by a /). The next player or team member then has their turn, and so on, until everyone has bowled their first frame. The lead bowler then starts their second frame.

Each pin knocked over counts for one point. If a player bowls down six pins with the first ball and then another two with the second ball, they score eight for that frame. Where any pins are left standing after two deliveries, this is an open frame, and remaining pins are swept away by the sweep attached to the pinsetting machine. Thus if no strikes or spares are scored in a game, quite common among social bowlers, then the final score for the game is simply the sum of the number of pins knocked over in each frame. The highest possible score without strikes or spares is 90.

As soon as the player bowls a strike or spare, scoring becomes a little more complex. If a bowler gets a strike, i.e. knocks over all pins in one ball, this counts initially as ten, but the player has to wait until they have bowled their next two balls before the score for the frame containing the strike can be tallied up and finalized. This is due to the bonus points awarded for the next two balls after a strike. Thus if a bowler gets a strike in the first frame and follows this up with eight pins and one pin in the second frame, these two scores are added to the value of the strike, i.e. ten pins, for a total of 19 pins in the first frame. In the second frame, this bowler has knocked over nine more pins, so their score in the second frame is 28 (19 from the first frame plus 9 from the second frame).

Remember that whenever a strike is scored, the pins knocked down with the next two bowls by that player are added to the ten pins for the strike. This means that if the bowler follows a strike with a spare (say seven and three, or any other combination for that matter), their score for the first frame is 20, i.e. 10 + 7 + 3. If the player bowls another strike in the second frame to follow their strike in the first frame, the score for the first frame cannot be finalized until this bowler plays their first ball of the third frame. If this is a six, then the player’s score in the first frame is 26, i.e. 10 + 10 + 6. They might score three with their second ball of the third frame. In this case, their score in the second frame is 45, i.e. adding 26 from the first frame to the 19 they earn in the second frame, which comes from their strike in the second frame plus their next two deliveries, being a six and three in the third frame. Their third frame score is 54, or 45 from the second frame plus their total of nine in the third frame itself.

Where a bowler keeps bowling strikes, their score will go up by 30 pins each frame, i.e. ten for the initial strike and another ten for each of their next two shots. Two strikes in a row is a double and three in a row is called a ‘turkey’. After that, a string of strikes is referred to as a four-bagger or five-bagger and so on, or simply four in a row, five in a row, etc. If a player starts a game with, say, five strikes, this is referred to as the ‘front five’ or ‘first five’. Similarly, at the end of a game, if a bowler finishes with, say, seven strikes, this is called the ‘back seven’ or ‘last seven’. Where a player finishes a game with, say, six strikes, and starts the next game with four strikes, this person is said to have the ‘back six and first four’ or ‘last six and first four’.

You will see plenty of strikes strung at Professional Bowlers Association events and on television tournaments. A perfect game of 300 is achieved when a bowler scores 12 strikes in a row. Because of the bonus scoring system, a strike in the tenth frame requires two more balls to be bowled. If these are strikes, and the bowler has struck in all other frames, a 300 is the result. Until around 1980, these used to be rarer than a hole in one at golf. With the modern reactive bowling balls, 300 games are now quite common. There are probably quite a few of them bowled on any day somewhere in the US. If you go to a PBA tournament, chances are you’ll see one or two or even more 300s.

While the next two shots count as bonuses after a strike, a bowler gets one bonus ball added to their score after a spare. Say if a player knocks down seven pins with their first delivery and then bowls over the remaining three pins with their second delivery in a frame, whatever the player knocks down with their next ball is added to the ten they knocked over in the preceding frame. Thus if the bowler gets a spare in the first frame and then eight with their first ball of the second frame, their score in the first frame is 18, i.e. 10 + 8. Should the player knock over only one of the two remaining pins in the second frame, their score for that frame will be 27, i.e. 18 from the first frame plus a total of nine in the second frame.

A game will usually include strikes, spares and misses. The important things to remember are to add the following two balls to the score after a strike and one ball after a spare, and that the bonus pins knocked down after a strike or spare also count towards the current frame or frames. Let’s imagine a game with the following frame by frame results: 6/, X, 8/, 7 2, 9/, X, X, 8 1, 7/, 8/X. By applying the bonus pins after a strike (the next two balls) and a spare (the next ball), you can compute the progressive scores as follows: 20, 40, 57, 66, 86, 114, 133, 142, 160, 180. The final game score is 180. Note that where a bowler alternates between strikes and spares throughout a game, they will go up by 20 pins each frame and score a 200. This is known as a ‘Dutch 200′. An all spare game is another coveted achievement in bowling. The highest score possible with an all spare game is 190.

There are really no alternative methods of scoring in ten pin bowling. The method sometimes touted as an alternative method simply puts the scores into the frames right up to the current frame rather than waiting for bonus ball scores. Automated scoring systems will often show the current score in this way. Thus if a strike or spare is bowled in the first frame, a 10 appears on the scoreboard straight away. This will change, depending on what the bowler scores for their next ball. If they bowl a six after a strike, this will change the score in the first frame to 16. If they bowl a spare, the first frame score becomes 20 and their second frame score is 30. But this will change after they bowl their first bowl of the third frame, and so on. At the end of the game, the scores in each frame and the game score will be the same as they would be if each frame is only scored after bonus pins have been finalized.

How technology has changed ten pin bowling

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automated scoring, automatic pinspotters, bowling balls, full-roller, lane conditions, lanes, semi-roller, sport bowling, technology, ten pin bowling, tenpin

(originally published to Helium writing site, now gone)

Technology has had an enormous impact on ten pin bowling over the last 100 years. Major changes have included automatic pinspotters, automated scoring, different lane types and high-tech bowling balls. In the early 20^th century, the sport used wooden balls and lanes, pins had to be set up manually, and someone had to keep score. All these features are now things of the past.

Before automatic pinspotters, bowling alleys employed pinsetters to manually stand up the pins after a bowler knocked them down, clear fallen pins, and roll the ball back along a track between the lanes. Pinsetting was low paid, part time and relatively dangerous, and was usually done by teenage boys who were often referred to as pinboys. A semi-automatic mechanical pinsetter was invented by Gottfried Schmidt in 1936. It was used in a limited number of alleys. A fully automatic pinspotter was first used in 1946 and became commercial in 1952. The machines made pinsetting and ball retrieval quicker, safer and more reliable. Over the next decade, they replaced pinboys in virtually all centers.

Another important technological change to ten pin bowling occurred in the 1980s with the introduction of automatic scoring. Until then, bowlers had to write down their scores using pencil and paper. In competition, scores were written on the monitor with special pencils and projected onto the overhang above the approaches. Automated computer scoring systems were developed that linked to the pinspotter machines and filled in the score sheet after each ball, although the early models needed someone to press the number of pins fallen or a spare or strike on the keyboard. This technology is credited as a major reason for the resurgence in bowling in the 1980s. Players could enter their names and the rest was done for them. They didn’t have to learn how to score, which can be complex for the general public and those lacking basic math skills.

Perhaps the biggest change in technology in ten pin bowling has been with the balls. The first bowling balls were roundish stones. These were replaced by manufactured wooden balls made of a hardwood such as oak or lignum vitae. Both were smaller than modern bowling balls and neither had finger holes. A hard rubber ball, the Evertrue, was first made in about 1906, followed by the rubber Mineralite ball in 1914. Rubber dominated until the 1970s when a softer plastic ball, usually polyester, was developed. These proved popular due to their higher scoring ability, but attracted the attention of the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) who set the minimum hardness of a ball at 72 on the durometer scale. The USBC also set limits on top and side weight to prevent unfair hooking advantage.

Balls with a polyurethane cover were introduced in 1981 and with a reactive resin cover around 1990. These balls gripped the lane better and produced higher scores for many bowlers. Competition among bowling ball manufacturers to see who could produce the highest scoring balls intensified, resulting in major changes to the core of a ball. The core had always been a uniform sphere wrapped in the outer casing, but in the 1990s various innovations were introduced. Different materials and methods of manufacture resulted in cores with a greater range of densities that assisted various bowlers. The USBC was forced to move from static ball balance regulations to dynamic balance regulations. A bowling ball now has to be measured along three axes to ensure it complies with the rules and doesn’t give an unfair advantage: the x-axis which is a line through the ball parallel to the foul line, the y-axis which is a line parallel to the boards, and the z-axis which is the vertical line through the ball.

Another major technological change in ten pin bowling has been to the lanes themselves. All lanes were made of wood, consisting of maple and pine boards, until synthetic lanes were first introduced in 1977. Since that time, alleys have steadily converted to the new lane type. Synthetic lanes are the same in appearance to the old wooden lanes, but are cheaper and easier to maintain and, combined with advances in lane oiling products and patterns, give a truer ball roll and higher scores.

The changes in ball and lane technology forced many bowlers to change their shot or be less competitive. The full-roller, which used to be a popular choice for bowlers and was effective at all levels of competition on drier lanes and with the old rubber and plastic balls, has virtually become obsolete. The full-roller contacts the lane on the same circumferential circle on each rotation, gathering oil as it travels down the lane, resulting in too much skid and not enough hook. Similarly, those who angled a straight or almost straight ball into the pocket are also at a disadvantage with the modern technology for the same reasons. Accuracy is no longer enough to be competitive in scratch events; you need a ball with a decent curve as well.

Today, the semi-roller has become the dominant shot. With the rubber and plastic balls, a semi-roller would also roll over the same area of the ball each rotation. But with the reactive bowling balls, a semi-roller will roll over a different ring each time, with the rings becoming a bit larger with each rotation. Thus a dry part of the surface of the ball is always making contact with the lane, increasing traction, and giving the ball more forward and side roll, or more revolutions. This makes the ball curve or hook more and results in better pin action and higher scoring.

Ball technology has made it more difficult to prepare a lane condition that is fair to all bowlers. High average bowlers with high-tech equipment want oily conditions to make their high revving shots hold a reasonable line and score well. Other bowlers who don’t throw a ball that is as strong want less oil so that their ball comes up to the pocket. Certainly, technology has led to higher scores for certain types of bowlers as evidenced by the huge increase in the number of 300 games and 800 series over the last three decades.

The USBC has been concerned that ten pin bowling is becoming a sport where technology rather than skill increasingly determines success. In 2000, it introduced ‘sport bowling’ where lane conditions are highly regulated, with more even oiling patterns, making it harder to bring the ball into the pocket and make huge scores. This seems to be a more popular option to reduce scores, rather than to make the pins heavier. The USBC’s ongoing concern prompted it to set up a Bowling Ball Specifications Task Force which conducted a study in 2006 and 2007 into how ball motion and technology was effecting scoring. To date, no changes have been made to the rules for bowling balls as a result of the study.

History of ten pin bowling

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American Bowling Congress, automatic pinspotters, automatic scoring, bowling, bowling alleys, bowling centers, crime, Edward III, Francis Drake, gambling, Henry VIII, Joe Thum, Kegelin, Kegelspiel, Martin Luther, nine pins, ten pin, tenpin, United States Bowling Congress

The earliest evidence for bowling is some primitive bowling balls and large skittles of pottery and stone found by archaeologists in 1930 in a child’s grave in Egypt dating to about 3200 BCE. South Sea Islanders played ‘ula maika’ in antiquity, a game similar to skittles. They bowled stones over a distance of about 60 feet, the same length as modern day lanes.

A bowling game called ‘Kegeln’ developed in Germany from as early as the third century using ‘Kegels’ or pins. It was played in the long cloisters of churches and monasteries by worshippers and clerics alike, even by Martin Luther in the 16^th century who standardized the number of pins used as nine, thereby inventing the game of nine pins. The pins were set up in a diamond formation with the middle pin being slightly taller than the others.

Bowling spread to nearby countries, including to England in the 13^th century where it was initially known as ‘kayles’. Edward III banned bowling in 1366 as young men were missing archery practice, and other kings outlawed it as it became a gambling craze. But royals and aristocrats enjoyed the game too, constructing alleys at their palaces and mansions. The first indoor bowling alley was built in 1455 in London.

Henry VIII reputedly bowled with cannon balls. London’s bishop John Aylmer bowled on Sunday afternoons! Francis Drake kept bowling after his men told him the Spanish Armada was approaching in battle formation; he knocked down some more pins before skittling the Spaniards.

It was the Dutch who introduced bowling to the New World in 1626 at Manhattan Island, although it was the lawn version. English, German and Dutch migrants brought the game of nine pins with them across the Atlantic. Puritans tried to ban the pastime, although in 1658 one of their number confessed that he liked bowling and bet ten pounds on the outcome of a game, which he apparently won.

Bowling was popular in New York in the early 19^th century and extended to many other parts of the country by the 1830s. The first indoor center in the US was Knickerbockers in New York City opening in1840. The sport soon became associated with gambling and crime. Huge bets were placed and many matches were rigged. Anyone who declined to play in a fixed match or refused to lose a game was likely to be beaten up. Authorities in New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut classified bowling as gambling and therefore illegal.

A law was passed in Connecticut in 1841 prohibiting the game of nine pins. Legend has it that enthusiasts added a tenth pin to circumvent the law and the game of ten pin bowling was born. However, it should be noted that a painting from about 1810 at the International Bowling Hall of Fame and Museum, at St Louis, Missouri, shows English bowlers using a set of ten pins in triangular formation.

Germans had the most influence on the development of ten pin bowling in the US in the mid and late 19^th century, due to their game of nine pins called ‘Kegelspiel’. They formed many bowling clubs before and, in particular, after the Civil War. The ten pin version grew alongside nine pins but the latter remained more popular. Ten pin alleys were built in saloons and clubs frequented by men, whereas nine pins was more family oriented.

This pattern began to change when New York restaurateur Joe Thum founded the American Bowling Congress (ABC) in 1895. This body standardized the rules for ten pin bowling. Thum also led the way in making bowling a more respectable game among the middle and upper classes. His bowling alley, The White Elephant, was one of a number of more elegant and luxurious centers opening at the time. He is often considered the father of ten pin bowling.

By World War I, most alleys had changed from nine pins to ten pins. The changeover became almost complete when a number of US cities banned nine pins in the 1930s when workers went to these alleys instead of to work. Most remaining nine pin centers converted to ten pin bowling in the 1950s with the advent of pin setting machines. Only Texas still has nine pin alleys.

The first women’s leagues were formed in 1907 and the Women’s International Bowling Congress was established by 40 women in St Louis in 1916. This further helped bowling gain respectability and the game went from strength to strength.

In the 1920s, the number of bowling centers in the US rose from 450 to 2,000. Prohibition helped bowling by reducing its association with alcohol and making it a more family friendly activity. The end of prohibition in 1933 also assisted the game as brewers pushed to sponsor leagues, teams and individuals. It cemented bowling’s image as a working class sport, with the fifth frame often still referred to as the ‘beer frame’ or ‘drinks frame’ where the bowler with the lowest score for that frame buys refreshments for the team.

From World War II until the mid 1960s was a golden era for bowling. The armed forces had promoted the sport heavily. Labor organizations lobbied successfully for non-whites to become ABC members, thereby supporting racial integration. Automatic pinspotters, invented in 1945, were first introduced commercially in 1952 and over the next several years steadily replaced the pin boys who were employed by alleys to stand the pins back up.

Television tournaments, which started in 1947, became very popular in the 1950s, helping to make bowling a national pastime. ABC membership grew from 1.1 million in 1947 to 4.6 million in 1963 and the number of lanes in the US increased from 44,500 to 159,000 over this period. By 1960 most centers were air-conditioned and carpeted, and offered services such as restaurants, child minding, billiard tables and pinball machines.

Bowling went through a slump in the late 1960s as the novelty of the game seemed to wear off and fewer young people were replacing the older competitors who treated their sport more seriously than the next generation. There was a lack of investment and many alleys closed, becoming restaurants, bingo halls, and gyms. Bowling waxed and waned for a number of years, having to compete against a plethora of indoor and outdoor sports and activities that grew each year.

A sustained resurgence occurred from the 1980s, with many new centers being built and old ones refurbished. The game marketed itself as a fun recreation with alleys offering parties and disco lighting, while at the same time catering to the serious bowler. Automatic scoring also helped as players didn’t need to know how to score or have to write down the result after each bowl.

Today, bowling alleys are often part of entertainment centers with restaurants, cinemas, night clubs and games rooms. In 2005, the United States Bowling Congress was formed from a merger of the men’s, women’s and youth associations. It maintains standards and rules, sanctions leagues and tournaments, and certifies coaches. The congress had 2.6 million paying members in 2008, more than any other sport. Bowling has come a long way from its time as a gambling activity for crooks and drunks. The sport is enjoyed by millions around the world.

Important things to know about economics

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agricultural economics, budgets, business cycle, capital, capitalism, consumption, deficits, distribution, economic systems, economics, environmental economics, externalities, factors of production, financial economics, fiscal policy, global financial crisis, goods and services, gross domestic product, health economics, interest rates, labor, labor economics, macroeconomics, managerial economics, market failure, microeconomics, mixed economies, monetary policy, money supply, monopoly, price, price elasticity, production, public finance, public goods, regional economics, resource allocation, scarcity, socialism, supply and demand, surpluses, urban economics, welfare economics

(originally published to Helium writing site, now gone)

The main thing to know about economics is that we need to study it due to scarcity, that is, because our wants exceed the finite supply of resources. We therefore need to determine the best way to allocate those resources. The major concepts within economics can be divided into two groups: microeconomics, which examines how individuals, households and firms allocate scarce resources, and macroeconomics, which studies the structure, behavior and performance of the economy as a whole.

1 Scarcity

Economics is about the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services. The concept of scarcity is perhaps the most important thing to know about economics. If all resources and means of production were infinite or abundant, we’d have all the goods and services we could ever want and we wouldn’t need to study economics.

But resources are finite or scarce and people want more than what is available. This gives rise to the concept of scarcity and is the reason we study economics. Scarcity means there are insufficient resources to satisfy our abundant wants, so we have to find some way of rationing the allocation of resources.

Much has been written on post-scarcity economies where people can have as much of anything and everything as they want. This situation usually assumes that technology has advanced to such a stage where we can have as much of any good or service as we want for free or very low cost. Such utopian societies are often the settings of science fiction, as are dystopian societies where all incentive to lead a normal life disappears.

Allocation of resources in a normally functioning society is determined by price and this will be the focus of the next article on economic fundamentals.

2 Supply and demand

This section examines how economics copes with scarcity, and that is through the pricing mechanism. This is what microeconomics is all about.

Supply and demand is used to determine prices of goods and services. Producers are willing to supply varying quantities of a good or service depending on the price they can obtain for it. Consumers will demand different amounts of the good or service based on the price they have to pay. At the price where the volume produced equals the quantity purchased, with neither a surplus nor any unmet demand, this is the equilibrium price paid and quantity produced for that good or service.

Supply and demand curves

Economists show the relationship between supply and demand on a graph. Price is shown on the vertical axis while quantity is on the horizontal axis. The supply curve for a good or service always slopes upward from left to right. This is because producers will want to supply more of a product the higher the price. By contrast, the demand curve nearly always slopes downward from left to right. The lower the price of the product, the more of it will be demanded by consumers.

Thus the supply curve and the demand curve will form a cross on the graph. Where they intersect will be the price at which all units of the good or service will be sold. In other words, the market is cleared at that price. The model assumes perfect competition with no firm or consumer having an influence on the price.

Changes in demand and supply

For just about any good or service, the quantity demanded by consumers is likely to change over time. Factors leading to a change in the quantity demanded include changes in income, prices of related products, tastes and preferences, and expectations of future prices. An increase in income levels due to a wage rise or tax cuts will usually result in consumers demanding a greater quantity of goods and services.

If the price of a particular good comes down, consumers are likely to demand a greater quantity of any complementary goods. For example, if computer prices fall, not only will demand for computers increase but so too will demand for goods such as computer accessories, printers, and electronic games. Conversely, if two products are clear substitutes, such as butter and margarine, a fall in the price of one will lead to a decrease in demand for the other.

Changes in tastes and preferences will result in shifts in the quantity demanded of various goods over time, for example, different styles of clothing. Expectations of price changes will play a role too. If people feel that the price of a product will soon rise, they might demand extra units at the lower price while it lasts.

Where demand for a product increases, producers will usually move to satisfy that extra demand by increasing supply. This may involve resources flowing to the production of goods and services with high demand and away from those that have lost popularity. Technological advances and economies of scale often push the price down, resulting in further increases in demand. Other determinants of supply will include input costs and expectations of price changes, as well as market expansion through population growth.

In these situations, both demand and supply curves will shift to the right, to reflect larger quantities, and will intersect at a different point on the chart. The new equilibrium price may be lower than before. This is typical of electronic goods. Sometimes the new price might be higher, such as for certain fashion items. This might occur if consumers are convinced that a particular product has become more prestigious and is highly desirable.

3 Price elasticity

Price elasticity is the extent of changes in the quantity of a product demanded and supplied for a given change in its price and how this can vary between different goods and services.

The term price elasticity is used to describe the relative steepness of supply and demand curves for different goods and services and is fundamental to understanding the principles of supply and demand. Economists and business managers need to know how much the quantity of a product demanded and supplied will change when its price changes.

The price elasticity of demand measures the change in demand for a good or service for a given price change and may vary at different places along the demand curve. If the price of a product rises 5% and demand falls by 5%, price elasticity equals -1 or unity. However, if demand falls 10%, elasticity is -2. If it drops by only 2%, elasticity is -0.4. Price elasticity of demand will vary for different products, depending on whether the good or service is a necessity or luxury, the extent of substitute products, the percentage of income spent on the product, and whether price changes are perceived as long or short term.

If, for example, bus fares rise 5%, demand may only fall by 1% (elasticity of -0.2) as there might be few alternatives for those without their own transport, so very few of these consumers will stop taking the bus, which to them is a necessity. This is an example of inelastic demand. Other examples include basic food items, beer, cigarettes, oil and medicines. Conversely, if the price of a particular brand of automobile rises 5%, demand might fall 15% (elasticity of -3) because there are many substitutes and consumers will buy a different brand. Other examples of elastic demand include spirits, many luxuries, and most brand items.

Price elasticity of supply is the change in the amount of a good or service producers are willing to provide for a given change in price and is always a positive number. If the price of a good or service rises 5% and businesses increase their supply by 10%, elasticity equals 2. If companies are only willing to lift supply by 3%, elasticity is 0.6.

There are several determinants of price elasticity of supply. An important factor is availability of inputs and this includes raw materials and suitable labor. Another is how much time and effort it takes producers to adjust their processes to a new level of supply. If there is spare capacity, firms can increase their supply quickly. But if extra machinery is required and new staff need to be recruited and trained, it will take longer. Response time will also depend on how easy or difficult it is to shift resources between industries.

4 Applied microeconomics

This section looks at various areas where the principles of microeconomics are applied, including pricing and supply and demand.

Applied microeconomics has many specialized areas that utilize microeconomic theory and come up with policies appropriate to those areas. Some of the more important ones are as follows:

– Agricultural economics looks at crop and livestock farming, land use, yields, and agribusiness in general.

– Environmental economics examines pollution and environmental degradation, how these lead to market failure, and the policies to address the failure.

– Financial economics examines financial markets, company financing, the stock market, budgeting, investing and saving.

– Health economics studies the supply of and demand for health care, patient outcomes, financial issues, health workers and health insurance.

– Industrial organization and regulation looks at the structure of markets, the strategy of firms, innovation, technological progress, privatization, trademarks, and antitrust policy, and can involve any industry.

– Labor economics analyzes the labor market, employment, the supply and demand for labor, and wages.

– Law and economics uses economic concepts and theories to look at the effects of laws and which ones are economically efficient.

– Managerial economics examines the decisions of firms and other units and makes use of operations research and regression analysis.

– Public finance looks at government spending and revenue policies and their effects.

– Regional economics compares economic activity across geographical areas of a nation, and analyzes issues such as why some regions grow faster than others.

– Urban economics studies city issues such as pollution, traffic, urban sprawl, and poverty.

– Welfare economics looks at resource allocation and income distribution together.

5 Market failure

There are a number of areas where the market, through supply and demand and the pricing mechanism, isn’t the best allocator of resources, and government steps in to rectify or ease the situation. Market failure is thus another important concept in economics. There are several reasons why markets can fail to allocate resources efficiently and easily in the manner described in previous sections.

If one firm is dominant or has a monopoly in a particular market, this can unduly influence price and output, which can result in an inefficient allocation of resources. For example, in the US, antitrust regulations reduce monopoly power.

A second way a market can fail is if there are outside influences or externalities operating, for example, a firm might be polluting the environment or producing unsafe products. Government regulation aims to reduce or eliminate such externalities. An issue we’re hearing more and more about these days is global warming and carbon emissions. Governments take various measures to try and reduce the amount of carbon emitted, such as carbon pricing, emissions trading schemes, and direct regulation.

A third way relates to goods and services that people want but are unable or unwilling to pay for, or private firms might be unwilling to provide, or a product might be unsuitable for them to provide. The best example is public goods such as defense, law and order, health, education, and transport infrastructure, where governments step in and provide them, or provides a large proportion of them.

6 Macroeconomics

Macroeconomics is about the overall economy whereas microeconomics is about the individual players.

Macroeconomics examines the structure, behavior and performance of the whole economy rather than the actions of individuals and firms. It includes things like national income, consumption, investment, exports and imports, employment and unemployment, and inflation.

The two most important areas of macroeconomic research are finding the causes and effects of short-term fluctuations in the economy (the business cycle) and how to achieve long-term growth. This involves analyzing data on things like gross domestic product and its components, as well as inflation, unemployment, retail sales and consumer sentiment. These data can be fed into a macroeconomic model to try and forecast turning points and future growth levels. The findings will influence government economic policy.

The macroeconomic policies of government are fiscal policy and monetary policy and these are examined below. Both aim to stabilize the economy and promote long-term sustainable growth and are often used in tandem.

7 Fiscal policy

Fiscal policy influences the economy through changing the levels of government income and spending. Basically, if the government wants to stimulate a sluggish economy, it can spend more money than it receives (running a budget deficit). Economist John Maynard Keynes first suggested this in the 1930s as a way of beating the economic depression that engulfed the world at that time. Until then, governments had traditionally aimed to balance the budget, but Keynes argued that this caused the economy to shrink even more.

Conversely, if an economy is overheating, the government can increase taxes or reduce spending or both (and run a budget surplus) to reduce inflation and slow down growth, thereby putting money aside to perhaps use in the next downturn and ease its effects.

The effectiveness of government boosting the economy through spending more than it receives is reduced when inflation is high and when government already has a large debt. We have seen this in a number of countries since the 1970s during economic downturns. This was particularly so during the global financial crisis and worst economic downturn since the 1930s.

For these reasons, monetary policy has been used increasingly since the 1970s and this policy is the subject of the next section.

8 Monetary policy

In recent decades, monetary policy has been favored over fiscal policy, because expansionary fiscal policy (where the government spends more than it receives) tends to “crowd out” the private sector by reducing the resources available to it and putting upward pressure on interest rates.

Monetary policy is where government controls the supply of money in the economy. Monetarists, led by Milton Friedman, contend that inflation depends largely on the amount of money in the economy rather than on government spending and revenue decisions. Under monetary policy, a government will increase the rate of growth in the money supply if it wants to stimulate the economy, and decrease the growth rate if it wants to slow the economy (for example, if inflation is pushing up growth to unsustainable levels). The government does this by lowering or raising interest rates.

Since 2008 and the global financial crisis, governments of most economies have cut interest rates, or in other words have made money cheaper, to try and increase the money supply, boost employment, stimulate growth, and prevent a recession or prevent a worse recession as the case may be. However, low interest rates have meant cheap credit, which has led to high debt in both the private and government sectors. Many economies are now treading a fine line between a further escalation of debt if interest rates are kept low, but lower growth and a possible return to recession if rates are increased. There are no easy answers as we’ve seen in recent years in the US, Europe and elsewhere.

9 Economic systems

The way a society organizes itself to produce, distribute and consume good and services is another important thing to know about economics. Two main economic systems are capitalism and socialism.

Capitalism is where the factors of production (land, labor and capital) are owned mainly by the private sector, and where the market determines price. This system has been favored in most places and at most times since the industrial revolution.

Socialism is where there is common or government ownership of the factors of production, and where there is no division of labor and capital.

In practice, most economies are what we call mixed economies, though leaning towards capitalism, with a sizeable government sector but larger private sector.

Since the 19^th century, capitalist systems have tended to have an ever growing government sector as economies become more mature and people want goods and services that can’t always be provided by firms and individuals, such as roads, health, education, the arts, social security, and so on. Just about any Western economy is a good example of this.

At the same time, socialist systems have tended to allow more and more goods and services to be provided by the non-government sector. Russia and China are good examples.

What is product placement?

Tags

advertisement, advertisement placement, advertising, brand integration, fictional product placement, marketing, product placement, soap opera

(originally published to Helium writing site, now gone)

Product placement is a type of advertising where commercial products are included in scenes from films or television shows, as well as in video games, music videos, and books. Firms pay to have their products displayed in this way, and it helps producers offset production costs. It can include the product itself, a favorable mention, or a brand’s logo.

A typical example might be a scene in a television series where the characters are sitting at the breakfast table with several products such as a packet of cereal, a milk product and a fruit juice all prominently displayed on the table with labels facing the camera. People see the stars of their favorite shows eating a particular cereal or driving a certain car and will associate the product with those stars. This makes people go and buy these same products, so they can connect with or be like the stars. Sales can be boosted significantly. For example, the 1982 film “ET the Extra-Terrestrial” boosted sales of candy bar Reese’s Pieces by eighty percent. Research similar to ad tracking is carried out to test recall rates for products people saw in a movie or television show.

Product placement has been around since at least the 1940s. The earliest example is perhaps in the 1946 film “It’s a Wonderful Life”, where a boy who wanted to be an explorer clutches a copy of National Geographic. Product placement in episodic television series in the 1940s and 1950s by soap companies is how these types of programs came to be known as “soap operas”.

One of the products most commonly used in product placement is motor vehicles, such as the use of Fords in “The X-Files”. The James Bond film “The Man with the Golden Gun” used AMC cars, including in Thailand where these cars aren’t available, and they didn’t even change the steering wheel to the side used in that country. Other Bond movies have used Fords, BMWs and of course Aston Martins. Three characters in “Desperate Housewives” drive Nissans. The car used in 1960s sitcom “Mr. Ed” was a Studebaker. In all these shows, the car companies paid large sums for product placement.

There are many variations of product placement:

– Brand integration is where the product becomes an integral part of a movie or television show, for example, where a character works for an advertising agency, and its campaign for a particular product becomes an integral part of the show.

– Placement can include advertisements for a product, for example, a Pepsi ad on a billboard seen from a car or during a night time street scene. This is sometimes called advertisement placement.

– Product placement might be spoofed in comedies, for example, the film “Kung Pow! Enter the Fist” featured an out of place Taco Bell. In “Looney Tunes: Back in Action”, a Wal-Mart popped up in the desert.

– An actual television advertisement appeared in a movie for the first time in “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” in 2006.

– Fictional product placement is where a product is invented. Quentin Tarantino’s Red Apple Cigarettes is a good example. Sometimes a fictional product placement becomes a real product, such as Buzz Cola in “The Simpsons”.

– Paid product placement doesn’t always treat a product well, for example, where there is a break-in to a store used on the show, or a car crash involving a placed car.

– Sometimes placements can include a firm lending items such as props, cars or clothes for various scenes, or free products such as a mobile phone for actors and producers/directors.

Just because a firm’s products are used on television or in movies, this doesn’t always mean it’s product placement, for example, Apple’s products often appear in shows as they look better than those of their competitors. In an odd twist, sitcom “30 Rock” had a General Electric oven on the show. Product placement was denied but GE advertised the oven during commercial breaks to take advantage of its appearance on the program.

Product placement is escalating in on-line videos and in video games. There is even product placement in books, such as a brand name being mentioned in the story. A new trend is virtual product placement, where product placement is switchable thanks to computer graphics.

The product placement industry was worth $3.1 billion worldwide in 2006 and was forecast to rise to $5.6 billion in 2010, according to PQ media in 2007. This was beaten in 2009, during the great recession, when $6.25 billion was spent. This jumped to $8.25 billion in 2012. A factor driving the growth is VCRs and people’s habit of fast forwarding the commercials. While there has been a shift to product placement, conventional advertising is safe, with $500 billion a year spend on this, including $100 billion online.

Niche marketing

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customer service, market niche, marketing, niche marketing, segmenting the market, specialization, target market, unique product

(originally published to Helium writing site, now gone)

Niche marketing is where a certain product or service is targeted to a particular subset of a larger market. The word “niche” comes from the French word “nicher”, meaning “to make a nest”. Traditionally, “niche” has been used to describe an ornamental recess in a wall, usually rounded or arched, for a statue or other decorative object. In ecology, the word is used to describe an organism’s position in a plant or animal community. In business and in general life, “niche” is often used in a situation where a person has found a suitable or appropriate position or place – we talk about someone finding their niche. A market niche is where a firm has found a particular part of the market that suits its size, expertise and objectives, and it concentrates on targeting that market.

Thus niche marketing is about finding a unique product or service to fulfill unmet needs of a certain group of people, for example, educated 20-29 year old women, or people in a particular location, or people with certain behavioral characteristics. An example of niche marketing is where a firm finds that the market for boarding kennels in an area is saturated and that a proportion of people would like something better for their pets, so the firm opens a pet motel. The firm can therefore offer a specific group of people a particular service that meets their needs. Many markets might not be adequately serviced through mainstream marketing.

A firm that isn’t large enough to compete against the leading companies in a market might search for a niche, or in other words a smaller part of that market, and they might do better in terms of sales and profit than they would otherwise have done. For such a firm, the advantages of specialization can outweigh those of economies of scale. Another benefit for niche marketers is that the main producers might ignore them, as the niche is often too small for them to worry about. Sometimes the product might not be much different from that produced by a mass producer, but the packaging or delivery might be different and the promotional strategy might differ.

A niche marketer might rely more on word of mouth as a promotion tool than mainstream marketers. Customer loyalty is often important for a successful niche marketer. This means they have to know their customers’ needs and wants better than a mainstream provider. A niche marketer will strive for a high level of customer service and customer satisfaction, and will be keen to keep its customers.

Niche marketing can be undertaken by large firms as well as small ones. Large companies can use niche marketing to target certain market segments. An example is Nike, whose sales and profit had plateaued, and they consequently developed various niches by segmenting the footwear market by each sport, and further segmenting within certain sports. Niche marketing is becoming increasingly popular for firms of all sizes as they compete in a marketplace saturated with goods and services of every description.

To be a successful niche marketer, a firm needs to pick the right segment to target. This can be based on potential sales levels, profitability of the segment, whether it’s suited to the firm’s distribution methods, likely competition in the segment, and potential substitute products. The firm should ensure that the target market has their unique needs and wants satisfied. It must identify those needs and wants and develop a particular product for these people and market it in a way that will reach them. In this regard, it is important for the firm to be on the same wavelength as the potential market.

In summary, a niche marketer must have a unique product that is marketable, must be in a market that isn’t saturated, and must promote it appropriately to the right customers.

The principles of marketing

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consumer research, distribution, environmental analysis, four p's of marketing, market research, marketing, marketing mix, marketing plan, marketing planning, performance analysis, pricing, principles of marketing, product development, promotional strategy, segmentation, situation analysis

(originally published to Helium writing site, now gone)

Many principles of marketing need to be taken into account when trying to sell a product or service. These principles include an environmental or situation analysis of the firm’s internal and external environments, segmentation of the market, consumer and market research, product development, pricing, distribution, promotional strategy, marketing planning, and measuring the progress of marketing strategies and actions.

An environmental or situation analysis is where a firm looks at the organization itself, its collaborators, its customers, its competitors and the business climate. A firm needs to understand its internal and external environments. The company must know its capabilities, products, image, strengths and weaknesses, and culture. It should look at its suppliers, consultants and distributors, and their respective capabilities, strengths and weaknesses. It analyzes its existing and potential customers, the market such as its size and growth, what consumers want, what motivates them to buy, where and how they buy, and trends in consumer behavior.

The firm examines its industry, including each main competitor in terms of size, products, strategies, market share, and strengths and weaknesses. It also analyzes its business environment, including aspects of the political and regulatory situation that will impact on the firm and the market; the economic situation such as growth rates, cycles, inflation, and employment levels; technology; and the international environment.

Once a firm gets an overall picture of its operating environment, it segments the market. This is necessary as consumers are all different and they have different needs and wants. Sometimes mass marketing is feasible if a product is popular enough across a broad range of consumers. But often, specific segments of the market have to be targeted. A market segment has to be identifiable, accessible, substantial, have unique needs, and be durable.

Consumer markets can be segmented by geography (for example, by country, state, local area, city size, and population density), by demography (e.g. sex, age, family type, education level, occupation, income, social class, ethnicity and religion), by psychographic variables (e.g. lifestyle, interests, attitudes, opinions and values) and by behavior (e.g. brand loyalty, purchase frequency, benefits sought and readiness to buy). Industrial markets can be segmented by company type (e.g. industry and firm size), by behavior (e.g. purchase frequency, purchase procedure and ease of dealing with), and by location (e.g. distance and transport costs). Most businesses are likely to target certain segments, and these will depend largely on the results of the firm’s environmental or situation analysis.

Consumer research will need to be conducted. This allows firms to monitor consumer behavior and preferences. The research can include ad tracking, advertising research, new product research, customer research and feedback, consumer research (including by telephone using random sampling techniques, mail out, focus groups, in-depth interviews and shopping center intercept), mystery shopper surveys, product and branch profitability studies, pedestrian counts and measuring queuing time. Most of this is primary research, whereas analysis of the environment might involve mainly secondary research, that is, using sources already published or otherwise available. Many firms keep all this information in some sort of marketing information system by whatever name.

A firm then needs to come up with an appropriate marketing mix, or combination of product, price, place (or distribution) and promotion, which are sometimes called the four p’s of marketing:

– Product issues can include a brand name, trademarks, functionality of the product, differentiation, quality, safety, packaging, repairs, warranties and accessories.

– Price is determined by costs, competition, market share, consumer demand, substitutes, price elasticity of demand, type of market (e.g. monopoly, perfect competition) and the objectives of the firm. The object might be to increase profits (use a higher price) or gain market share (use a lower price). Aspects of pricing can include a pricing strategy (e.g. skim, aggressive, penetration), a recommended retail price, discounts, seasonal differences and bundling.

– Place or distribution includes distribution channels, branch network, inventory management, warehousing, transport, use of wholesalers and retailers, and of course the internet.

– Promotion is about advertising (e.g. television, outdoor, newspaper, magazine, radio, internet, direct), word of mouth, point of sale, public relations and publicity.

More p’s have been added to make an extended marketing mix in recent decades, such as personalization, participation, peer to peer and predictive modeling. Services marketing also has people, process and physical evidence.

It’s a good idea to put all these things into a marketing plan. This is a written document setting out details of a firm’s marketing objectives. It will include analysis and description of many or all of the issues discussed above, and may include advertising schedules. Marketing planning is usually an annual process and should link to the firm’s overall business plan. A marketing plan may include sections analyzing the internal and external environments, consumer analysis, market research, product strategy, pricing, distribution, promotional strategy and implementation of the plan (e.g. personnel, finances including the marketing budget, and results monitoring).

Lastly, it is important to measure progress of marketing strategies or actions. Sales targets may be set, including by product, branch and month. Other performance analysis might include market share, advertising recall and financial analysis. The results of this performance analysis may lead to reviews of various aspects of the marketing process, and inform the following year’s marketing plan.

With markets becoming more competitive all the time, and often saturated, it is necessary to use these marketing principles effectively in order to achieve planned sales levels and to stay ahead of competitors.

A Weaver’s Web novel excerpt: historical fiction

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a weaver's web, Albert Wakefield, court case, historical fiction, historical novel, jail, John of Gaunt's, Lancaster, novel excerpts

Here’s another excerpt from my historical novel, A Weaver’s Web. This excerpt was ranked no. 1 of about 60-70 excerpts at Helium writing site (now gone) under the title of Novel excerpts: Historical fiction. Albert Wakefield had been in jail for some time after being accused of stealing two shillings and a court case was coming up …

Nobody had told Albert about a court case. He was bundled into a cart with several other prisoners before he could say anything. The lid was bolted down. He had never been to Lancaster before, though he knew it was somewhere up north and a long way. As the cart left the gaol and bounced along the road, he saw in the gloom one of the other prisoners was Flanders. They locked eyes for an uncomfortable moment.

‘You confounded boy,’ Flanders said angrily but quietly, so the driver wouldn’t hear. Talking was forbidden.

The other two prisoners laughed. But Flanders didn’t and neither did Albert. Tension grew when spit meant for Albert missed its mark and landed on the arm of the man next to him.

‘Why, you filthy scab,’ the victim said to Flanders.

‘No talking,’ the driver called out.

‘I ought to …’ the victim continued. He went to raise his arm to strike Flanders but remembered he was shackled, as were all four of them, to the sides of the cart.

Their only weapons were their mouths and Albert was relieved by this. Words couldn’t hurt him, and he had come into contact with worse things in gaol than another man’s spit. What was hurting him was the way the manacles cut into his wrists every time the cart rode over a bump.

A problem for Flanders was his height. He kept hitting his head on the lid. His cries of pain were met with mirth from the other prisoners, including Albert. Flanders would then swear and spit at them, but this only caused more amusement, and finally he stopped his attacks on them.

The cart hurtled along at what seemed a dangerous speed. Albert hoped Henry was able to keep up. He was sure his father would overpower the driver and rescue him when they had left the city. But the cart kept going. He had no idea for how long. With only a small opening at the front, the air inside got tighter and he found it hard to breathe. It smelt as if one of them had soiled their trousers. He inhaled through his mouth rather than his nose. Just when he wasn’t sure he could take the bumps and the lack of air any longer, the cart stopped. Were they there? he wondered. If not, where? He strained to see out the front, and listened for signs of a town – other horses and carts, voices, factory or workshop noises. But he couldn’t see anything and heard only birds and cows. Suddenly the lid was raised, and again he tried to adjust his eyes to the light.

‘Out. All of you,’ the driver said. He took their handcuffs off but left their leg-irons in place.

They struggled to get to their feet and clambered over the cart’s sides to the ground. They were in the middle of the country and it appeared to be late afternoon.

‘We’ll stop here for the night and complete the journey tomorrow. Water over there,’ he said, pointing with his gun to a stream just off the road, ‘bodily functions over there.’ He gestured to the opposite side.

Albert couldn’t see his father or their carriage. Perhaps Henry knew the prison carts stopped here, and had pulled up a little way back ready to rescue him, he thought. The prisoners had a good, long drink and a wash. Soon they were herded into the cart again and given bread. They devoured it like it was their last meal. At dusk they were fastened to the cart by their irons and barely had room to lie down. The lid was left open so they had some air.

As he watched the stars, shivering and in some discomfort, Albert prayed his father would ride up and ambush the camp and free him. Without Henry’s help, escape seemed impossible, or was it? In the darkness, he saw the outline of the driver stretched along the seat, out of his reach, but not beyond that of Flanders who was snoring loudly at the front of the cart. Albert thought if he could wake him and get him to lean over the rail and ease the keys from the driver’s pocket, where they no doubt were, the four could unlock themselves and abscond into the night. He nudged him on the leg, but didn’t speak in case the driver woke up and caned him. Flanders stopped snoring but stayed asleep. Albert tapped him a bit harder and he woke.

(the front cover of A Weaver’s Web showing the Peterloo Massacre)

‘How dare you,’ Flanders said.

‘The key,’ Albert whispered, gesturing in the direction of the driver, but Flanders wasn’t listening.

‘Driver, driver!’ he called.

The driver awoke. ‘What’s going on?’

‘This beastly boy whacked me in the shin.’

‘Did you?’

‘It was an accident.’

‘No it wasn’t.’

‘Shut up and go back to sleep. You know there’s no talking. I’ll deal with you both in the morning.’

Soon they were all snoring except Albert who couldn’t sleep and was in more and more pain as the hours went slowly by. He wanted to turn over but his leg-irons wouldn’t let him. What had he done to deserve this fate? he asked himself. It was true he had taken two shillings, but why couldn’t he have worked a month of Sundays without pay for Mr Sinclair as punishment? He wished it would get light. Instead, it started drizzling. Rain hit his face and ran down his cheeks and neck. He opened his mouth and let the water moisten it, though he didn’t drink any as his bladder was already bursting. He then turned slightly onto one side, shut his eyes and prayed.

Next thing he knew, birds were singing and he saw the first glimmer of dawn. He didn’t know if he had slept. If so, it was light and disrupted sleep. A few minutes later the driver got up and released their irons from the cart.

‘Rise and shine, you lot,’ he said.

They were so stiff and sore, they had trouble moving. He had to assist each one off the cart and onto the ground. Leg-irons still attached, they hobbled to the ‘bodily functions’ area and then to the stream where they guzzled and splashed. After a breakfast of dry bread, they were warned by the driver: ‘If there’s any more trouble, I’ll flog all four of you,’ and they were on their way.

They rode for hours, bumping up and down, hitting their heads, bruising their limbs, and bloodying their wrists and ankles. None dared speak. They stared at one another though, as if laying blame for their predicament. Flanders fixed his eyes, unblinkingly, on Albert for long periods. Albert returned the stare and couldn’t help smirking whenever Flanders knocked his head on the lid, causing him to wince and roll his eyes in pain as more blood trickled down his face. The journey was so long they gave up trying to hold their bladders. Albert hoped they would stop, not so much to get away from the stench that filled the cart but because his whole body hurt from the constant pounding. When the cart finally stopped, the driver unlocked their arms and helped them get out.

‘Go and wash down there at the stream,’ the driver said. ‘We’re nearly there, and we can’t have you looking like this.’

They waded into the stream, yelping as the cold water hit their wounded ankles, still shackled, and then their wrists as they tried to drink. Flanders dived right under and the water turned pinky brown. Just upstream from this, the driver filled his water bottle several times and poured it over the tray of the cart to clean it. He then loaded the prisoners, secured the lid and off they went again.

Soon they heard people talking, other vehicles, machinery, and the hammering of metal, and they knew they had got to Lancaster. The prisoner now at the front of the cart could see the driver climb down and talk to someone before disappearing through a large doorway into a building.

‘It’s John of Gaunt’s,’ the prisoner said.

‘What’s that?’ Flanders said.

‘A castle. It’s got gaols and a court and a lunatic asylum.’

‘How do you know?’

‘I lived near here as a boy.’

‘Can you escape easily?’

‘The walls are ten feet thick and made of stone.’

Flanders frowned at Albert. ‘You’re the cause of this. I hope they hang you, in front of thousands cheering the nooseman on.’

‘I only took a florin,’ Albert said.

The driver got back at that moment and raised the lid. ‘Boy,’ he yelled, ‘I heard you talking.’

Albert saw Flanders grinning, but looking the other way as if innocent. ‘I …’

‘That’s enough. I’ll have to include this incident in my report to the magistrates.’

With that, they were taken inside the castle and led to the men’s gaol, where they were unshackled and given a blanket and a tin pot for water. Each one was sent to a different cell so they couldn’t fight or collude. Albert’s cell was dark and dank and so full of other wrongdoers he had no room to lie down. He sat on the floor and wrapped his blanket around himself. He was glad to be free of the irons. A gaoler came with bread and water. Albert held the bread to his chest, bent his head forward and ate it. Despite hurting all over, he leant against the bars at the front of the cell and went to sleep sitting up.

(end of excerpt)

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