There is a slight sea change at your local multiplex, depending on where you live, and it marks an attempt by theater owners and chains to generate more revenue as the amount of competition increases.

A handful of theater chains are showing live baseball, rock concerts, classic television shows and even opera up on there on the silver screen. It’s a reaction to the fact that consumers now have more choices than ever for their entertainment dollar, while in most cases the movie-going experience has not improved with it.

“I love film,” Thomas W. Stephenson Jr., president of Rave Motion Pictures, which operates in 11 states, recently told the New York Times, “but the simple fact is that we can’t count on movie attendance to grow.”

Stephenson is right. Movie attendance has basically flattened out. It increased less than 1 percent in 2007 after years of declining attendance even as the number of movies made increased. Simply put, there is no new revenue coming in.

The threats are even larger today, even though many theater owners may feel they have been down this road before. The introduction of television on the 50s and VHS in the 80s also posed threats but theaters came out of it fine.

Today, however, the biggest threat to an individual movie theater is not the multiplex down the road. The main competition is the consumers’ option to simply fire-up the Blu-Ray DVD on their high-def, big screen television or download movies on their iPod or computer.

The slowly evolving reaction to all that is to increase and vary the content in what is basically a content-driven business. It has been successful in its limited use. The Ziegfeld Theater in New York reported a quick sellout when it showed a live broadcast of a New York Mets game, complete with a live organist and team mascot.

There is another opportunity here, though, beyond finding new revenues. These new possibilities are only a first step for an individual theater or theater chain that can brand itself as a direct reflection of its customers. For the Ziegfeld Theater, its brand is already rooted in its long heritage. But for others, they can be something other than just another of tens of thousands of screens showing Indiana Jones eight times a day.

Brand as it is practiced by most is simply corporate identity. They tend to be most about who the company is, leaving no room for the customer. Think, for example, of Wachovia Bank, which went through a brand makeover more than five years ago based on “Uncommon Wisdom,” which meant that Wachovia was the expert. Not the customer who used Wachovia.

Therefore, consumers can’t see any room for themselves in the brand and that’s part of the reason why the bank recently announced a $708 million first-quarter loss. There are market and economic reasons for that loss, of course, but its brand hasn’t helped it much.

In the movie theater industry, the problem is that theaters have had little or no opportunity to have a brand at all - especially when multiplexes turned the grand theaters obsolete 20 years ago.

Movie theaters are dependent on negotiations with movie studios as they bid on the biggest movies in order to have some exclusivity in their area. Selling concessions at those blockbusters is a big business for the industry. But if you want to see Indiana Jones without the chatty audience, high-priced concessions and the inconvenience of the movie theater deciding when you get to watch, just wait. It’ll be on DVD or an on-demand service in a few months.

Right now, consumers are picking their movie house of choice, so to speak, based on content and location. In very, very few instances will consumers inconvenience themselves in order to experience a true theater of choice. Usually, the movie-going decision tree is like this: What Do I Want to See, Who is Showing It, What Time is It Showing. A theater is eliminated based on not living up to the questions in the decision tree or because it had a previous failure with that consumer.

A brand that is meaningful to target audiences and is positioned against the competition can give consumers a reason to choice, and covet being a part of that brand. Why not? To some it seems like a long step to have a brand in which consumers will inconvenience themselves and even pay more to be a part of that brand. But it’s not.

That’s where the new possibilities of content come in. If the selection of content is carefully done and the theater matches the experience to it, it can become always part of the considered set and even become a destination of choice.

The brand does have to do more than just match content with consumer, though. It has to “live” the brand in such a way that it becomes a reflection of that consumer. A theater than concentrates on, let’s say, opera and Broadway shows can build an exciting, high-class brand that can be the umbrella under which other improvements are developed: Serving wine and cheese, for example, or having bathroom attendants.

Brand gives you focus, and what movie theaters are often missing is that focus. Instead, most of them look and feel just like everyone else. Instead, they can tap into who the “theatergoer” is when they use that brand or experience the entertainment destination. There are a myriad of possibilities and the movement to add varied content may open the door to the theaters to think ahead and think of themselves as a brand and not just another delivery system.

With a degree in English Literature and History, Michael served as a reporter for the two-time Pulitzer-Prize winning Anchorage Daily News for more than 12 years. Michael developed a keen sense of how to investigate even the most complex market and joined Alaska’s largest advertising and public relations firm in 1998. A senior strategist with Stealing Share from its inception he has helped develop brands for national and international clients and created strategies that led directly to share-stealing campaigns in markets such as agriculture, petroleum, tourism, telecommunications, transportation, beverages, retail, finance and insurance, among others.

The first thing you must know about a car lemon law is that it is meant to make your life better and that it works to serve justice. All states in America enjoy this law and they may differ but, the fundamentals are more or less the same. Firstly, for you who does not know what a lemon is, you should pay close attention because you might have one. A lemon is a new or leased vehicle that proves defective even after the warranty has not expired. When you buy a new car, you expect it to serve you in the best way possible but, when it breaks down during the first week of use, you will definitely get discouraged and angry. You will seek some help from your local repair shop and hope that it was a minor hiccup.

When you have to take it back to the shop several times, you wonder whether you were conned and think of how you can fight for your right. This is where a car lemon law comes in and, if you do not have details of the law in your state, the internet is a good place to start and you will just refer to your location. You will get to learn the vehicles that are covered by the lemon law and also the ones that are not. In many of the car lemon laws, the vehicles that are suspected to be lemons must be taken to the repair shop a few times and this is to determine whether they can be fixed or not. Obviously, lemons cannot be fixed and the next stage is to alert the manufacturing company using laid out procedures depending on your location. Many lemon car owners fill a form that will give notice to the car manufacturer.

The lemon manufacturers are usually reluctant to cooperate but, they are willing to overcome the problem. If they comply to give a refund or replacement, then you will have solved your problem. They are supposed to provide the repair funds all depending on the car lemon law of your state. If the manufacturer does not comply, then you can consider arbitration where a neutral entity usually the attorney general’s office is called accordance to the law, to mediate until an amicable solution is found. You can always appeal at each stage until the car lemon law serves you justice. Car lemon law is therefore a very popular name infant, there is an alcoholic mixed drink made by southern comfort and black velvet that is called ‘lemon law’.

Some of the most vital things to remember in this law is that you should be conscious of the time frame you have to report your case and it should be before the warranty expires and there are other deadlines that you need to meet within that time frame and you should refer to your state laws. They have served people for many years an they will continue to do so. Many states keep on updating their laws and if need be, you have the power and the voice to request a review of your system and this will be for the betterment of society as a whole.

Peter Gitundu Is A Web Administrator And Has Been Researching And Reporting On Automotive For Years. You Can Post Your Views On this Article On My Blog Here Car Lemon Law Feel Free To Read My Other Articles On Lemon Law Here Car Lemon Law

Antonio Damasio, a world renowned neuro-scientist, argues that we use emotion to assign value to people, things, and events. And it is as a result of assigning value that we make decisions. Emotion first, reason second. Sound familiar? It should.

There’s an old adage that’s taken as gospel by marketers of all stripes. People buy emotionally and justify logically. In other words, heart first, head second.

So why do we say this is a Soft Sell Confirmation? Because soft sell is heart-based - not in a sentimental, gushy way - like a drunk who hangs all over you telling how much you are loved, emotions pouring out all over the place. That exhibits a lack of emotional value because it’s not considered. And very often, once the hangover has subsided, not even remembered.

Soft sell, and the purchase that follows, is very considered, but considered upon a valuation based in emotion. Typically, we learned that decision making is a rational process.

For example, you make a list of the expected positive outcomes and balance that against a list of possible negative repercussions and, on the basis of that risk-reward assessment, you make a choice and go forward. But that’s a leap to faith!

Why? Because reason, by its very nature, has no final authority. Using reason you can always create a logical, even compelling argument for the opposite of any choice you make.

So there you are, standing on the “ground” of a very logically developed point of view. But how can you be sure that the choice you’ve rationally made is ultimately the right choice? That fact is you can’t . . . not with reason alone . . . because reason can’t assign value, it can only be used to support the value you already feel. You stand on a mountain of facts and then leap to faith. And faith is a value choice grounded in emotion.

So what does this have to do with soft sell marketing?

1) Soft sell is about creating and maintaining relationships and real relationships are not static. They are living, and dynamic, and evolving. They are sustained through the feeling(s) between the people involved.

You’ve seen emotionally empty relationships. They are hollow, creaky, and surely not rewarding. They’ve dried up.

Your success as a soft sell marketer is to keep your relationships with your customers/clients as rich, moist, and fertile as you can. That requires sincerity, authenticity, and emotional availability.

Don’t be afraid to let your customers feel you - not just know you but feel you. Let them into your life. Telling your story is one way to open that door.

2) You’ve heard people say, “Trust your gut.” Your gut really does have a brain that feeds information to the brain in your cranium.

And so does your heart.

According to seventeenth century French philosopher Blaise Pascal - “The heart has its ways of reasoning of which reason has no knowledge.” And according to recent research, there is a “heart brain” - an elaborate processing system that acts independently of the cranial brain. It has it’s own way of learning, remembering, feeling and sensing.

So.. “Trust your heart.” The heart is an evaluation center, based in feeling. It’s the center of connection, emotional connection. Heart-based marketing is emotion-based marketing, followed by logical proof. You can collect a mountain of facts and statistics about your product, and you need to, so you can assure your customer you know what you’re talking about, but then your customer must still leap to faith.

That leap is a leap of the heart . . . a leap based in emotional evaluation.

When you’re thinking about a new product, or you’re about to write a sales letter, or an email notice, check in first with your heart. Let it lead. It will guide you to your reader’s sweet spot, right there at the left center of their chest.

So, if you’re a soft sell marketer who prefers a more inclusive, emotionally connected, business relationship with your prospects and customers - you’re invited to register for our “Bridging Heart and Marketing” Internet conference that takes place February 22, 23, 24 at the Westin Los Angeles Airport. We’ll be sharing our spiritual approach and the soft sell wisdom of world-class Internet marketers. Just click on http://www.bridgingheartandmarketing.com/invitation - and join us.