Please grade my AWA

Stimulus:

The following appeared as part of a business plan recommended by the new manager of a musical rock group called Zapped:

"To succeed financially, Zapped needs greater name recognition. It should therefore diversify its commercial enterprises. The rock group Zonked plays the same type of music that Zapped plays, but it is much better known than Zapped because , in addition to its concert tours and four albums, Zonked has a series of posters, a line of clothing and accessories , and a contract with a major advertising agency to endorse a number of different products."

Essay:


The new manager of a musical band recommends a business plan, focused on increasing name recognition for the band, suggesting the diversification of its commercial enterprise.

The business plan, although well intentioned, makes certain unwarranted assumptions: That the other band – Zonked music -is financially successful because of its diversified commercial enterprise indicates an error of causality, committed by the manager. We do not know whether Zonked’s financial success is because of the diversification of its commercial enterprise OR Zonked enjoys such popularity that the band, leveraging the fame, invested in and associated with ventures, which reaped great dividends to Zonked.

In order to conclude that Zonked financial success is because of the diversification of its commercial enterprise, we require more information about Zonked’ s popularity as a musical band; A true reflection of the popularity can be gauged from the awards that Zonked has won or Zonked’s ratings, over last 2-3 years, on different pop music charts.

The manager also uses ambiguous term- name recognition. Presumably, great artists have earned name and repute through their works and contents; whereas the manager assumes that just by diversifying the commercial enterprise, the band will be able to earn a name for itself, a rationale that at best is overly simplistic and counter-intuitive. Unless we know how loved the band is and whether the audience really enjoys its music, we cannot assume that manager’s recommendation will achieve its desired objective.

Finally, the manager outrageously draws a parallel between the two bands, citing the similarity in the music they play. Even though the music played is similar, we have not been provided any convincing reason to believe what worked for one band will work for the other. There is simply not enough information to believe so, as these two different bands, howsoever similar music they play, can be different in several ways- One enjoys cross-cultural popularity and has an international appeal, while the other is only locally popular.

To conclude, the argument is weak and lacks credible information to bolster the success of stated plan.

Experts please help.

sayantanc2k
Bunuel
souvik101990
VeritasKarishma