CAT 1 - Once you enter Zara’s online store you’re presented with a clean, easy-to-navigate, PDF

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Once you enter Zara’s online store you’re presented with a clean, easy-to-navigate, and high-end feel. The customer segments are visible on the left navigation bar with a search tab to further aid customers with their online experience....

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Analysis of Wired Press Release

PMSIN0013: Critical Analytical Thinking Individual Assignment I Word Count:999

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Summary On December 16th, 2020, Business Wire released an announcement on the $50 million Series A funding and debt financing of the fintech Canadian company: Neo Financial. The text portrays an overview of this operational transaction, focusing on introducing the companies involved in the operation as well as explaining the nature of the company. It describes the startup as a company with potential in a growing market, which serves to inform potential stakeholders and attract the attention of new investors, as well as creating a positive image of the company in terms of their future.

Argument Analysis Given that the funding was half from debt financing and the other half by series A funding, we would expect a balanced overview of both sides involved in the transaction. However, the text is primarily focused on Valar Ventures, while ATB Financial is only mentioned on two occasions and with no further detail. This suggests a sense of bias, as an omission of such facts leaves the audience raising doubts about the real nature of such transactions. The background of the rest of the series A backers is not presented, and it is focused only on depicting positive assertions about Valar Ventures. It claims it is “known for its successful investments in the financial technology industry” and that “it has backed several prominent companies”. Although these claims may be true, only offering information about Valar Ventures gives a sense of bias in favor of Neo. Using the reputation of Valar ventures and commenting that it was started by the co-founder of Paypal the 193rd largest public company in the world (Forbes, 2020), gives a favorable bias already in the second paragraph of the text.

BUSINESS WIRE REPORT

03 Further in the release, comments of a founding partner of Valar Ventures are introduced. He describes it as a “powerful technology platform” and that its unique approach will have a significant impact for consumers”. Even Though such claims could have served the audience as a means to understand Neo more in detail, the use of loaded language and the lack of specific facts to support such claims make these phrases poor in content. Using the word “unique” to define Neo seems an exaggeration when there is no following discussion that backs this assertion. It seems that Valar Ventures may be trying to create a good impression of Neo, but with no evidence and further discussion on its assertions, the audience has no reason to find their claims legitimate. The rest of the announcement focused on trying to explain the nature of Neo’s business proposition, however giving too generic explanations that lack any substantial meaning. CEO and co-founder in the fourth paragraph explain how “Neo is transforming the banking industry digitally” and that it “will change how Canadians bank”. However, no further explanation on their business model and how they will exactly achieve this leaves the reader with the need to externally research how Neo operates. Terms like “transforming” and “change” seem to be too generic to carry any significance. Later in the announcement it tries to consolidate a valuable explanation of their business model but fails. It describes Neo was "designed to simplify finances and create rewarding experiences for Canadians”. An assertion that lacks a technical explanation on the true functioning of their product. This same assertion is repeated two paragraphs later, which gives the reader an impression of redundancy given the nature of the argument. Ultimately, Neo’s high-interest savings account is introduced, stating that “it earns members 30 times more than traditional banks''. However, it does not facilitate the audience with specific data or numerical comparisons with its competitors, which results in a biased claim. Providing such comparisons would have given this claim legitimacy, however, when no data is provided it gives an impression of an exaggeration of the facts. BUSINESS WIRE REPORT

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Structure Analysis With the prior analysis, we can state that this announcement is structured among arguments that are not supported by quantitative evidence or specific facts. The start of the text places Neo in a favorable position as Valar Ventures uses its good reputation to make vague assertions about the company's future and potential. However, ambiguous phrases to impress the reader, give the overall impression of a form of promotion with a biased approach. Followed by claims about Neo, readers are given on three occasions an invitation to Neo and Valar Ventures website for more information. This raises doubts about the real purpose of the text, which seems to be adopting promotional intentions using its structure as a means to persuade the audience.

Context Analysis Currently, the banking industry’s collective response to the pandemic thus far has been notable(Deloitte Insights, 2021) Covid-19 has helped the world to enter a new era of digitalization and the fintech banking industry Neo operates in will see rapid growth in the next few years. However, it is still a very new business model and challenger banks like Revolut and Monzo, which have a similar business model as Neo, continue to lose money after years of rapid expansion (Times, 2021). Considering this, many of the arguments given in the text that define “massive opportunities” come with drawbacks of the nature of the industry that haven't been taken into account which limits the objectivity of the text.

BUSINESS WIRE REPORT

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Conclusion We can conclude that the text has little to offer in terms of trying to depict objectively this operation. The text lacks structural cohesion as omitting any information on the deal with ATB Financial or the other series A backers, leaves the reader with a sense of incompleteness. Evertough Valar Ventures sees potential in the company, further research on the banking industry has allowed us to understand that not everything is going as expected in the fintech banking industry and that many challenges have to be overcome. Considering the structure of the text, we can say that the use of loaded language and strong assertions with no evidence, summed to a sense of bias, leaves the effectiveness to inform potential investors and stakeholders very low.

BUSINESS WIRE REPORT

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Bibliography Deloitte Insights. 2021. 2021 banking and capital markets outlook. [online] Available at: [Accessed 10 February 2021]. Forbes. Forbes.com. 2021. [online] Available at: [Accessed 10 February 2021]. Times, F., 2021. The virus has crushed the challenger bank dream. [online] Ft.com. Available at: [Accessed 09 February 2021]. WIRE, B., 2021. Neo Financial Raises $50 Million in Series A Funding and Debt Financing. [online] Businesswire.com. Available at: [Accessed 07 February 2021].

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