Florian Keller – författare

When Andy Kaufman succumbed suddenly to lung cancer in 1984, some of his fans believed that his death was yet another elaborate prank. Over the previous decade, Kaufman had achieved improbable fame for his bizarre antiperformances—lip-synching the Mighty Mouse theme song, reading The Great Gatsby aloud in its entirety when people expected comedy, asking audience members to touch a boil on his neck—that perplexed, annoyed, or offended his viewers. In Andy Kaufman, Florian Keller explores Kaufman's career within a broader discussion of the ideology of the American Dream. Taking as his starting point the 1999 biopic Man on the Moon, Keller brilliantly decodes Kaufman in a way that makes it possible to grasp his radical agenda beyond avant-garde theories of transgression. As an entertainer, Kaufman submerged his identity beneath a multiplicity of personas, enacting the American belief that the self can and should be endlessly remade for the sake of happiness and success. He did this so rigorously and consistently, Keller argues, that he exposed the internal contradictions of America's ideology of self-invention. Keller posits that Kaufman offered a radically different—and perhaps more potent—logic of cultural criticism than did more overtly political comedians such as Lenny Bruce. Presenting close readings of Kaufman's most significant performances, Keller shows how Kaufman mounted—for the benefit of an often uncomprehending public—a sustained and remarkable critique of America's obsession with celebrity and individualism. Florian Keller is a fellow at the Institute of Cultural Studies, School of Art and Design, University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Zurich.

Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject Business economics - Offline Marketing and Online Marketing, grade: Distinction, Deakin University (Faculty of Business and Law), course: Marketing Management, language: English, abstract: What comes first to your mind when you hear the names Sony and Nintendo? Maybe youassociate them as the two huge players on the video console market which dominate thissegment. So what happens if the giant of the software industry, Microsoft, steps into a so farprotected territory and introduces a perfect planned marketing campaign that brings the greenXbox-logo in everybody s mind? Considering that Microsoft is a very aggressive and wellfinancially equipped company, therefore one of the most successful in the world, you canexpect a major showdown. But what will happen to the customer who should be the drivingforce of the ma rketing effort of those players?

Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject Business economics - Offline Marketing and Online Marketing, grade: High Distinction, Deakin University (Faculty of Business and Law), course: Marketing Management, language: English, abstract: By launching the game console Xbox, Microsoft did not only introduce a newproduct but stepped into a totally new market where there company did not have anyexperience yet. Although they had a huge marketing budget, they focused onspending it as effective as possible. Therefore Microsoft s marketing team had to findout, who their target customers are and with what marketing strategy they could reachtheir challenging goal to become leader in the game console market. But has theirway of segmenting the market and choosing a marketing mix for the Xbox really beensuccessful? The Marketing concept consists of three principles that hold that achievingorganizational objectives require determining needs and wants of targets markets anddelivering the desired satisfactions more effectively and efficiently than competitorsdo (Hoffman et al 2003, pp.10-11). Microsoft took advantage of all three principles. Microsoft did put enormous effortin identifying potential customers needs. The research was concentrated on so called hardcore gamers who spend more than 25 hours playing a week. This group wasseen as early adopters as well as opinion-leaders. Of high importance were anappealing design to young customers and performance like speed of the console andhigh quality of audio and graphics. [...]

​An der Schnittstelle zwischen Bildungssystem und ökonomischem System werden die Weichen über zukünftige Berufsbiografie und Lebenschancen gestellt. Der Übergang ins Berufsleben ist deshalb eine entscheidende Phase in der Biografie eines Jugendlichen. Wie dieser Übergang verläuft, hängt stark von individuellen Merkmalen ab. Doch individuelle Faktoren allein genügen nicht für eine Erklärung des Transitionserfolgs. Die möglichen Bildungswege sind auch durch die Struktur des Bildungssystems und des Arbeitsmarkts vorgegeben. Auf der Grundlage von Daten von über 30.000 Jugendlichen analysiert Florian Keller einerseits, welche Faktoren den Eintritt in eine Ausbildung der Sekundarstufe II erleichtern, und andererseits, welche Faktoren den erfolgreichen Abschluss einer zertifizierenden Ausbildung begünstigen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Übertrittschancen maßgeblich von Arbeitsmarkt und Bildungssystem beeinflusst werden.