Chapter 14 - New Digital Media

Communications Media - Tools for disseminating information such as online video, newspaper, email. Marketers select best combo of tools to reach their target and achieve goals.  TV, radio, magazine, newspaper, direct mail, internet all have different reach, media richness, involvement levels, CPM and flexibility. See Exhibit 14-3

Physical Media - Paid = newspapers, magazines, billboards. Free = Mail, flyers, posters, street buzz, PR.  Line between digital media and traditional media keeps getting more blurry. Ex. TV show onto Hulu.

Pointcast Media - Electronic media with capability of transmitting to just one person. Such as email and cell phone networks.

Digital Media - Electronic tools used to store, transmit and receive digitized information. Paid = Web page, blog ads, paid search (keyword buys), paid search site listings, TV program ads, ads in email, sponsored mobile content, video game placement. Free = Web site, blog, email to list, natural search, social network profile, online community, virtual world.

Digital Media Pros - Selective targeting, flexibility of message, global reach no issue and interactivity.

Digital Media Cons - Inability to reach mass audiences, can't reach 30% of pop that's not online, speed connectivity, tough audience metrics.

Reputation Aggregators -  Web sites that rank web sites, products, retailers or other content. Reputation is pure perception, gather these perceptions in an organized manner. Are a social media since rely on user input for ranking. Ex. Google (popularity), Youtube (search), Tripadvisor (hotel ratings).

Vertical Search - Reputation aggregators with very specialized topics (search in a site). Ex. LinkedIn people search. Growing in popularity as it helps users find what they want quickly.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) - Act of marketing a website via search engines by improving rank and/or buying paid listings.

Natural Search / Organic Search - Optimizing a website so it will appear as close as possible to the first search engine results page.  

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - Act of altering s site so it does well in natural search. Each search engine has different criteria. Google is concerned with quality links to a site (from a .edu is seen as more quality than .com).

Keywords - Words users type into search query to find what they seek. Meta tags hold keywords. Use web logs to see what words their visitors type into search engines before entering their site, use web tools such as Google AdSense to find unique words and by polling customers.

Paid Search - Advertiser pays reputation aggregator a fee for directory submission (pay to be included in a searchable directory), inclusion in a search engine index (Paid Inclusion) or to display their ad when a user types a particular keyword (Keyword advertising).

Online Communities:

Wiki - Software that allows users to collaboratively create, edit, link and organize the content of a website.

News Aggregators - Use web software to bring news from many sources to one place for easy reading. Ex. Google reader, Daily Beast, RSS feeds, Digg.com.

LISTSERV - An email discussion group with regular subscribers. This constitutes a special interest community.

Product Review Sites - Social media e-commerce sites where consumers create the product and online retailer ratings.

C2C - Consumer to consumer buying. Ex. Ebay (auction) or craigslist

Social Bookmarking Sites - share favorite websites and and comment on them. Ex. stumbleupon.com

Online Gaming - Single player and multi-player games are a fast growing community.

Blogs - Online diaries frequently updated and presented in chronological order on web pages. Is a social media due to the level of commenting.  Personal blogs and corporate blogs. Great tool to engage consumers. Can help attract or push user to main HUB site.

Social Networks - Social structures made of nodes that are tied by one or more specific types of interdependency such as values, visions, idea, financial exchange, friends, kinship, dislike, conflict, trade, web links. 

 

Other: iVillage for women, Rate my professor, Rate MD, etc.

7 Steps Build Online Community - Observe, recruit, evaluate platforms, engage, measure, promote, improve.

 Which Media To Buy? The job of media planners.

 Effective Internet Buys - Goal # of people then focus on buying space at reputation aggregators.

Efficient Internet Buys -  When audience of media buy matches the target.  Measured via CPM (cost per thousand) = ad's cost divided by audience size then multiplying by 1,000. Size is measured by web impressions (number of times an ad was served to unique site visitors).

Distribution - Lean vs Flexible

If you can't get your product to your customers, what good is it? Chapter 12 addresses the distribution elements of an eMarketing strategy. As we have discussed in class, a good marketing plan addresses all of the points where a customer comes into contact with your business.

Distribution can easily be overlooked. Once all of the market research, planning, advertising, networking and tense negotiations are over, you just have to get the product to deliver it, right? Well, easier said than done. And if the distribution is not well executed, what are the chances our new customer becomes a repeat customer? Probably not good. And is it more profitable to maintain customers, or get new ones? Exactly. Solid brands are built with repeat customers.

The blog Enterra Insights perfectly sums up the tension that results in the necessity to serve customers' individual needs, yet maintain low operating margins in the article Flexible and Lean Supply Chains.

Lean vs. Flexible
Customers want options, businesses want efficiency. Businesses must develop strategies that provide the options that attract customers with the efficient supply chains that drive profitability. Just being 'lean' isn't enough, these strategies can get complicated. It is often necessary to employ different strategies in different segments of the business, depending on what drives the value for customers and company, alike. This is especially important in hyper-competitive electronic markets where margins are thin and consumer preferences can turn on a dime.

Lean strategies are very popular today in the business world. But is lean always the answer? The article uses the cell phone industry as an example. The market for cell phones is very competitive and inventory of old parts is nearly worthless. Cell phone manufacturers must run very efficient lean supply chains, up until the point of sale. Given that customer preferences in this industry are constantly changing, manufacturers don't want to miss out on a spike in demand if their product becomes wildly popular, if a customer can't get a particular phone, they usually don't go without one, they buy from the competition. Cell phone manufacturers work with network providers and retailers to manage this relatively high inventory level at the wholesalers and retailers who can get the product to market quickly.

eMarketing and Supply Chain
Many eCommerce companies have a very useful benefit when it comes to supply chain...the web. All a site like Facebook must do to deliver their product is provide adequate bandwidth. The music, film and TV industries are slowly realizing the benefits of electronic distribution. It is certainly cheaper than delivering boxes of cd's from a factory to a store using planes, trains and automobiles. But then internet distribution is wrought with security risks, digital media is easily replicated and shared through unauthorized channels.

Companies such as Amazon.com and Zappos.com currently thrive by shipping products directly to customers, they are also constantly re-evaluating their supply chain. Customer direct is expensive, many orders require multiple delivery attempts, and the price of fuel for those planes, trains and trucks is going nowhere but up. Customers might love the convenience of quick, direct delivery, but they hate the hassle of shipping it back. Traditional retailers such as Nordstrom and REI have developed ship to store systems where customers pick up their online purchase at the retail store, this allows easy exchanges and often results in the customer buying additional items during their visit.

The 'last mile' delivery problem is making for some surprising alliances, Amazon.com was reportedly exploring a pilot program to use 7-11 stores as pick-up hubs for orders, rather than rely on home delivery in densely populated areas.

Conclusion
So what does it all mean? Well, as marketers, we often see ourselves as the go-between for customers and our company, but the seeds of customer satisfaction are planted deep inside how a company works. If Motorolla can't accurately forecast the number of touchscreens it needs for the next popular smartphone and they come up short, Apple is right there waiting to sell iPhones to a bunch of unhappy could-ve-been-Motorolla customers. Our marketing strategies must deliver value throughout the supply chain to our company and our customers.

 The day has probably passed when you can breeze into a C-Suite meeting, rattle off a few sentences about Lean solutions and expect a promotion. Every company's supply chain is an intricate, some parts might be lean, others fat. Every company should have a plan to maximize the aspects of their supply chain that provide value to the customer and products to the company.

Any ideas for companies delivering products in unique ways?
Will Zipcar survive?
Can Netflix take the heat?
Will Chiptole change fast food forever?

YouTube Weakens Boundary Between TV and Web

Traditionally, YouTube has functioned primarily as an infomediary, or an online organization that aggregates and distributes information. The company has also used a content sponsorship model in conjunction with their primary model in order to generate additional revenue streams via online advertising. However, a recent partnership with some top Hollywood talent to produce original content for the site suggests that YouTube could be looking to expand their product offering even further to include content that the company itself has a hand in creating.

In YouTube enlists big-name help to redefine channels, AP business writer Ryan Nakashima explores how the online video giant is starting to pursue additional business models to capitalize on the quickly evolving marriage of television and the internet. With the 18-to-34-year-old age demographic spending more time on computers and mobile devices than watching a TV set, YouTube seems to be planning for a future where viewing original video content online is the norm. YouTube has committed to spending $100 million, spread out among some of Hollywood's brightest producers, directors and filmmakers, including those responsible for such hit shows as "CSI" and "Community." The eagerly awaited programming will be available through 96 new YouTube channels, which will function essentially as the artists' homepages. YouTube believes that the new videos, which will be of higher quality than typical user-generated content, will attract more viewers and more advertising dollars. There is also some buzz that this initiative will be another big step toward the success of YouTube parent company Google's online television platform, Google TV.

How much longer does traditional television programming have before it becomes obsolete? Will it be a monumental event or will it happen so gradually that we won't even notice? Let us know what you think!

Where is CRM headed?

The concept of relationship marketing is nothing new, but internet technology has made it possible for businesses to manage relationships in fresh, innovative ways. The ability to store and organize client and prospect data digitally has given marketers a brand new set of tools to increase customer acquisition and retention in a cost-effective manner. More recent technologies like cloud computing and advanced web analytics are already beginning to revolutionize business processes, and CRM is no exception.

In CRM's Next 5 in 5, software blogger and CRM analyst Lauren Carlson assembled a group of the industry's leading experts to discuss the emerging trends and technologies that will change the face of CRM forever. We have summarized their top five trends below:

1. Context services will continue to develop, giving businesses more useful data on their customers' wants, needs and preferences. Context services, such as location-based services, can provide a great deal of insight into consumer behavior. Since CRM systems serve to aggregate information about clients and prospects, they are the ideal framework for context services to live and grow.
2. Web analytics have given marketers an extremely valuable source of information for online consumer behavior. The time it takes for businesses to gather and evaluate analytics data, however, can often exceed the shelf life of the trends that businesses are trying to measure. The next step will be analytics applications that can process data and provide marketers with recommendations in real time. CRM software packages will store this information within individual client and prospect records for reporting purposes, and the boundlessness of cloud computing technology will allow for seemingly unlimited data storage.
3. As the lines between TV and the web continue to blur, CRM integration with internet-connected TV services will be developed further. As big-screen TVs with high-definition and 3D capabilities become more common, viewers will be in a position to experience rich content beyond what they would be able to view on smaller devices. Advanced CRM systems will be poised to collect user data on a whole new group of online consumers.
4. For some time now, businesses have cut costs by utilizing virtual meeting technologies, such as GoToMeeting and WebEx. As this tendency persists, the resulting content will need to be stored and organized, and CRM systems are the most logical place for it.
5. Gamification, that is the use of game design techniques to engage audiences, has already become a powerful trend in the marketing world, but as consumers become more accustomed to competitive interactivity in online media CRM service providers will capitalize on the tracking and data collection advantages of gaming.

Did we miss any? How do you envision the future of CRM?

Gaaaaame Onnn! - Ch. 10

As we take a look at eMarketing strategies, there is still a tendency to divide the internet into categories like social, eCommerce, games and news/entertainment. As the internet evolves, the lines between these categories will disappear. Shopping online will become more like playing a game, while reading the news.

Sites like TheClymb.com and Ideeli.com are already tapping into this. Help spread the word, recruit friends to these 'private sales events' with limited quantities available, all while earning bigger discounts or more exclusive access for yourself. It's almost like going to a 'Black Friday' sale with all your friends on your Facebook page, 2-3 times a week.

In 5 Triggers that make your Product Addicting, Adrian Ott explains how these fields are converging and how we can apply principles that make a game addictive to the creation of engaging internet products.

Summary:
Games - The 2nd most popular internet activity. Behind social networking, ahead of email.
Triggers - Games tap into psychological triggers, which is why we keep playing them.

5 Key Triggers (5 more P's)
Peers and Power - The desire for social status.
Personal Pursuits - Meet a goal or support a cause
'Prairie Dog' Events - Big events that make us reconsider our behavior ( a bad experience, a breakup, a birth/death)
Productivity - We want things to be faster and easier
Price - We want to pay less/get more.

How to Apply Triggers
Map Them - Decide which triggers that best apply to your product
Build Triggers, Not Features - Only add complexity that triggers behavior, don't hide the triggers behind complex rules or stories. People generally won't spend a lot of time trying to learn your game.
Test and Re-Test - Consistently monitor to ensure your product activates the triggers.

I know, I know...we all thought video games were just for killing time at work and half-hoping you didn't get caught and half-hoping you get caught and fired because you really ought to move on from your dead-end-video-game-playing-job anyways.

Turns out, in marketing, those pointless games might be your ticket to your next job.

Any more insights into how websites are turning the web into one big video game? Any favorite sites that use innovative ways to draw customers in, and keep them coming back? Do share!

And...for those who didn't do the reading......
Chapter 10 - Product

Product - A bundle of benefits that satisfy the needs of a organizations or consumers, for which they are willing to pay for.

Creating Customer Value Online - 

- Customer Value = Benefits - Cost

So what creates value?

1. It encompasses the entire product experience: discovering, trying, buying, post-sale, 

2. It exists ENTIRELY in the MINDS of CUSTOMERS

3. It is tied to customer expectations.

4. Value exists at all price levels.

Product Benefits

- Attributes - What it is...color, taste, style, size, speed of service

- Branding - The intangible characteristics that differentiate a product from its competitors

- Support Services - Communicate! Be reachable, to the extent customers expect

- Labeling - Be identifiable, quickly. Reinforce trust, security, speed, whatever the customer is looking for

- Packaging - Make it look good.

Enhanced Product Development

- Customer Co-Design - Product customized for the customer.

- Electronic Input - Crowd sourcing, online reviews

Product Strategy

- Discontinuous Innovation - Brand new products that the world has never seen before. The first product in a new category.

- New Product Lines - A company decides to enter an existing market.