In the e - presentation that my group did for the E Marketing class and that can be seen at the following link ,http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfgRs-EeynY, it is mentioned the importance of web site design in order to make it user friendly. While it is known that flashy things will do more harm than good, I believe it is pretty difficult to come up with a definition of the "right" design. It all depends on the targeted customers that will eventually use the website, as well as the purpose of these websites. Colorfoul websites will help in the fashion industry ( http://www.victoriassecret.com/) while more neutral tones tend to be used for online media ( http://online.wsj.com/home-page ).
Also, I think that important search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing kind of have the "first mover" advantage. They accustomed the customers to a certain layout order and certain features. Hence, every new web site has to follow the standards previously imposed. However, there is need for certain amount of innovation and risk taking to make a difference. I still remember when Facebook decided to re design the web page. There were groups formed requiring that the old design should be used again. The new features provided by the new face of the web page encountered a lot of resistance from the end users. However, with time the customers get used to new features and if these are helpful, they end up liking them.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Online Social Media - Truly Necessary for Every Brand?!?!
As it is the case with everything, the use of online social media has its pros and cons. On the E Marketing for Sensible Folks blog ( http://e-marketingforsensiblefolk.blogspot.com/2010/05/can-your-brand-thrive-without-online.html) the advantages and disadvantages of this new wave of marketing are described in detail. While reading the post, first thing that came into my mind was the concept of segmentation. At the end of the day, the most difficult task for the marketing team is to develop the right market segmentation. If this is done correctly then it will be easier to decide whether online social media will be beneficial or not given the targeted customers.
While for certain products especially those designed for younger generations, sites such as Facebook, Twitter and You Tube will for sure be successful. However, for more exquisite brands ( let's say Rolex ), the company might not want to spend the extra money on social media since in this case it won't make a difference. The customer base for exclusive products is formed outside of the "social" pool. Following an online social media campaign might even deteriorate the exclusive brand name since now everybody is aware of it, everybody can express an opinion that will not necessary support the product's intrisic value.
On the other hand, for a major part of products on the market, pursuing an online social media campaign is a must. Just by looking at the millions of users on Facebook, millions or even billions of views on You Tube one can sense the potential customer base that can be reached through these channels. The new social networking that takes place online has switched the trend in marketing from delivering a message to discussing it. Hence, the models presented by Jordan Julien on http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/121581 are all emphasizing the importance of efficient and effective communication. While this communication can sometimes be against a certain product, the company can rapidly respond back by defending themselved through the social media. Thus, the use of social media will create new job descriptions since monitoring it will take a full time employer.
While for certain products especially those designed for younger generations, sites such as Facebook, Twitter and You Tube will for sure be successful. However, for more exquisite brands ( let's say Rolex ), the company might not want to spend the extra money on social media since in this case it won't make a difference. The customer base for exclusive products is formed outside of the "social" pool. Following an online social media campaign might even deteriorate the exclusive brand name since now everybody is aware of it, everybody can express an opinion that will not necessary support the product's intrisic value.
On the other hand, for a major part of products on the market, pursuing an online social media campaign is a must. Just by looking at the millions of users on Facebook, millions or even billions of views on You Tube one can sense the potential customer base that can be reached through these channels. The new social networking that takes place online has switched the trend in marketing from delivering a message to discussing it. Hence, the models presented by Jordan Julien on http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/121581 are all emphasizing the importance of efficient and effective communication. While this communication can sometimes be against a certain product, the company can rapidly respond back by defending themselved through the social media. Thus, the use of social media will create new job descriptions since monitoring it will take a full time employer.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Free news soon past news...
My first newspaper subscription was for http://online.wsj.com/home-page and the only reason I paid for it was the fact that my business law professor required it as mandatory. As soon as the class finished and my subscription expired, I ignored all the mails coming in an WSJ envelope even though they were containing the biggest discounts ever for future subcriptions. It was easy enough for me to acces either http://www.nytimes.com/ or http://www.bbc.co.uk/ and read the news I was interested in; and all this for FREE.
Now that I'm reading Will Only the Rich Get High Quality News Online? ( http://e-marketingforsensiblefolk.blogspot.com/2010/05/will-only-rich-get-high-quality-news.html), I am actually not surprised the NYT is contemplating imposing a paywall. I would assume that the rationale behind the decision would mainly be that they reached a solid customer base that would follow NYT's news regardless of fees. Is that actually true? Let's not forget that we are not living in the most brilliant economic times. No one will choose smth to pay for if the exact same thing can be found for free. And unfortunately for NYT, there are still many sources online that can provide fair enough news for target customers. Will these sources later on switch to paywalls? Most probably yes but as long as there are no universal fees throughout the web, the majority of customers will go for the "free" news more often than for the "paid" ones.
Another aspect is the quality of the news. Will there be huge discrepancies between "free" news and "paid" news in terms of accuracy and reliability? Most probably yes, but at the same time there are several online sources that can be compared so that the customer can pick the one he/she believes is the most fair one.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Easy clicking, easy booking!
When I was first given the list with the options for the summer class it took me about 5 seconds to make a final decision once I read the title E Marketing...Would it have been the same a few years ago? Better yet, would a E Marketing class even be offered? Strangely enough, a few years can make a huge difference in every trend, be it in fashion, cars, vacation spots or marketing.
The overall evolution of the internet along with the web has had a tremendous impact on our every day lives, I would even say it has made our life easier in all aspects.
A clear example of how E commerce has developed more effective and efficient transactions is in the travel area. I bought my first plane ticket by myself at the age of 15. I still remember the endless lines at the only tourism agency in my little town. It took at least 3 meetings with the agent until we decided on the most favorable ticket and even then I was not too happy with what I thought was a high price. Three years later I moved to Madrid, Spain. My first spring break I spent it in the South of Spain, in Marbella. Can you guess how long it took me to plan the entire trip from hotel bookings to bus tickets and tours? Well, probably 2 hours. How was that possible? www.muchoviaje.com was my new tourism agency. For all the rest of my trips I used also www.easyjet.com as well as www.marsans.es. Planning the trips involved a lot of fun since we didn't have to wait in lines, to deal with unfriendly agents who all they want is the commision from your trip and we got to pick the price we perceived as being the most adequte for the services we were looking for. Now that I moved to Miami, I am not very familiar with the good booking websites for planning a trip around the US so any suggestions are welcomed...
The overall evolution of the internet along with the web has had a tremendous impact on our every day lives, I would even say it has made our life easier in all aspects.
A clear example of how E commerce has developed more effective and efficient transactions is in the travel area. I bought my first plane ticket by myself at the age of 15. I still remember the endless lines at the only tourism agency in my little town. It took at least 3 meetings with the agent until we decided on the most favorable ticket and even then I was not too happy with what I thought was a high price. Three years later I moved to Madrid, Spain. My first spring break I spent it in the South of Spain, in Marbella. Can you guess how long it took me to plan the entire trip from hotel bookings to bus tickets and tours? Well, probably 2 hours. How was that possible? www.muchoviaje.com was my new tourism agency. For all the rest of my trips I used also www.easyjet.com as well as www.marsans.es. Planning the trips involved a lot of fun since we didn't have to wait in lines, to deal with unfriendly agents who all they want is the commision from your trip and we got to pick the price we perceived as being the most adequte for the services we were looking for. Now that I moved to Miami, I am not very familiar with the good booking websites for planning a trip around the US so any suggestions are welcomed...
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