Saturday, January 10, 2009
E-Commerce Week #8
Business Week Online
Web 2.0 in the Enterprise
Steve Hamm
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/blog/globespotting/archives/2009/01/web_20_in_the_e_1.html?chan=technology_technology+index+page_internet
Web 2.0 has been an innovation that’s become very useful for many well-known companies around the world. P&G for example uses a wiki in it’s R&D, GM gets some feedback from its customers through a FastLane blog it uses, and Reebok even has it’s own virtual store on Second Life. Although many new things have been created through Web 2.0, the innovations haven’t even begun to reach their full capabilities and offerings. Something that’s widely used but hasn’t received much recognition may eventually make it as a technology on the mainstream.
A new technology called Mindjet which is an updated version of a once know MindManager, is used by groups of people to brainstorm new products, marketing plans, or business strategies, and people can create diagrams or relationships between ideas, or map out processes. The Mindjet products are sold in stores but usually are adopted by word of mouth. Originally, just people in companies used the product as a personal information manager and would collaborate with others through it. Now, about 1.5 million people use the software and 35,000 of those people started using it after they heard it through word of mouth. Although large companies are already using the software, the new version that was just released in November is likely to attract many more users.
It seems that many Web 2.0 software are things that only people with a lot of time on their hands could use, but unlike most things, this Mindjet software is something that could add value to Web 2.0 if it’s eventually adopted. What I learned is that there are so many new applications and software with Web 2.0 that people don’t even know about, and they are only going to be expanded upon. Eventually, there will be so many applications that anything is possible, but that doesn’t mean that all applications will serve any true value to its users.
E-Commerce Week #7
Business Week Online
A Modest Blogging Proposal
Ben Kunz
This article is about how a blogger, Chris Brogan, received $500 from Kmart to visit the store and find out what’s “cool” there and then write about it. An analyst from Forrester Research heard of this and posted a question on Twitter as to whether it’s okay for brands to approach their bloggers in this tactic. The result was one of the biggest debates in recent blogosphere history as both when were widely known and followed for their blogs. Thousands responded and the general consensus by the end of the weekend was that most people didn’t seem to see a problem with a person being paid for their efforts.
The follow-up of this discussion led to a proposal for people to get paid for dropping brand names into their blogging conversations. Because of the decrease in the effect of traditional media, these people believe that they could be paid for real-world opinions by inserting brand promotion directly into their blog post. They would be called “advertorials” and the only rule would be that while they intend to look like a real opinion, they must be clearly marked as sponsored ads.
An original PayPerPost.com site was created for this type of idea, but eventually failed, and now Brogan is looking to start the same type of scenario up again. Realizing that the challenge of advertising is real, and that marketers must try new ways of reaching out to consumers. The problem that’s been run into is that, if companies are going to pay individuals for these blog posts, how is it a guarantee that these posts are really the opinions of the people and not what the company wants them to say. According to Brogan, “There is an ethical line between buying ad position and buying an ad opinion, but honestly we don’t know where that line is.”
Basically, sponsoring real-world opinions could open up many doors for advertisers to influence consumers, and consumers could get cash in the process. If monetizing chatting could lift the world out of this recession, then this method should start to be considered by companies. I learned that the world of advertising is struggling in certain areas, and as someone going into advertising design, many ways of reaching out need to be discovered, because the old way just isn’t working as well anymore.
E-Commerce Week #6
Business Week Online
Google Loses Verizon Mobile Search Deal to Microsoft-But How Big a Loss Is It?
Rob Hof
In the Business Week article, “Google Loses Verizon Mobile Search Deal to Microsoft-But How Big a Loss Is It?”, it talks about how this past week Microsoft’s CEO announced that Microsoft would be serving as the default search service for all the Verizon Wireless brand phones. Many believe that this announcement serves as a huge blow to the leader of desktop searches, Google. But in reality, whether it truly is a blow to the company, depends on how you look at it. Much of it will come down to how well the Microsoft services will work compatibly with all of the products Verizon Wireless has.
Aside from which search engine Verizon is going to work with, statistics themselves show that of twenty percent of mobile users who actually use search engines through their mobile devices, “60% of them use Google and only 6% use Microsoft”. Google already has set deals with Sprint, Nextel, and T-Mobile, but people who use other brands are still choosing to use Google as their default search engine.
Also, Microsoft acquisition of Verizon Wireless did not come without a steep price, it was $650 million in guaranteed payments to Verizon over a 5-year span, which is approximately double what Google offered to pay the company, and there’s no telling how the mobile search market will pan out in 5 years, or whether Microsoft will make any form of a profit. What I learned from this article, is the constant battle between major companies to outdo on another, and the amount of money they are willing to put on the line for that is huge. In this case, either Microsoft will surge above Google like they hope to, or they just set themselves up for a rough five years.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
E-Commerce Week #5
Why Twitter Should Matter to E-Commerce Shops
David Miller
e-commerce-guide.com
http://www.ecommerce-guide.com/news/trends/article.php/3791211
The microblogging service, Twitter, is a free site therefore it has no revenue model which is recognized by most of its users. However, there continue to be complaints about unreliable service, the exceptionally high noise-to-signal ratio, and accusations towards the company for “top to bottom” incompetence. Through all of these alleged complaints, Twitter continues to provide its services, and looks to continue far into the future as users are finding more uses for the site then short blurbs about what they’ve been up to. There aren’t many e-commerce sites using Twitter to increase online sales yet, but the more businesses become aware of this free service, the more likely they are to start using it.
Some examples of organizations and companies that are using Twitter, is first of all, the Red Cross, in an effort to “get info out to the public and the media”. They’ve recognized success through the use of Twitter when it came to disaster response because people are constantly following the breaking news with its direct updates. A business that has produced one million dollars in revenue this past year and a half because of sales alerts through Twitter is Dell. Twitter has a successful way of communicating with customers through messages they receive when they sign up to follow a certain company through Twitter. The airline Jet Blue has also used Twitter to its advantage by offering discounts, tickets, and additional flights based off of customer comments on Twitter, and are quick to respond to any customer criticism or praise.
With the use of Twitter growing and spreading to more than just the everyday person, it has been suggested to Twitter to offer a premium version, and actually make some money off the services it provides. Advertising could also be a source of revenue for Twitter, with the insertion of ads into the site, in hopes that users wouldn’t complain about the constant advertising that could possibly not even target them. Overall, Twitter is used to connect people from all over the world, with the quick responses to each person’s post, it has become a very enjoyable site for many, but like always, Twitter has its critics.
I found this article interesting because we had talked about Twitter in class, and it gave me a little more insight into what the site was all about. The possibilities of this site could be endless depending on how far the creators want to go, and how much they can continue to push the site if it remains a free service. With the increasing attraction to the site, it should be interesting to see what the site evolves into in the coming years.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
E-Commerce Week #4
Business Week Online
Online Marketers Wooing Minorities More
Douglas MacMillan
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2008/tc20081217_930574.htm
With the constant increase in online retailing, more and more people are beginning to use the internet for various products and services, and this increase has led to usage by various cultures worldwide. Marketers are searching for ways to reach out their messages to everyone rather than limiting themselves to certain markets. The increase in the number of Hispanics, African Americans, and Asian Americans online, has led marketers to adapt their campaigns to court all of these markets. Studies have shown that there is an increase in the use of internet by these segments and therefore, the importance of making marketing messages culturally relevant to potential new customers has become vastly more important. It is believed that to be effective, advertisers, “can’t just translate their mass-market campaign into another language”, but more so an understanding of different cultures and traditions needs to be established.
Multicultural marketing online has become a popular medium both in its use, as well as being a key factor in being able to distinguish a tracking system for what types of customers are being reached. Marketers have found that cultural groups have already tended to form close environments online, which is seen as an opportunity for marketers to virally spread their messages to these markets. In regards to the future of the multicultural online market, agencies that specialize in multicultural marketing are projecting demand at least to hold steady for the next year which seems to be a promising sign considering the current economic climate. Ultimately, while it’s necessary for advertising to reflect cultures and attitudes of its intended audience, the importance of translating language should not be overlooked.
I found this article interesting because as a designer, in the future this is a topic I’m going to be frequently faced with. It’s much easier to design for a culture that I’m familiar with, but there’s so many more people in the world that your message must reach and as a designer, other cultures and traditions need to be taken into consideration. This article opened up my eyes to the increase in multi-cultural users of the internet, and that is only one medium of design that will need to be considered.
Online Marketers Wooing Minorities More
Douglas MacMillan
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2008/tc20081217_930574.htm
With the constant increase in online retailing, more and more people are beginning to use the internet for various products and services, and this increase has led to usage by various cultures worldwide. Marketers are searching for ways to reach out their messages to everyone rather than limiting themselves to certain markets. The increase in the number of Hispanics, African Americans, and Asian Americans online, has led marketers to adapt their campaigns to court all of these markets. Studies have shown that there is an increase in the use of internet by these segments and therefore, the importance of making marketing messages culturally relevant to potential new customers has become vastly more important. It is believed that to be effective, advertisers, “can’t just translate their mass-market campaign into another language”, but more so an understanding of different cultures and traditions needs to be established.
Multicultural marketing online has become a popular medium both in its use, as well as being a key factor in being able to distinguish a tracking system for what types of customers are being reached. Marketers have found that cultural groups have already tended to form close environments online, which is seen as an opportunity for marketers to virally spread their messages to these markets. In regards to the future of the multicultural online market, agencies that specialize in multicultural marketing are projecting demand at least to hold steady for the next year which seems to be a promising sign considering the current economic climate. Ultimately, while it’s necessary for advertising to reflect cultures and attitudes of its intended audience, the importance of translating language should not be overlooked.
I found this article interesting because as a designer, in the future this is a topic I’m going to be frequently faced with. It’s much easier to design for a culture that I’m familiar with, but there’s so many more people in the world that your message must reach and as a designer, other cultures and traditions need to be taken into consideration. This article opened up my eyes to the increase in multi-cultural users of the internet, and that is only one medium of design that will need to be considered.
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