Five Key Questions to Ask of Digital Advertisements
These were presented in the context of advertising in video games, but I think they remain relative in other vehicles of digital adveristing:
1) Awareness - Is the consumer aware of the ad?
2) Recall - Can the consumer recall the ad?
3) Attitude - Does ad placement impact consumer attitude? Positively or negatively? Towards product or brand?
4) Intent to Buy - Does the ad impact the consumers intent to buy?
5) Actual Purchase - Does consumer make purchase based on advertisement?
Other factors to consider:
1) Skepticism - Do ads create or increase consumer skepticism?
2) Attention - Do consumers pay attention to the ads?
3) Subconscious - Are ads absorbed by consumers subconsciously?
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Reflections on "Off Target" NPR Podcast and Google's CEO Eric Schmidt on Charlie Rose
Behavioral Advertising, Privacy and Mobile Web Browsing
Based on other readings I've completed, I was surprised to hear on this podcast that 2/3rd of people are against behavioral advertising. I do agree, however, that it is at the "heart of digital privacy issues". Behavioral advertising does leverage historical search data in order to place targeted ads of interest. To some degree, there is a benefit as a consumer because more of what we want, of products and services that do interest us, will come to us. Items that we would not have known were available, would not have known to search for, are readily available offers on the Google search page and with the launch of AdSense, on other sites as well.
In contrast, collecting data anonymously in aggregate to understand trends, such as what Google does per their CEO Eric Schmidt on Charlie Rose, enables new heights of information analysis with what they consider no privacy issues. Rose challenges him on this point, and understandably so. Google has access to violate this trust by tying searches and personal account information together, but Schmidt insists that there are laws and policies in place to prevent such actions and this should be enough to instill confidence. I loved Rose's response, essentially that Google is just asking consumers to "trust us".
On the NPR podcast, another view of privacy was suggested: privacy as a commodity. I've been aligned with this perspective for some time, but hadn't attributed the word "commodity", so this was an "AHA" moment for me (I think a bright lightbulb appeared above my head). In theory, we treat our "right" to privacy as a commodity and are willing to trade it (sometimes only in parts) for other benefits. Two examples provided include travelers who barter privacy for security and celebrities do so in exchange for celebrity.
All in all, privacy will continue to define this segment of the Digital Era (or for others is considered a subsequent "Privacy Era" all its own). As the real and augmented realities continue to merge and interactive applications enable greater personalization of digital content, the bigger issue is whether or not people realize that their personal data is being collected and used.
On another note, Google's goal of making "all the world's information universally accessible and useful" is quite ambitious. Of course, Google is known for nothing if they're not known for being just that. I think it's a stretch to think they'll get there anytime soon, given all of the tribal areas in the world for which digital technology is still foreign, but web-enabled mobile phones are accelerating their reach.
In another clinic course I am currently taking, my team had the opportunity to speak with artisans and craft distributors across the globe. As part of these interviews, we performed a technology assessment and the responses reflected Schmidt's assertion. While few had laptops, many had access to email and mobile web on cell phones. This is how small businesses and artisans maintain connections and communications with those outside their physical community.
Changing Education As We Know It
I was lucky enough to attend schools that did integrate technology with our traditional curriculum, even though it was in pre-google days. We did have search-study activities and not only did they broaden our access to current events and new studies they also ensured that we became very comfortable with technology through its application in our classroom. The advent of Google's algorithm approach has transformed the world of search on the web and brought more of the web closer - closing the distance to a just a few keystrokes. Schmidt is right on track with leveraging this more in schools, though I think he overemphasizes this and disregards the value of some traditional learning methods that help listening, basic skills, and other necessary lessons. Integration with an appropriate balance is crucial.
Behavioral Advertising, Privacy and Mobile Web Browsing
Based on other readings I've completed, I was surprised to hear on this podcast that 2/3rd of people are against behavioral advertising. I do agree, however, that it is at the "heart of digital privacy issues". Behavioral advertising does leverage historical search data in order to place targeted ads of interest. To some degree, there is a benefit as a consumer because more of what we want, of products and services that do interest us, will come to us. Items that we would not have known were available, would not have known to search for, are readily available offers on the Google search page and with the launch of AdSense, on other sites as well.
In contrast, collecting data anonymously in aggregate to understand trends, such as what Google does per their CEO Eric Schmidt on Charlie Rose, enables new heights of information analysis with what they consider no privacy issues. Rose challenges him on this point, and understandably so. Google has access to violate this trust by tying searches and personal account information together, but Schmidt insists that there are laws and policies in place to prevent such actions and this should be enough to instill confidence. I loved Rose's response, essentially that Google is just asking consumers to "trust us".
On the NPR podcast, another view of privacy was suggested: privacy as a commodity. I've been aligned with this perspective for some time, but hadn't attributed the word "commodity", so this was an "AHA" moment for me (I think a bright lightbulb appeared above my head). In theory, we treat our "right" to privacy as a commodity and are willing to trade it (sometimes only in parts) for other benefits. Two examples provided include travelers who barter privacy for security and celebrities do so in exchange for celebrity.
All in all, privacy will continue to define this segment of the Digital Era (or for others is considered a subsequent "Privacy Era" all its own). As the real and augmented realities continue to merge and interactive applications enable greater personalization of digital content, the bigger issue is whether or not people realize that their personal data is being collected and used.
On another note, Google's goal of making "all the world's information universally accessible and useful" is quite ambitious. Of course, Google is known for nothing if they're not known for being just that. I think it's a stretch to think they'll get there anytime soon, given all of the tribal areas in the world for which digital technology is still foreign, but web-enabled mobile phones are accelerating their reach.
In another clinic course I am currently taking, my team had the opportunity to speak with artisans and craft distributors across the globe. As part of these interviews, we performed a technology assessment and the responses reflected Schmidt's assertion. While few had laptops, many had access to email and mobile web on cell phones. This is how small businesses and artisans maintain connections and communications with those outside their physical community.
Changing Education As We Know It
I was lucky enough to attend schools that did integrate technology with our traditional curriculum, even though it was in pre-google days. We did have search-study activities and not only did they broaden our access to current events and new studies they also ensured that we became very comfortable with technology through its application in our classroom. The advent of Google's algorithm approach has transformed the world of search on the web and brought more of the web closer - closing the distance to a just a few keystrokes. Schmidt is right on track with leveraging this more in schools, though I think he overemphasizes this and disregards the value of some traditional learning methods that help listening, basic skills, and other necessary lessons. Integration with an appropriate balance is crucial.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Week 5 - Web Metrics & Marketing Research - Reflections
Timothy Berners-Lee commented on a video excerpt that the initial implementation of the world wide web was a grassroots movement and the sense of community made it "most fun". This stuck out to me because that is what is happening with social media today. Social media creates an organic community that mirrors the fun Tim expresses here.
Frank and Gil also draw the distinction between the web and the internet; the web is a subsection of the internet and facilitates the end user experience of the internet.
The internet is a challenge to other mediums because it is "robust, fast" and causes "no degradation". This poses a particular issue for marketers who have to capture the attention of consumers that can switch their focus with the click of a button. Despite this, the Internet brings more innovative possibilities than we can imagine, in part because it forces the hand of corporate America and lends a voice to the everyman. While there is debate as to whether the Internet's impact on society is on par with the printing press, I don't think that statement is far off.
I was excited to see that the Engagementdb found a "direct correlation between top financial performance and deep social media engagement". This seems so obvious, but it's clear that a lot of companies still just don't get it. Along that line, I was also pleased to see that my organization, Accenture, made the Top 100 Global Brands List at #13 and falls into the "Maven" category. The Toyota key success factor "Be in it for the long haul" resonated with me in particular because it emphasizes making the right decisions and enhancing credibility. Companies that pursue this approach are not just dipping toes in the social media (SM) waters, but being intentional and thus better positioned to build real relationships and community with consumers, thus resulting in a successful SM Strategy.
In The Numerati introduction, Stephen Baker describes Google as the "marquee company" and "most entirely built on math"(7). While that is completely accurate, I hadn't considered that before. Google's search engine success is based on effective algorithms built on patterns displayed by humans. Algorithms and statistics have had a profound impact on our lives in so many ways we don't often consider - from our credit rating to Google searches. Though I find the area of statistics fascinating, I am nowhere near being a Numerati and have great respect for what they've accomplished and what is still to come.Dave Morgan and the Numerati search for patterns and correlations in our behavior and intend not only to be observational, but to change our actions as well. With my own rise in internet shopping, I would say they are successful. Morgan claims, "We're just at the beginning," and I think he's right!
Frank and Gil also draw the distinction between the web and the internet; the web is a subsection of the internet and facilitates the end user experience of the internet.
The internet is a challenge to other mediums because it is "robust, fast" and causes "no degradation". This poses a particular issue for marketers who have to capture the attention of consumers that can switch their focus with the click of a button. Despite this, the Internet brings more innovative possibilities than we can imagine, in part because it forces the hand of corporate America and lends a voice to the everyman. While there is debate as to whether the Internet's impact on society is on par with the printing press, I don't think that statement is far off.
I was excited to see that the Engagementdb found a "direct correlation between top financial performance and deep social media engagement". This seems so obvious, but it's clear that a lot of companies still just don't get it. Along that line, I was also pleased to see that my organization, Accenture, made the Top 100 Global Brands List at #13 and falls into the "Maven" category. The Toyota key success factor "Be in it for the long haul" resonated with me in particular because it emphasizes making the right decisions and enhancing credibility. Companies that pursue this approach are not just dipping toes in the social media (SM) waters, but being intentional and thus better positioned to build real relationships and community with consumers, thus resulting in a successful SM Strategy.
In The Numerati introduction, Stephen Baker describes Google as the "marquee company" and "most entirely built on math"(7). While that is completely accurate, I hadn't considered that before. Google's search engine success is based on effective algorithms built on patterns displayed by humans. Algorithms and statistics have had a profound impact on our lives in so many ways we don't often consider - from our credit rating to Google searches. Though I find the area of statistics fascinating, I am nowhere near being a Numerati and have great respect for what they've accomplished and what is still to come.Dave Morgan and the Numerati search for patterns and correlations in our behavior and intend not only to be observational, but to change our actions as well. With my own rise in internet shopping, I would say they are successful. Morgan claims, "We're just at the beginning," and I think he's right!
Week 5 - Web Metrics & Marketing Research
List
Numerati - Introduction
Brief History of the History of the Internet (Video)
Ad - Smartphone (NYT)
Engaged/Valuable Brands (Report)
Future of the Internet (PEW Report)
Kimberly Clark (Video)
Also: Follow Mashable, Engadget and WSJ.com headlines and tweets.
Objectives:
What are specific reputable or reliable web metrics?
Are companies using these today to measure digital marketing performance?
What research is being done in the marketing arena? (This may shed light on what is considered important and relevant).
Numerati - Introduction
Brief History of the History of the Internet (Video)
Ad - Smartphone (NYT)
Engaged/Valuable Brands (Report)
Future of the Internet (PEW Report)
Kimberly Clark (Video)
Also: Follow Mashable, Engadget and WSJ.com headlines and tweets.
Objectives:
What are specific reputable or reliable web metrics?
Are companies using these today to measure digital marketing performance?
What research is being done in the marketing arena? (This may shed light on what is considered important and relevant).
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Week 4 - Business Moels & The New Era of Competition
List
Business Models on the Web
Gil & Frank Discuss Business Models (Podcast)
Twitter $ (Video)
Economics of Giving It All Away (WSJ)
Disrupters: ecommerce (Video)
Business Models of News Websites
5 Business Models for internet Startups
Questions
How is social media changing accepted and/or successful business models?
What emerging technologies are considered disruptive?
Are there traditional business models that are successful with ecommerce?
Intial Response
1) Less is More. This business approach, held by NextJump and Alice, stands in direct opposition to the theory of the Long Tail. They have been successful thus far, as have Amazon and Zappos, who each take a Long Tail approach, so there doesn't seem to be a clear winner on this point yet.
2) Don't use data to guess. THANK YOU. There's a healthy balance to seek out here - if you use data poorly, you may become a spammer but if you use it well, there are privacy issues to consider. We are certainly in the "Era of Privacy" as a nation, trying to fumble our way to the edge of a blurry line.
These articles are all relatively new when it comes to academic study, but in the technology genre, so much has already changed since the early 2000s when many of these were published. One interviewee indicated that print media was still superior to online media for promoting discussion and elsewhere online sites were criticized for not leveraging interactivity significantly. At this time, the landscape has drastically changed and Twitter has been a part of the transformation. With its simplistic 140 character approach, Twitter has made information more accessible and relevant as users choose who to follow and can identify and search for trends. Increased access to the internet via broadband has certainly played a part, as predicted.
Twitter has also addressed another perspective shared several years ago - that online sites could not be a collaborative, continuous source of news. With iReport on CNN and headlines with shortened links provided via Twitter, this could not be further from the truth.
Today I watched a live TwitCast where Zachary Levi, an actor on the television show Chuck, used his smartphone video camera to provide a live feed from the set via a link from his Twitter account. As a follower, I was entertained and it was fantastic!
I was surprised to learn that ads provided over 82 percent of revenue for traditional daily newspapers.
Evan Williams made the distinction in defining Twitter as an information network rather than a social network, which I found helpful and true, based on my own experience. That definition changes my perspective on how Twitter can be used and what it can accomplish.
Twitter seems to be in great need of a defined revenue model, which they do not have in place today. At some point, regardless how popular, a technology tool has to be self-sustaining rather than funded by venture capital. Williams indicates that there are plenty of opportunities, one which is to extract value already realized by corporations with existing Twitter accounts. Whether that makes it into their final plan is anyone's guess; he's pretty tight-lipped about their revenue model, no matter who asks about it!
Business Models on the Web
Gil & Frank Discuss Business Models (Podcast)
Twitter $ (Video)
Economics of Giving It All Away (WSJ)
Disrupters: ecommerce (Video)
Business Models of News Websites
5 Business Models for internet Startups
Questions
How is social media changing accepted and/or successful business models?
What emerging technologies are considered disruptive?
Are there traditional business models that are successful with ecommerce?
Intial Response
1) Less is More. This business approach, held by NextJump and Alice, stands in direct opposition to the theory of the Long Tail. They have been successful thus far, as have Amazon and Zappos, who each take a Long Tail approach, so there doesn't seem to be a clear winner on this point yet.
2) Don't use data to guess. THANK YOU. There's a healthy balance to seek out here - if you use data poorly, you may become a spammer but if you use it well, there are privacy issues to consider. We are certainly in the "Era of Privacy" as a nation, trying to fumble our way to the edge of a blurry line.
These articles are all relatively new when it comes to academic study, but in the technology genre, so much has already changed since the early 2000s when many of these were published. One interviewee indicated that print media was still superior to online media for promoting discussion and elsewhere online sites were criticized for not leveraging interactivity significantly. At this time, the landscape has drastically changed and Twitter has been a part of the transformation. With its simplistic 140 character approach, Twitter has made information more accessible and relevant as users choose who to follow and can identify and search for trends. Increased access to the internet via broadband has certainly played a part, as predicted.
Twitter has also addressed another perspective shared several years ago - that online sites could not be a collaborative, continuous source of news. With iReport on CNN and headlines with shortened links provided via Twitter, this could not be further from the truth.
Today I watched a live TwitCast where Zachary Levi, an actor on the television show Chuck, used his smartphone video camera to provide a live feed from the set via a link from his Twitter account. As a follower, I was entertained and it was fantastic!
I was surprised to learn that ads provided over 82 percent of revenue for traditional daily newspapers.
Evan Williams made the distinction in defining Twitter as an information network rather than a social network, which I found helpful and true, based on my own experience. That definition changes my perspective on how Twitter can be used and what it can accomplish.
Twitter seems to be in great need of a defined revenue model, which they do not have in place today. At some point, regardless how popular, a technology tool has to be self-sustaining rather than funded by venture capital. Williams indicates that there are plenty of opportunities, one which is to extract value already realized by corporations with existing Twitter accounts. Whether that makes it into their final plan is anyone's guess; he's pretty tight-lipped about their revenue model, no matter who asks about it!
Week 3 - Microsegmentation & Social Media
List
Origins of Social Media
Long Tail Podcast
Evan Williams - Twitter @Charlie Rose
When Social Media Became the News
Razorfish SM Report
Seven Segment System for Marketing
Point of Twitter podcast @NPR
Questions
What is Microsegmentation?
What are the benefits/drawbacks of it?
How does it relate to Social Media?
What is the Long Tail?
What is Razorfish?
The emergence of online shopping and review tools, chief among those Amazon and Zappos, has lead to an increased rate of microsegmentation. This growing marketing approach is helping companies better leverage the phenomenon of the Long Tail, or "selling less of more". Chris Anderson of Wired Magazine sparked the use of this phrase to describe the increasing percentage of sales attributed to low volume purchases of a large variety of items - often niche products. As this trend continues, the tail on the power curve of sales stretches longer and longer.
There are a few apparent trends surfacing among the media we've consumed week to week -
1) Shift from a supply to a demand driven market - [From this week: Twitter & the growing Long Tail are drivers of this]
2) Social media has an impact on ecommerce - [From this week: Increases "bubble up" of the top ideas" and can reduce the prevalence of a Long Tail; reduced social pressure on niche items can increase the rate of negative feedback on these products]
3) Don't dismiss or overemphasize ANYTHING [From this week: refers to the Long Tail, but this seems to hold true for ALL technology etc. that seems out of reach...wait a year, it may become a reality!]
Social media is continuously developing and in many ways, reinventing itself. On Charlie Rose, Twitter is described as the new way to communicate that we didn't know we needed. As a member new to Twitter in the past 6 months, I couldn't agree more. It is through increased familiarity with the tool and the media I've absorbed in this course that I have been able to cultivate a better online style and presence.
Evan Williams comments that there is so much more potential to synthesize and leverage collective intelligence through crowdsourcing and/or algorithms. As this social media tool grows this functionality envisioned by Williams and expands its user base, it will bring even greater change to the marketing frontier and nature of online communication than we've seen to date. Twitter provides a voice to those who did not have one. In emergency situations, such as the tsunamis and plane crashes, social media enables individuals to share and personalize these events through their first-hand experiences. Currently, this is evident in the wake of the Gulf oil spill. 3rd party applications like TwitPic and yfrog enable users to share photos and videos of oil and animal victims as part of the rising party of amateur journalists. CNN also launched a feature, iReport, specifically designed to leverage readers' input - primarily photos and videos.
Social media has come a long way - even pushing the evolution of traditional marketing and production into microsegmentation - but there's so much more yet to come.
Origins of Social Media
Long Tail Podcast
Evan Williams - Twitter @Charlie Rose
When Social Media Became the News
Razorfish SM Report
Seven Segment System for Marketing
Point of Twitter podcast @NPR
Questions
What is Microsegmentation?
What are the benefits/drawbacks of it?
How does it relate to Social Media?
What is the Long Tail?
What is Razorfish?
The emergence of online shopping and review tools, chief among those Amazon and Zappos, has lead to an increased rate of microsegmentation. This growing marketing approach is helping companies better leverage the phenomenon of the Long Tail, or "selling less of more". Chris Anderson of Wired Magazine sparked the use of this phrase to describe the increasing percentage of sales attributed to low volume purchases of a large variety of items - often niche products. As this trend continues, the tail on the power curve of sales stretches longer and longer.
There are a few apparent trends surfacing among the media we've consumed week to week -
1) Shift from a supply to a demand driven market - [From this week: Twitter & the growing Long Tail are drivers of this]
2) Social media has an impact on ecommerce - [From this week: Increases "bubble up" of the top ideas" and can reduce the prevalence of a Long Tail; reduced social pressure on niche items can increase the rate of negative feedback on these products]
3) Don't dismiss or overemphasize ANYTHING [From this week: refers to the Long Tail, but this seems to hold true for ALL technology etc. that seems out of reach...wait a year, it may become a reality!]
Social media is continuously developing and in many ways, reinventing itself. On Charlie Rose, Twitter is described as the new way to communicate that we didn't know we needed. As a member new to Twitter in the past 6 months, I couldn't agree more. It is through increased familiarity with the tool and the media I've absorbed in this course that I have been able to cultivate a better online style and presence.
Evan Williams comments that there is so much more potential to synthesize and leverage collective intelligence through crowdsourcing and/or algorithms. As this social media tool grows this functionality envisioned by Williams and expands its user base, it will bring even greater change to the marketing frontier and nature of online communication than we've seen to date. Twitter provides a voice to those who did not have one. In emergency situations, such as the tsunamis and plane crashes, social media enables individuals to share and personalize these events through their first-hand experiences. Currently, this is evident in the wake of the Gulf oil spill. 3rd party applications like TwitPic and yfrog enable users to share photos and videos of oil and animal victims as part of the rising party of amateur journalists. CNN also launched a feature, iReport, specifically designed to leverage readers' input - primarily photos and videos.
Social media has come a long way - even pushing the evolution of traditional marketing and production into microsegmentation - but there's so much more yet to come.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Week 2
List of materials to watch/listen/read
Introduction: The Dawn of the Human Network
Chapter 1: “Why the Groundswell and Why Now?”
Chapter 6: “Web Video: The New, New Thing”
The social marketing playbook
Brand Communities podcast
“Star Search”
Alma Whitten on “Lessons from Googles Approach to Internet Security, Privacy and Encryption
Learning goals/questions
· What is customer empowerment?
· How has customer empowerment changed the marketing scene?
· How has social media impacted customer empowerment?
Accomplished
Read:
Introduction: The Dawn of the Human Network
Chapter 1: “Why the Groundswell and Why Now?”
Chapter 6: “Web Video: The New, New Thing”
The social marketing playbook
Watched:
Brand Communities podcast
Portion of Alma Whitten on “Lessons from Googles Approach to Internet Security, Privacy and Encryption
Listened:
“Star Search”
Comment on Progress
The only item I did not complete was Alma’s video. The speaker’s presentation style made it more difficult to watch and the content was not what I expected. I chose to spend time scanning and sharing additional social media links via Twitter rather than complete this video. Social Media enables this learning flexibility!
Thoughts
There were a number of common themes across the items I covered this week. One trend is the identification of a shift from consumers to “prosumers”. The power of product brands is increasingly in the hands of consumers as social media provides a number of outlets and opportunities for connection. Content, once added to the web, is irreversible – unable to be removed. To be successful, companies need to be engaged in dialogues about their products online through nurtured communities or any number of social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter or You Tube. More than damage control or prevention, marketers can develop or increase brand perception. This introduces a new issue around metrics to assess impact or ROI for this new and rapidly changing arena.
Before launching into “New Marketing”, it is useful to assess the landscape, determine a social media architecture and establish a unifying theme to launch a social media presence. New and old media are not mutually exclusive, but “need to become catalysts for one another.”
Groundswell and Crowdsourcing both leverage virtual communities to help individuals and organizations achieve success through collaboration. I participated in Seti@Home in high school and had forgotten about it until coming across it here; I was excited to consider it in this context.
Neoterics made me wonder why we don’t try, fail and adapt more, knowing the positive results and increased rate of improvement if we embraced this.
The “secret formula” to web video utilization made me laugh because of the focus on metadata. While authenticity is an important facet of organizations and personal brand marketing, I recently had a horrible concert experience with an arrogant artist and added the tag “Justin Bieber” to the video metadata upon uploading to YouTube. While Justin Bieber had nothing to do with the video, as a top trending topic on Twitter, I received a number of hits on my video for those searching this tag. I wanted to expose the horrific behavior of the artist to a broad audience, but this would be a terrible approach for any organization seeking relationship or community building to increase brand perception.
In light of these discoveries, I feel empowered to be a prosumer and take full advantage of the opportunity to wield marketing power and be a part of an interactive online dialogue.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Week 1 - Objectives and Learnings
Objectives:
Familiarize myself with the structure and general content of the course
Understand what traditional marketing strategy looked like prior to the web
What marketing strategy looks like today, how that evolution occurred and the role the web has played
What now?
Made to Engage provided the most comprehensive overview to traditional marketing strategy and its evolution with the advent and proliferation of the web. The pair of WSJ articles played into this well by questioning whether this transformation is good or bad, each playing the devil's advocate to the other. Both authors acknowledge that in either case, Web 3.0 and social media are having an impact on our society. The article with Zuckerberg in GQ in December 2008 dives deep into one of these changing social norms - privacy. Described as a "forward-thinker" on privacy, Zuckerberg is leading the evolutionary charge in this area through his product, Facebook. After pushing too hard, too fast with Beacon, Facebook stepped back and is gradually imparting the benefits of sharing information and developing community beyond its own screen by linking through to other sites using Facebook Connect.
Jeff Bezos also addressed the changing world in his experience through Amazon. Beginning as an internet-based bookseller, Amazon has continued to embrace emerging technology through the development of its online marketplace and its own ereader, Kindle. As a Kindle 2 owner, much of Bezos conversation with Charlie Rose resonated with me. Though the interview was recent in the grand scheme of things, it's clear how rapidly technology evolves with the improvements that have already been implemented but were mentioned as distant thoughts at this time. In the interview, Bezos indicated that of the books available on Kindle and hard copy, 10% of sales were ebooks. This past week, Amazon announced that in this same demographic, Kindle purchases outweighed hardbacks. How quickly one exciting milestone gives way to the next.
So the internet is changing the world. Specifically, it's changing the consumer and marketing world. So what? Mastering the Hype Cycle addresses what this means for businesses. To stay competitive, organizations need to leverage the hype cycle in forecasting. They need to accept the "Age of Engage" and become part of the dialogue rather than fight the wave of technology and the ensuing hype cycles in order to be successful.
Familiarize myself with the structure and general content of the course
Understand what traditional marketing strategy looked like prior to the web
What marketing strategy looks like today, how that evolution occurred and the role the web has played
What now?
Made to Engage provided the most comprehensive overview to traditional marketing strategy and its evolution with the advent and proliferation of the web. The pair of WSJ articles played into this well by questioning whether this transformation is good or bad, each playing the devil's advocate to the other. Both authors acknowledge that in either case, Web 3.0 and social media are having an impact on our society. The article with Zuckerberg in GQ in December 2008 dives deep into one of these changing social norms - privacy. Described as a "forward-thinker" on privacy, Zuckerberg is leading the evolutionary charge in this area through his product, Facebook. After pushing too hard, too fast with Beacon, Facebook stepped back and is gradually imparting the benefits of sharing information and developing community beyond its own screen by linking through to other sites using Facebook Connect.
Jeff Bezos also addressed the changing world in his experience through Amazon. Beginning as an internet-based bookseller, Amazon has continued to embrace emerging technology through the development of its online marketplace and its own ereader, Kindle. As a Kindle 2 owner, much of Bezos conversation with Charlie Rose resonated with me. Though the interview was recent in the grand scheme of things, it's clear how rapidly technology evolves with the improvements that have already been implemented but were mentioned as distant thoughts at this time. In the interview, Bezos indicated that of the books available on Kindle and hard copy, 10% of sales were ebooks. This past week, Amazon announced that in this same demographic, Kindle purchases outweighed hardbacks. How quickly one exciting milestone gives way to the next.
So the internet is changing the world. Specifically, it's changing the consumer and marketing world. So what? Mastering the Hype Cycle addresses what this means for businesses. To stay competitive, organizations need to leverage the hype cycle in forecasting. They need to accept the "Age of Engage" and become part of the dialogue rather than fight the wave of technology and the ensuing hype cycles in order to be successful.
Week 1 Completion List
Read:
"Made to Engage"
"Does the Internet Make You Dumber"
"Does the Internet Make You Smarter"
"Mastering the Hype Cycle"
"Do You Trust This Face"
"The New Conversation: Rethinking Enterprise Marketing to develop meaningful relationships in the age of connectivity"
Listened:
Gil and Frank on the Newspaper Industry Parts 1-3
Watched:
"Welcome and Course Introduction"
"A Conversation with Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos"
"Pandora Founder Tim Westergren"
"Made to Engage"
"Does the Internet Make You Dumber"
"Does the Internet Make You Smarter"
"Mastering the Hype Cycle"
"Do You Trust This Face"
"The New Conversation: Rethinking Enterprise Marketing to develop meaningful relationships in the age of connectivity"
Listened:
Gil and Frank on the Newspaper Industry Parts 1-3
Watched:
"Welcome and Course Introduction"
"A Conversation with Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos"
"Pandora Founder Tim Westergren"
Engaged, or Not Engaged, That is the Question
When do marketers have an audience? Anytime. Where do they have an audience? Anywhere. Who can marketing products? Anyone. How can marketers capture their audience? Using as much innovation as possible. Web 3.0 has brought with it a slew of new benefits and challengers to marketers and consumers alike. Potential consumers are both a click away from your product and can turn away in a click.
Innovation has become a more significant differentiating factor in marketing. A clothing company recently replaced racy billboard ads with QR codes acceessible by some mobile smartphones to link to the ads on their site. Old Spice has tapped their audience to interact with them to generate viral videos as part of its marketing campaign.
The key to marketing with the new Web 3.0 is embracing the inherent interactivity of dialogues in the new world of social media. Dan Tapscott and David Ticoll state, "Transparency is being done to the firm whether they like it or not," in their book The Naked Corporation. Rather than creating electronic advertising content, companies need to engage in interactive dialogues leveraging a whole new set of tools available with Web 3.0 such as Wikis, Twitter, Facebook, comments, voting, sharing, and RSS feeds, just to name a few.
How has social media transformed your purchasing habits?
Innovation has become a more significant differentiating factor in marketing. A clothing company recently replaced racy billboard ads with QR codes acceessible by some mobile smartphones to link to the ads on their site. Old Spice has tapped their audience to interact with them to generate viral videos as part of its marketing campaign.
The key to marketing with the new Web 3.0 is embracing the inherent interactivity of dialogues in the new world of social media. Dan Tapscott and David Ticoll state, "Transparency is being done to the firm whether they like it or not," in their book The Naked Corporation. Rather than creating electronic advertising content, companies need to engage in interactive dialogues leveraging a whole new set of tools available with Web 3.0 such as Wikis, Twitter, Facebook, comments, voting, sharing, and RSS feeds, just to name a few.
How has social media transformed your purchasing habits?
Pushing the Privacy Button
In December of 2008, Alex French addressed the impact Facebook is having on our perception of privacy and the ways our perception of privacy has limited Facebook (FB). FB started with a goal of recreating the "social graph", or replicating online the social connections already in place in our 3D world. This approach seems to have had the most significant impact on the evolution of our collective view on privacy compared to similar ventures; individuals volunteer a variety of information in a "safe" environment on Facebook, which started off in an even more insular, academic environment.
The evolution of media and technology is rapidfire so much has changed even over the year and a half since French's article was published. The Facebook Connect feature introduced at that time has continued to grow and integrates with additional sites such as CNN. The initial backlash to NewsFeed has dissipated and is now a top feature, displaying this shift in perception of information privacy on the internet. There is certainly a great deal of debate on what should be allowed and how information can or should be shared, but this is changing rapidly.
Personally, I don't put anything on the internet that I'm not okay with everyone and anyone knowing. I think that has to be a general expectation for shared information on the web (or anywhere with the prevalence of smartphones and mobile technology). That being said, I also am comfortable sharing a great deal more than my parent's generation as a whole. Privacy perspectives, in my experience, do vary greatly along generational lines.
How will Facebook change in the next year and a half? Only privacy-forward-thinking Mark Zuckerberg knows. The question that is more intriguing and likely more important, is how Facebook will change our privacy social norms in that same time.
The evolution of media and technology is rapidfire so much has changed even over the year and a half since French's article was published. The Facebook Connect feature introduced at that time has continued to grow and integrates with additional sites such as CNN. The initial backlash to NewsFeed has dissipated and is now a top feature, displaying this shift in perception of information privacy on the internet. There is certainly a great deal of debate on what should be allowed and how information can or should be shared, but this is changing rapidly.
Personally, I don't put anything on the internet that I'm not okay with everyone and anyone knowing. I think that has to be a general expectation for shared information on the web (or anywhere with the prevalence of smartphones and mobile technology). That being said, I also am comfortable sharing a great deal more than my parent's generation as a whole. Privacy perspectives, in my experience, do vary greatly along generational lines.
How will Facebook change in the next year and a half? Only privacy-forward-thinking Mark Zuckerberg knows. The question that is more intriguing and likely more important, is how Facebook will change our privacy social norms in that same time.
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