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.