END NOTE

I have learnt a great deal from undertaking e-Marketing. As we are moving closer and closer into a purely technology-driven world, it is important to understand how e-marketing is driving fundamental change to all marketing practices. For example, the emergence of social websites such as Facebook and MySpace, and search advertising such as Yahoo and Google. As future marketers, we need to be aware of the ethical, legal and marketing implications of existing and emerging technology.

Thanks to Ian and Steve for presenting us with an enjoyable and information-rich course.

Week Twelve - Reflection on Learning

They key aspects that I took away from this week's work were that there is no point of having a website if no one is going to use it. Therefore, in order to build traffic, management must identify the target market, the techniques used to build traffic (i.e. search marketing, online PR, viral marketing etc), and have correct timing.

I learnt the importance of viral marketing as it can encourage and promote word of mouth (whether good or bad), the differences between affiliate marketing and Pay Per Click advertising, the usefulness of sites such as Vurr.com to select the appropriate key word to drive users to a particular site, and how DMoz cleans up and culls out bad content so that users receive the most up-to-date and accurate information. Anyone can sign up to be a DMoz editor, so if you're interested, click on the following link: http://www.dmoz.org/help/become.html

Week Twelve - Traffic - Building & Managing the Flow

1. Find an article on affiliate marketing (for example: http://www.iabuk.net). What is the difference between affiliate marketing and PPC (Pay per click) marketing and what are the advantages and disadvantages of both?
The article that I selected on the topic of affiliate marketing was titled “5 Things You Must Have to Succeed in Affiliate Marketing” (http://www.selfseo.com/story-19710.php). It basically outlines that in order to achieve in affiliate marketing, people must be willing to learn and be trained, invest time and effort even if direct results don’t seem apparent, possess self-determination, be disciplined and be optimistic.

Affiliate Marketing is an Internet-based marketing practice in which a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought about by the affiliate's marketing efforts, whereas Pay per click (PPC) is an Internet advertising model used on websites, in which advertisers pay their host only when their ad is clicked.

The advantages of affiliate marketing are:
• Merchants have a wider environment generating more products and services signifying more sales.
• It is an easy way to create additional income for both merchants and websites.

The disadvantages of affiliate marketing are:
• High commission costs incurred by merchants.
• False and misleading types of advertising that has lead to unjust claims and also complaints from people.
• It is not a stable source of income for the merchant.

The advantages of PPC marketing are:
• They are generally targeted towards a very general audience.
• Drives lots of valuable traffic to a website.
• One of the most affordable forms of marketing on the Internet.
• Easy to set up and maintain.
• Pay commissions even if visitors never make any purchases.

The disadvantages of PPC marketing are:
• It is difficult to bid for select words, especially when small companies are up against larger companies.
• Pay less than affiliate programs since they are trading higher commission rates for a higher probability of earning income.

2. How is CRM relevant to affiliate marketing?
Customer Relationship Marketing provides the affiliate marketer with powerful tools that can effectively identify, track and monitor website's visitors. The software can even provide important information that enlightens the affiliate marketer to exactly what the visitor seeks and then apply to the right affiliate programs to fill the needs of the visitors.

The valuable information gathered by the CRM software provides the affiliate marketer with a clear idea of who is visiting the website and for what reason. This information allows the affiliate marketer the opportunity to make specific changes in advertising efforts, website content and other variables that will cause people to want to return to the website.

3. Where does viral marketing fit into this mix?

One of the best known forms of viral marketing is ‘word of mouth’. It relies on networks of people to spread the word. It is a form of promotion and can occur in social networks. It is important to get as many targeted online and offline mentions as possible in order to build traffic. Google uses a form of direct viral marketing, where invitations to potential customers are willingly sent by Google users. The secret to Google’s success is the simplicity of their product. They use simple interfaces and lack of obtrusive image-based ads, substituting them instead with simple text links. Rather than using image-based ads, Google designed text links where they scanned the content of the email or message being viewed and designed its ads based on that. This form of “intelligent” online marketing is related to viral marketing, and is very useful when used in conjunction.

4. In the PowerPoint presentation there is a link to Overture which was a 'key word' search tool. You will find that it is no longer there - one of the ongoing issues with web resources. Yahoo bought Overture and shut it down. Do your own search and see if you can find an alternative to Overture. Also see the discussion page and share your thoughts there.
Yahoo Search Marketing is a keyword-based pay per click or sponsored search Internet advertising service. Yahoo began offering this service after acquiring Overture, which provided a pay-for-placement search service. However, Overture was consequently shut-down.

An alternative to Overture is Vurr.com. It is a very simple site where users enter in a key word to find search queries matching and their frequency of use. For example, when I type in ‘health’, the top three results I get are health insurance, health and united health care. The most frequently use key word is rank at the top of the list. The benefits of Vurr.com are that it has a faster query response, results are not normalised (e.g. car insurance and auto insurance are not merged), typos and misspells are preserved allowing comparison to base word, word order is retained in the query, plurals and punctuation are retained for the query, and search frequencies are not subject to manipulation.

5. Methods used to improve search engine ranking include frequency of occurrence in body copy, number of inbound links, inclusion in directories such as DMoz, title HTML tag, Meta tags and hidden graphic text.

What is DMoz? Read about DMoz in Wikipedia. What search engines use DMoz? I have a personal online book business called OZRURAL. Is it listed in DMoz?
Directory MOZilla (DMoz) is a human reviewed directory. It is one of the largest directory systems that is maintained by human editors. A listing in DMoz is said to assist in boosting rankings in general search results. One of the main search engines that uses DMoz is Google. DMoz provides the means for the Internet to organise itself. As the Internet grows, so do the number of net-citizens. These citizens can each organise a small portion of the web and present it back to the rest of the population, culling out the bad and useless and keeping only the best content.

OZRURAL is listed on DMoz and it comes up with two results:
1. OzRural - New and Pre-loved horse books bought, sold or exchanged. Specialise in rare and hard to find classics.
2. OzRural - Includes rural news, bookshop, alternative and farm diversification information and links.

Week Eleven - Reflection on Learning

There were no tasks or exercises to complete this week. It gave me a chance to finalise my virtual presentation.

Week Ten - Reflection on Learning

It took me longer than usual to complete this week's questions. However, I learnt a great deal from doing them. Firstly, it was surprising to learn that emails motivate and stimulate 88 per cent of consumers to use certain products and services. This just demonstrates that we are moving further and further into a technology-driven world.

We learnt that Maslow's hierarchy of needs can sometimes be too simplistic, and we need to understand the wants and needs of consumers in order to encourage them to purchase (online and offline). Customers can be categorised into Explorers, Hunters or Trackers. We must firstly identify the drivers of brand trust and engage consumers, which stimulates their purchase intent. The outcome of the purchase can lead to customer loyalty, and the customer may therefore be an advocate for the brand.

I thought that both YouTube videos were very interesting but long. I decided to watch the full-versions of each to gain a better understanding, especially the Yahoo video an how they develop their social network.

Week Ten - eConsumers

1. In Chaffey 20008, chapter four, three types of social behaviour are identified. These are the track, hunter and the explorer. What are the characteristics of these customer behaviours and how in particular might you encourage them to purchase online?
A tracker knows the exact product they want to purchase. They use online shopping sites to track a product down and check the price, availability, delivery time, delivery charges or after-sales support. This type of buyer requires very little persuasion to purchase online.

A hunter doesn’t have a particular product in mind but knows the types of product they are after. For example, a television or a laptop. They use online shopping to a find suitable products, compare them and decide which one to purchase. This type of buyer needs more help, support and guidance to reach a purchasing decision.

An explorer doesn’t have a particular product in mind but may have a well-defined shopping objective, a less-resolved shopping objective or no shopping objective at all. This type of buyer has a range of possible needs and many uncertainties to be resolved before committing to purchase. Suggested gift ideas, guides to product categories, lists of top-selling products and information-rich promotions could encourage them to purchase online.

2. Given that the main fears about using the Internet are security and privacy, what can organisations do to reassure customers?
In order to reassure customers, organisations could offer a 100% security guarantee, which means that customers pay nothing if unauthorised charges are made to their card as a result of using their services. Organisations should also state on their website that they are committed to ensuring the privacy of customer at all times when using their websites. Contact details of the organisation should be posted on the site in an easily accessible and clear position to give customers peace of mind and allow them to contact them if they have any concerns.

3. Onsite information processing can be divided into 5 stages: exposure, attention, comprehension & perception, yielding & acceptance and loyalty. What do you think is meant by each of these stages?
• Exposure: Customers must be exposed to content long enough in order to process it. If content is not displayed long enough the message will not be received.
• Attention: Customers have a limited attention span and therefore only pick up the main messages from a website. Therefore movement, text size and colour are helpful in gaining customers’ attention.
• Comprehension & Perception: Customers must be able to interpret the combination of graphics, text and multimedia on the website clearly and accurately. The design should be familiar to the customer so that they will interpret it according to previous experience and memory.
• Yielding & Acceptance: The information presented must be accepted by the customer. Some customers will respond to emotive appeals, while other will make a more clinical evaluation based on the text.
• Retention: Customers must be able to recall their experience. A clear, distinctive site design will be retained in the customer’s mind, therefore increasing the likelihood of a repeat visit.

4. How can (online) customer loyalty be improved?
Organisations need to retain high-value customers for life by building strong emotional and rational bonds. They must find out more about their needs, serve them and then offer relevant incentives to keep them coming back. The five determinant of loyalty include:
• Quality customer support
• On-time delivery
• Compelling product presentations
• Convenient and reasonably priced shipping and handling
• Clear trustworthy pricing policies.

5. It is very cost effective to conduct online market research, but there is also potential for sampling errors. The article extract below shows that 78% of women would rather have a pet than a husband. Do you think this figure is accurate? Give reasons for your answer.
The figure is not accurate as the majority of listeners to the radio station are females between the ages of 23 to 49. Furthermore, the younger-aged women are less likely to have a husband at that particular stage in their life, and are more inclined to vote for a dog instead. Therefore, they have a biased response rate. Marketers must carefully plan their research first before conducting it. As research can be very costly and time consuming, it is important that sampling questions and segments are chosen correctly to avoid any data biasness.

6. As more and more services can be delivered via mobile devices, there is already talk of the post-PC consumer. What impact will this have on marketing?
Marketers will be faced with the same marketing dilemmas as they have with previous technology such as radio, television, computers and i-phones. Dealing with a post-PC consumer should be exactly the same. Marketers need to continue to be adaptable to the new technology and develop marketing strategies and campaigns to suit the new type of consumer. Marketers must not be afraid of change and should move with the market in order to stay in the game.

7. Watch the 1800 Flowers video. How does 1800 Flowers optimise fresh delivery of flowers in all states of America?
In order to optimise the fresh delivery of flowers in all States of America, 180 Flowers controls delivery tightly. They control distribution by working closely with florists around country to manage quality, delivery and all aspects of the experience with perishable products.

8. Watch the Yahoo video. What are the key elements of a social network that are identified?
The CIO of Version Telecom says that giving people creativity makes a job fun. When people enjoy their job, they are more likely to go above and beyond. The key elements that he states are:
(a) Ask people to propose ideas in order to identify new opportunities in the business.
(b) Give people the opportunity to try and fail quickly. Quick failures are easy to resolve and cost the business less money. It facilitates quick learning and puts the business on the right course to get the right solution.

9. In addition to answering the questions this week, you should read widely on the subject. Visit some online blogs such as clickZ, Wired, Techcrunch and find some scholarly articles using Google Scholar. Search for articles on online relationships and loyalty, communities and social networks, buyer behaviour online, trust, loyalty and online customer motivation. You wont be able to cover all of these areas, so concentrate on finding a couple of journal articles and briefly describe the key points in them.
Does online relationship marketing enhance customer retention and cross-buying?
For full document, visit the following link: http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.ballarat.edu.au/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hjh&AN=34319968&site=ehost-live

I found this journal article on EBSCO Host when searching for articles on ‘online relationships’. The key points in the article are that customer loyalty is more difficult to achieve in the online context than in the offline one. The integration of Internet technology with the customer loyalty concept is rarely discussed in the relationship marketing literature. The article also uses a model that examines the relations among relationship-bonding tactics, perceived relationship investment, perceived relationship quality, customer loyalty, customer retention, and cross-buying. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of relationship marketing as it positively influences online customers' perception, then their loyalty, and ultimately, their actual purchase behavior.

Between Friends
For full document, visit the following link: http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.ballarat.edu.au/ehost/pdf?vid=8&hid=108&sid=794be57e-0216-457c-bcf2-d5b155a24aa6@sessionmgr111

I found this journal article on EBSCO Host when searching for articles on ‘online social networks’. The article outlines the growth of social networking sites worldwide. It revealed that the idea of a social graph, a representation of a person's network of friends, family and acquaintances, gained popularity in 2007 as online social networks grew. Facebook claims that they have more than 64 million active users, with 250,000 more signing up each day. These companies tried to commercialise the social connections by permitting outside developers to build applications that access user's networks. According to Facebook, they also advertise user's contacts in accordance with the user's online buying habits. Some of these networks include Blogosphere, Comment Flow, Twitter Social Network and Virtual Marketing.

Week Nine - New Media & The Brand

This week we learnt about the two basic levels of brand awareness: brand recognition and brand recall. Once consumers are 'aware' of the brand, it is crucial that there is a strong brand image to further push consumers to adopt the product.

Brands ultimately influence our buying decisions. They also tell 'stories' about people and make people feel a certain way. For example, the people who drive BMWs or who wear Rolex watches. Consumers are spending less time using traditional media such as television, radio and newspapers, and are spending more time online. Therefore it is crucial that we, as future marketers, must be familiar of new media that consumers use to target our product/service to.

Week Eight - Reflection on Learning

This week we learnt that people and processes are vital in the provision of services. For example, the 90/10 service and sales rule states that communication with customers can account for up to 90% of sales transactions whereas price and product accounts for approximately 10%. We discovered the importance of having a balance between automated services, such as email notifications and virtual assistants, and customer service. Staff must receive adequate training in order to achieve high levels of customer satisfaction.

I enjoyed the Microsoft training video. The moral of the video is that no matter how people do business, they should focus predominantly on their customers as they are the key to providing cash flow and shareholder value. I found the 'awkwardness' between the two men was hilarious! The Microsoft interviewer held his stance and conducted himself very well.

Week Eight - Real People or Virtual People?

1. Read all of the notes.
2. Watch PowerPoint.
3. Watch video.
4. Complete survey.
5. Download the new Google web browser (Chrome) and try it out. What do you think of it?
I am quite impressed with Google's Chrome browser. It took less than two minutes to download and install onto my laptop. The features that I like about it are the minimalistic user interface and the merging of the address bar and search bar. It still has all of the features of other web browsers (and more!) but it is simplified into icons including 'back', 'forward', 'reload' and 'homepage'. The additional tabs that I thought were useful were 'control the current page' and 'customise and control Google Chrome'. The latter tab included applications such as history, bookmark manager and downloads. I found that the history application was very useful as it listed all of the previously browsed web sites by date and time order. You are also given the option to clear your history (I hear a sigh of relief from many people!!) Finally I thought it was a nice touch to allow users to personalise their browser. As a result, my browser is 'pretty in pink'. Hopefully my boyfriend appreciates my good taste!

Week Seven - No exercises to be completed

Week Six - Reflection on Learning

This week we viewed a YouTube clip by Seth Godin titled 'All Marketers Are Liars'. Basically it outlined that in order for customers to talk about a product or service, it needs to be remarkable. The product needs to be delivered in a relevant, personal and anticipated way to people who actually want it. It also needs to be positioned in the right place, time and in the form that people want to get it.

We learnt that an important key element in promotional marketing is word-of-mouth. It is free, effective (as long it is positive) and doesn't require valuable resources (e.g. sales force). 'Flipping the funnel' is a method of getting a message distributed.

Google is certainly an innovative service that has change the way that many marketers think and do business.

Week Six - All Marketers Are Liars: The Need For Meaningful Messages

1. When talking about Yahoo auctions, what did Seth Godin mean by 'billion dollar decisions do not have anything to do with technology'?
Seth Godin states that marketers and decision makers spend extensive amounts of revenue on advertising. Yahoo did the same to promote its auction website. However, Google had no sales-force to promote their service. They developed a magnificent search engine that delivers personal, relevant and anticipated messages to people who want them. Word-of-mouth is their key promotional element. They do not need to spend a dime on promotion as customers do it for them.

2. What has storytelling got to do with cat food?
Seth Godin used the example of Fancy Feast cat food to demonstrate the concept of ‘storytelling’. He explains that people do not buy Fancy Feast for their cat, but buy it for themselves and their well-being. They want a story to tell. For example, people do not buy Chanel No. 5 for the perfume itself, but buy it so they can tell a story about their wealth, status and good taste.

3. Explain the concept of funnel marketing. How would 'flipping the funnel' help the marketing of a product?
A funnel is very wide at the top and narrow at the tip. Not everything can come out the bottom all at once. Funnel marketing is the process of offering something of high value and little or no cost to customers. Once marketers have captured the interests of customers, they can then start varying the weight of the value and costs accordingly. Funnel marketing is a successful concept as customers already have an idea of what they are buying. As long as they feel that the last step in the funnel is worth the price, they will always be open to pay the higher prices in the future.

The essence of 'flipping the funnel' is that for most companies, friends and customers are under-used assets. Network marketing leverages the single most powerful form of advertising: word-of-mouth. It is about flipping the funnel and turning it into a megaphone.

4. What does the term 'remarkable' mean in the context of purple cows?
The word ‘remarkable’ means giving customers something worth talking about. For example, if people have seen one cow, they have seen hundreds. There is nothing special or remarkable about them. However, if people saw a purple cow, they are mostly likely to take interest in it as it is a story worth telling. Marketers need customers to keep talking about their products to produce and maintain demand.

5. As eMarketers we all want 'happy surfers'. Godin talks about the fashion/permission complex. He lists four parts to the fashion/complex. They are:

1) Make it (the message) worth listening to.
2) Tell it to the people who want to hear.
3) Tell their friends.
4) Get permission to tell about your next fashion.

Can you think of an example from your experience that demonstrates the fashion/permission complex?
An example of the fashion/permission complex is Sri Chinmoy Races. It is an event company that offers a smorgasbord of quality running, swimming, triathlon and multi-sport races Australia-wide. I heard about the event company at a Health & Wellbeing Festival. As I enjoy running I took interest in their message. A lady from the registration tent asked if she could take down my details to send me email updates about upcoming races. I told my friends and family about the events as they are also interested in running. I now participate in the races on a regular basis.

6. Thinking back to last weeks lecture, give an example of an 'idea that spread', and an example of marketing 'that is broken'. What elements of the promotional mix did your examples include?
IDEA THAT SPREAD
An example of an idea that spread is Facebook. It is a social directory that was introduced to help people communicate more efficiently with their friends, family and co-workers. I first heard about it from my friends and decided to sign up as another way to stay in touch. It now has more than 130 million active users. Facebook’s key element of the promotional mix is word-of-mouth. Minimal amounts of revenue are spent on promotion.

THAT IS BROKEN
Some years ago Coco Cola tried to introduce a new Coke. Even though they did extensive market research and people seemed to like the taste of the new Coke, the product still failed. The reason why is because there was nothing wrong with the original Coke and people didn’t want to give up buying it. Coke would have used advertising, sales promotion, PR, sponsorship, packaging and word-of-mouth to promote the new Coke. However, due to poor planning the product did not succeed.

Week Five - Reflection on Learning

This week we focused on 'place' and 'promotion' as part of the marketing mix. We identified online distribution ideas and the different communication tools that various website use. As online promotion is increasing rapidly it is important that we are aware of the ways to communicate and how they are relevant to our core business.

Week Five - Promotion

1. List each of the ten types of promotion and give a real example that you have found for each.
Ten types of promotion and examples of each are:

• Advertising: Poker ads that pop-up when I'm trying to access particular webpages.
• Selling: I receive a link each month from Victoria's Secret to view their online catalogue.
• Sales promotion: StrawberryNet.com offers buyers a discount on every purchase they make. For every purchase is an increase in the discount percentage.
• PR: I receive an e-newsletter from Blackmores listing their most recent products and latest news on health.
• Sponsorship: Whereis.com is sponsored by TomTom.
• Direct email: I receive direct emails from Start To Finish Event Management informing me of upcoming running events.
• Exhibitions: On the University of Exeter website there is a digital exhibition space of the Bill Douglas Centre and includes a comprehensive catalogue of the collections.
• Merchandising: Selling products on eBay.
• Packaging: Adidas places images of its actual collections and products that can be viewed on their website.
• Word-of-mouth: When I find good products online I email friends to tell them about it.

2. Spend some time looking at the National Marketing Awards (UK). Select two of the winners and discuss them in terms of the promotional mix. What communication tools were used in each award?

The two winners that I have selected from the National Marketing Awards are Cadbury's Natural Confectionery Company and Future Talent.

Sales for the Natural Confectionery Company increased by 627% as they used the following communication tools:

• Radio
• Virtual ads
• Facebook page
• YouTube video
• TV channel

Future Talent is a music charity dedicated to finding, funding and nurturing exceptionally talented young musicians in the UK. The communication tools used are:

• Podcasting
• News feed subscriptions
• Press releases
• Press cuttings links
• Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Favourite and email compatible
• Public relations. E.g. website launched by Katharine Kent and Nicholas Robinson at the Cambridge University Concert Hall, with a performance by the Aronowitz Ensemble and the King's College Choir.

3. At first glance, what do you think of Facebook, Twitter, MSN, Hotmail or eBay? Why do they work?

Although these website are not visually appealing, they are successful as they engage and interact with users. They captivate users by interacting, selling or notifying them of new products or updates. They are addictive technologies as they keep users constantly informed. For example, sending emails to the user, Twitter or Status updates, new friend notifications or new product updates. If users are engaged they are more likely to continue to use the technology.

4. Who is Craig? Who cares about his list? Is this a serious business? As a marketer what would your advice to Craig have been ten years ago?

Craig Newmark i a customer service representative and founder of Craigslist. He is a senior web-oriented software engineer, with around thirty years of experience, and has been taught a lot about online community and customer service as customer service founder and rep for Craigslist for eleven years.

Craigslist is a serious business. It is a non-commercial community service with classifieds and discussion forums. It focuses on helping people with basic needs, starting with housing and jobs, with a pervasive culture of trust (http://www.inasinglestroke.com/).

As a marketer, I probably wouldn't have advised Craig to go ahead with his business as he was oblivious to innovation and was stuck in a 1997 mindset. He was not interested in branding, graphic design or money. However, his business seemed to work as he serves more than 45 million people each month, and produces 100 million dollars in revenue annually. His local listings site has helped take down an entire sector of the publishing industry (http://www.wired.com/). His business proves to be successful and I believe he has altered the way marketers think.

5. Include a summary of place that has led to new distribution ideas online.

Place means the place of purchase, distribution and consumption. According to Chaffey et al, the new ideas that have occurred in the online world of distribution are:

• Disintermediation: Removing the middleman.
• Reintermediation: The emergence of new types of middlemen.
• Informediation: Middlemen hold data or information to benefit customers and suppliers.
• Channel confluence: Distribution channels start to offer the same deal to the end customer.
• Peer-to-peer services: Removing both supplier and middleman. E.g. Music service 'Napster'.
• Affiliation: Turn customers into sales people.

Week Four - Reflection on Learning

This week made it obvious that online marketing is in fact much more cost effective to a business than offline marketing. The growth of online advertising is phenomenal. For example, it is predicted that the online advertising in the US will grow from $26.1 billion this year to $45.5 billion in 2012. However, both online and offline marketing work well together as they reach a larger target audience.

Week Four - Marketing Mix Online Variations

1. A decrease in prices is inevitable in an online marketing environment. Do you agree or disagree?

I agree that a decrease in prices is inevitable in an online marketing environment. The Internet is changing pricing for ever (Chaffey & Smith, 2008). Offline marketing activities such as television and magazine/newspaper ads can be very costly. Not only do you need to pay for the actual advertising space, but you also need to pay for the production costs (http://web-2-you.com/). Therefore more and more companies are turning to online marketing.

Many online companies enjoy lower margins by cutting out the middleman. However, pricing is under pressure through continual trends towards commoditisation (new products and services entering the market) and price transparency (both the buyer and the seller know the price). Online pricing gives customers more power which leads to further decrease in prices (Chaffey & Smith, 2008). They are easily able to compare prices at the click of a button.

2. Disintermediation will ultimately lead to channel conflict. Discuss.

According to Chaffey & Smith, disintermediation can be defined as "the removal of intermediaries such as distributors or brokers that formerly linked a company to its customers." By cutting out the middleman, companies can sell direct to their customers and also cut the costs of doing business. However, this can lead to channel conflict. For example, the direct contact component of a sales department may have to compete with other sales channels, such as a telephone, online and mail campaigns. To prevent channel conflict, partners sometimes enact agreements such as deal registration (http://searchitchannel.techtarget.com/).

3. What are the five elements of promotion and what are some examples of combining online/offline promotion?

Advertising

Online: Interactive display ads

Offline: Ad in magazine/newspaper

Public relations

Online: Online editorials/social networks

Offline: "Real life" venues such as conferences and events

Word of mouth

Online: Viral/email a friend

Offline: Speak to a friend in person

Sales promotion

Online: Online loyalty schemes

Offline: In-store rewards such as discount on next purchase

Packaging

Online: Virtual tours/real packaging is displayed online

Offline: View packaging in catalogue/store

Week Three - Reflection on Learning

This week we discovered that it is important not only to use the traditional marketing mix to exploit a product/service, but also to use 'partnerships' as part of the extended marketing mix.

We learnt how to distinguish between online marketing activities and offline marketing activities. Furthermore, by using both methods of marketing it targets a larger and more diverse market. For example, an elderly pensioner who might read the local paper in contrast with a young, Internet-savvy businessman who might go online.

Although dynamic pricing is a great way for companies to have the potential to enjoy greater profitability (http://www.dmnews.com/), sometimes price discrimination can come into effect. For example, an elderly lady who purchases a holiday package well in advance pays full price, whereas a young Internet-savvy user purchases the same package last minute at a discounted rate.

I had troubles formatting my post this week as I initially typed in into Microsoft Word and then pasted it into my blog. Therefore there are large spaces between each question. I tried to rectify it but to no avail.

Week Three - The Marketing Re-Mix

1. Consider a restaurant in Sturt Street Ballarat. Write down all the offline marketing activities you can think of and then start a separate list and write down all the online activities you can think of. What if any were the differences in the lists?
Offline marketing activities:

• Brochures
• Leaflets
• Banner ads
• Coupons. E.g. Get 20% off lunch on your second visit.
• Sponsorship from local sports club
• Publications in local newspaper/magazines
• Word of mouth
• Ad on local radio
• Ads in Yellow Pages, Whitepages and local directory

Online marketing activities:

• Direct email
• Web tiles on relevant websites. E.g. Ballarat tourism websites
• Webpage
• Online menus and bookings
• Testimonials from past patrons
• Attractive photos of the restaurant

Both offline and online methods of marketing communicate the same message, but together target a larger audience. E.g. Not all elderly citizens have access to the Internet, therefore and ad in the local newspaper might be more suitable. There are any major differences between the two, however, offline marketing can sometimes be more tangible (such as brochures and coupons) and online marketing more interactive as it is technology-based.

2. Consider two other products/services of your choice. Write down all the offline/online marketing possibilities you can think of.

Coffee shop in Melbourne CBD

Offline marketing activities:

• Word of mouth
• Attend networking events to spread awareness of the business
• Advertising in free local magazines/newspapers. E.g. City Weekly magazine and MX newspaper
• Billboards at major train stations/tram stops (if the business can afford it)
• Hand out coffee club cards. E.g. On your tenth purchase receive a FREE regular coffee
• Ad in Yellow Pages
• Hang up posters and flyers around CBD
• Get interviewed by local radio station or newspaper
• Use my car as a moving advertisement
• Sponsor a local sports team. E.g. Melbourne Victory
• Have 'customer of the month'. E.g. Hang a plague of the customer in the business to get other patrons excited

Online marketing activities:

• Join professional networking sites. E.g. LinkedIn
• Join social networking sites. E.g. Facebook
• Establish a website
• Use attractive photos such as a steaming and creamy hot latte, or a relaxing lounge area.
• Use inviting colours and soothing tones
• Place testimonials on website
• Draft a press release and include in as a link on website
• Publish the business's creation story online. E.g. 'Rags to riches'
• Send monthly e-newsletters to consumers

New line of soft drink

Offline marketing activities:

• Stands at supermarkets handing out free samples
• Word of mouth
• Radio
• Television ads on weekends/at night time
• Billboards at milk bars and supermarkets
• Sponsor a community event. E.g Fun run
• Media release
• Brochures at cafes/food courts/check-out counters

Online marketing activities:

• Establish a website
• Images of refreshing, thirst-quenching bottle of the new soft drink
• Audio of a 'fizzing' or bubbling' noise in the background
• Online competitions
• Direct emails

3. What makes a great online product from a marketer's point of view? How would you measure success?

From a marketer's point of view, a great online product must successfully fulfill needs of the target market, be easily differentiated from competitors' products, have high growth potential and have high returns in the future. The website must be user-friendly, clear and strong branding and appealing images and text. Success can be measure by how many hits the website receives on a monthly basis and the total revenue the product produces.

4. Preview the pricing of two products and consider some dynamic pricing models.

Dynamic pricing occurs when prices are free to move immediately in response to changes in supply and demand. Advances in computer hardware and software present a new dimension for the use of dynamic pricing (http://www.knowthis.com/)

Product #1: Shoes

Dynamic pricing can be used in a shoe shop where customers' use of loyalty cards triggers the store's computer to access customer information. If customers' characteristics match requirements in the software program they may be offered a special deal or discount on their next purchase of shoes.

Product #2: Airline ticket

Dynamic pricing can be used when airlines only have a few seats left on a flight and want to sell them at the last minute. They can then change the cost of the regular ticketed price for the seat to the discounted rate.

5. What are some of the issues these pricing models raise?

People may view dynamic pricing as 'price discrimination' as consumers can purchase goods or services at different costs. For example, a pensioner may book their airline ticket 21 days in advance, whereas a young traveler who is Internet savvy may purchase their ticket the day before at a heavily discounted rate. Therefore, the pensioner is unfairly charged a different price for the exact same product (http://www.utdallas.edu/).

Virtual Presentation - Topic & Action Plan

1. List the two websites.
The two websites I will be analysing are:
StrawberryNet: http://www.strawberrynet.com/
Commonwealth Bank of Australia: http://www.commbank.com.au/

2. Briefly explain why you think the sites chosen are suitable examples to analyse.

Both sites are suitable to analyse as they facilitate customer transactions. For example, customers using the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) website can transfer money between accounts, pay bills and receive direct deposits. StrawberryNet, however, enables customers to purchase products online. I believe that it is important to analyse the CBA website as it is a popular website used for everyday banking and transactions. Each website entails many components and therefore would be interesting examples to analyse and assess.

3. Describe the nature of business conducted on each site.

The CBA website is a banking institution in the service industry that supports transactional services. StrawberryNet is a retail company that sells online discounted skincare and cosmetics.

4. Provide an action plan describing how you intend to present your findings.

The purpose of this task is to conduct a widespread analysis on two websites from a marketing perspective. I will use my portfolio page to list my analysis and findings. It will be a text-based report with the inclusion of images. The content of my analysis will be as follows:

Target market:

• The segments that have been identified as likely users of the websites.

Online value proposition:

• The unique advantages of being online (e.g. more convenient, cheaper to buy online).


• What makes the sites different from the competitors?


• How do they make a difference to the users' lives?

Design & format:

• Layout


• Colours


• Fonts


• Images

Navigation & functionality:

• The ease/difficulty of navigating between pages.


• Are links important to destinations available?


• Are there broken links that lead to dead pages?


• Is it easy to understand and execute the product purchase process?

Interactivity:

• Are there customer feedback pages?


• Is there provision for question and answers?


• How easy is it to contact the company?


• Are there contact telephone numbers or emails?


• What is the level of responsiveness to complaints and queries?

Product/Service information:

• Is there sufficient information regarding the rules and regulations of purchase?


• Is there explanatory information regarding the purchase process?


• Is product information supplied by the seller/s often misleading or incorrect?

Security/Privacy:

• What are the potential security challenges? (e.g. credit card fraud/computer viruses).


• How do the websites ensure security? (e.g. firewalls/filters).

Company information:

• How do the websites portray the brand of the company? (e.g. providing background information on company history, founders and current employees).

Key findings:

• The main points of interest identified in the analysis.

Suggestions:

• Feedback and ideas to improve the websites from a marketing perspective.

Week Two - Reflection on Learning

This week was a little less overwhelming. I gained a better understanding of the purpose of our blogger and e-portfolio pages.

I found it interesting to learn about Chaffney and Smith's six choices for online marketing, and the purposes of each. These six choices represent what marketers are trying to promote and communicate in their websites, the type of budget they posses and how they want to interact with the consumer.

We also focused on examples of poor marketing and how it can affect the relationship with the consumer. For example, impersonal responses or no response at all to the consumer can damage their perception of the brand.

I discovered that in order for an organisation to be profitable and maintain a sustainable relationship with consumers, they need to pursue the right strategy to build their campaign.

Week Two - Strategic eMarketing

1. Give an example from your own experience of poor e-marketing.
My poor e-marketing experience occurred when I ordered skincare products through a website called 'StrawberryNet'. After I submitted my credit card details, I was told that I would receive the products within the week. To my delight, my products arrived a few days later. However, they weren't the 'Shiseido' brand as promised - they were fake! The problem is that I paid basically the same amount as I would normally in a shop. The only reason why I did it online was for the convenience.

2. List 5 examples of poor e-marketing.
Example #1
Marketers who do not give consumers the option to 'opt out' from receiving email updates/notifications is a form of poor e-marketing. Consumers become frustrated and may disregard the product/service offered altogether.

Example #2
Before webpages go 'live' on the web, Marketers must ensure that the webpage is fully functioning. Marketers who do not take caution may run into various risks such as loss of consumer confidence and reduced profitability as consumers may not return to website due to problems such as faulty payment processing systems.

Example #3
Consumers may associate bulk emails from Marketers as 'spam'. Consumers may delete it or it may automatically be sent through to their spam file, therefore it may be left unread.

Example #4
Websites that are difficult to navigate is a form of poor e-marketing. For example, if a consumer could not locate the contact details of the company on the webpage to enquire about a product, they may get frustrated and not pursue the product. This would result in lost revenue for the company.

Example #5
Consumers who receive impersonal responses or no response at all to their enquiries is poor e-marketing and may damage the brand.

3. Provide one example of each of the six levels of of e-marketing.
Level 0: None

Level 1: http://www.melbournerestaurants.com.au/ This site lists the top ten of Melbourne's restaurants by the following categories: rating, cuisine, speciality, suburb and region. Once you click on a selected restaurant it navigates you directly to their website.

Level 2: http://www.bjsdancecenter.com.au/ This is a simple static information site. It lists general product information, the locations and basic pricing details.

Level 3: http://www.nutshack.com.au/default.htm This 'tasty' and simple interactive website contains pictures of Nutshack's products corresponding with nutrition information, a store locator, FAQs and an option to provide feedback or voice any questions or concerns via email.

Level 4: http://www.srichinmoyraces.org/au The Sri Chinmoy is a website where fitness enthusiasts can view information about a particular event (dates, pricing, location) and register online. The site accepts credit card details and automatically sends a confirmation to the designated email address.

Level 5: http://www.ebay.com.au/ Ebay is a fully-interactive site that supports the entire buying process. It is an online marketplace that provides a relationship with individual customers.

Week One - Reflection on Learning

Well, I must say that this week has certainly been a learning curve! I have never undertaken an online class and it is definitely a unique way of learning. After an initial panic, I managed to get through this week's tasks with the help from other students. Thank you to you all!

Week One - The Wired World

1. Define e-business and e-marketing.
E-business refers to business such as the buying, selling and trading of information, goods and services, over the Internet by means of the World Wide Web (Collins Internet-Linked Dictionary of Marketing, 2003). E-marketing is the application of marketing principles and techniques via electronic media and more specifically the internet. It encompasses all the activities a business conducts via the worldwide web with the aim of attracting new business, retaining current business and developing its brand identity(www.quirk.biz).

2. What are performance metrics and why are they important?
Performance metrics are constructed to encourage performance improvement, effectiveness, efficiency, and appropriate levels of internal controls. They are important as they are used to measure customer satisfaction, organisational performance and workforce excellence, which is vital if a business is to thrive in the long-run (www.orau.gov).

3. What are some of the key legal issues that affect e-marketing?
The majority of consumers yield personal information via the internet, and therefore are more vulnerable to be victims of fraud. Companies also face difficulties in maintaining consumers' privacy as there are problems in policing and regulating all personal information that is submitted and exchanged.

4. How does technology both raise and lower costs for companies?
Technological developments influence the composition of Internet audiences and the quality of material that can be delivered to them. For example, consumers would not get the same experience ordering a gift basket online than if they were to physically walk into a gift store and select the goods themselves. They may perceive the gift basket with different values and qualities. Although technology lowers costs by reducing materials and physical involvement, it also creates costs such as the investment in expensive hardware and software and web page developments. Furthermore, current technologies are made obsolete when new technologies emerge.

5. As a technology, how does the Internet compare with the telephone?
In comparison to the telephone, the internet offers more flexibility, control and freedom to the consumer. Consumers now have information on demand with the power of distance and time compression. Marketers have to become better at delivering customer value to meet the demands of a more sophisticated consumer base.

6. What are some of the marketing implications of Internet technologies?
Consumers have control and access to information on demand. They are becoming more demanding and sophisticated, and therefore marketers have to improve at delivering customer value. Internet technologies have changed traditional marketing by creating a power shift from sellers to buyers, death of distance and time compression.

7. What are the three main markets of e-business, and how do they differ?
An e-marketplace is nothing but electronic marketplace. It is an electronic exchange where firms register as sellers or buyers to communicate and conduct business over the Internet. The three main markets of e-business are the right owner, open standards and cost efficiency. The right owner, for example, might be a web-based mediator that steps in to roll up volumes on behalf of buyers and sellers. Open standards are building bridges to enable open communication between buyers and sellers and also between marketplaces. Cost efficiency refers to developing ways to provide other services related to the supply chain (www.wiki.answers.com).

8. In the context of e-marketing, what does "revenge of the consumer" mean?
"Revenge of the consumer" started with television channel surfing using the remote control. Consumers did not seem to appreciate that commercials pay for broadcast TV programs. At the start of the 21st century, consumers gained control via 'the mouse'. As a result, they became more demanding and sophisticated. Therefore marketers had to become better at delivering consumer value.

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