Classroom learning

Recently in class we discussed how the internet is changing the ways in which buisnesses communicate with consumers. Gone are the days in which it is only neccessary for companys to reach consumers by traditional forms of comunication, such as television and billboard advertisements. Today thanks in part to wikis, discussion boards and blogs in which consumers are able to share opinions and experiences with milions upon millions of people, engagement marketing is becoming an important means of communicating with customers. Engagement marketing, as described by wikipedia is "a marketing strategy that invites and encourages consumers to participate in the evolution of a brand. Rather than looking at consumers as passive receivers of messages, engagement marketers believe that consumers should be actively involved in the production and co-creation of marketing programs."
Examples of engagement marketing given in class were Microsoft channel 9 , Scobleizer, and GM Fastlane. An additional illustration of this type of marketing which we did not cover is Curbed : The New York City Neighborhoods and Real Estate Blog.

Class 3/14

Recently our class discussed how Viacom, the parent company of MTV and Comedy Central, sued Google and YouTube in federal court , in which Viacom complained of “massive intentional copyright infringement.” In its complaint, Viacom accused YouTube of a “brazen disregard” for the law. “YouTube has harnessed technology to willfully infringe copyrights on a huge scale, depriving writers, composers and performers of the rewards they are owed.” Google responded by saying it was not intimidated by the lawsuit and “confident that YouTube has respected the legal rights of copyright holders.” This lawsuit is certainly a battle of the titans and will have a significant impact on future use of the Internet. In my opinion YouTube has the much better case. Although Viacom in a way is right in that it feels its been robbed because it is not being compensated for its copyrighted content, and that content is being used without its permission. However, is Viacom really being hurt financially. The short "stolen" clips shown on YouTube it seems to me is a free form of advertisement for Viacom and will increase vieweship just like movie trailers or short advertisements for a show increase the publics interest in seeing the entire show. When people view the short clip on YouTube they will probably be more eager to see the entire show. These short clips on YouTube can be viewed as a marketing tool. I therefore think at the end the parties will compromise and reach an out of court settlement in that Viacom will allow short clips of copyrighted material to be shown on YouTube and YouTube may have to pay a modest amount of compensation. The challenge will be how will the parties work out a system so that Viacom gives permission to YouTube before it shows the clip.

Comments about Teammate's Post

One of my teammates recently took the VALS test, an online survey that asks a number of questions about demographic and motivational characteristics that are then processed to determine shopping habits as well as media, product, and service preferences. Marketers may use this information to more precisely target consumers. My teammate found her survey results to be accurate, and recommended that others take the survey. So I did, and although I responded to the questions as honestly as possible I found that the shopping habits, lifestyle and recreation choices that VALS predicted I would exhibit did not reflect my actual behavior and preferences. If the inaccurate prediction about my behavior is in any way indicative of the quality of the results received by the majority of other respondents to the VALS test than there is a discrepancy between the objectives of the survey (to allow businesses to more accurately target consumers.) and the questions used to predict behavior. I feel that the survey should be expanded to also ask more direct questions specifically dealing with shopping habits, personal behavior and personal preferences. These types of questions together with the existing questions would elicit responses that I feel would more accurately predict behavior and preferences.

Iggys House

While browsing through the required blogs I came across a post discussing the recent launch of www.Iggyshouse.com, a real estate website giving homeowners the ability to list for free their homes for sales on the MLS(Multiple Listing Services). The MLS is a very large database and information system responsible for selling more than 70 percent of U.S. homes. Generally, this system was only available to homeowners if they listed their property through a real estate broker. However, in some cases homeowners could get access to a local MLS if they paid a fixed fee, which was generally about $500. An MLS is a very efficient information sharing system among real estate brokers representing buyers and sellers. Typically there are various commission sharing arrangements among brokers. MLS listing gives the property tremendous exposure to the public as well as to millions of real estate brokers representing buyers or those brokers wishing to partner with a seller's broker to find a buyer. The MLS listing feeds into Realtor.com, AOL,MSN, The Wall Street Journal and other sites popular with buyers search for a home. Generally an MLS listing has certain restrictions as to the amount of information included, however, Iggyshouse.com allows sellers to create elaborate websites with detailed information such as pictures of every room in the house, as well as a video tour. The parent company of Iggyshouse.com is also the owner of a sister company called BuySide Realty, which is an online real estate agency that shares 75 percent of the commissions it receives with the buyer. The parent company bases its business model on the assumption that all sellers will become buyers. They therefore direct sellers who use their free website to BuySideRealty in the hope that sellers will use this web site to purchase a new home. The article also states that there are 1.1 million people who try to sell their home with the services of a real estate broker as well as 400,000 people who pay a fee to be MLS listed.
My initial reaction to this article was that the services provided by Iggyhouse.com would be viewed negatively by real estate brokers and other real estate Internet sites because home sellers would not use real estate brokers as much and therefore commissions would decrease. For instance, as sites such as Buyowner.com, which helps homeowners sell their homes could lose business. However, after further considering the service to be offered by Iggyshouse.com I came to the conclusion that this new company will not have a significant impact on real estate brokers. Sellers who use a real estate broker only for the purpose of being MLS listed and today pay a fixed fee, and who decide instead to use the MLS free service by Iggyhouse.com might find this service attractive. However, those sellers who use a full service real estate broker today will probably not switch to Iggyhouse.com since they will continue to realize that the advantages of using a broker far outweigh the small benefit of saving the cost of getting the MLS listing for free. I do think this free service will hurt those websites catering to seller and which only offer sellers the opportunity to list their homes on their website but do not provide access to MLS. I think these websites will respond by also offering the MLS for free to their users. This I feel would diminish the competitive edge that Iggyhouse.com is attempting to achieve. Although Iggyhouse.com will provide additional exposure for those who want an MLS lisiting without having to use a broker I feel that these sellers will eventually have to deal with a broker if he wants to sell the house, for example he may have to deal with the buyers broker. And in the negotiations the seller will have to pay some or all of the commission to the broker. Notwithstanding anything else the main objective is still to sell your house, and if necessary sellers will still be willing to pay thousands of dollars in commissions to achieve that objective. Also, I feel that because real estate brokers provide many other services to sellers that most sellers will still not want to go it alone and that a free MLS listing will not induce them to forgo the services of a broker. However, for those sellers who today try to go it alone this I believe will be a valuable service. As for Buyside Realty, I feel this is an excellent marketing technique that will take full advantage of all the traffic that Iggyhouse.com will receive for its free service. What is unclear is whether enough business will be generated by BuySide Realty to compensate for the free services that will be offered by Iggyshouse.com.

Fourth Wikipedia Edit

Throughout the semester I will be enhancing the Wikipedia article about Wilmington, Delaware, my hometown. My first contribution to the article was the creation of a media section, to which I added the following three subsections: Radio, Television and Newspaper. In addition, I included a fact relating to each of the three subsections.

Wikipedia Edit # 3

The long anticipated arrival of the third Wikipedia article I will be editing , is now finally here. I have decided to take you all out of the dark and tell you that I have unselfishly decided to share my knowledge of the jigsaw puzzle with Wikipedia and all its readers.
And for my first edit to the article I chose to enhance it by creating a "Strategies" section. A Strategies section was needed since among other things putting a puzzle together can be a very relaxing activity, however often times people can become overwhelmingly frustrated by it and quit before they have the opportunity to have an enjoyable experience. The strategies section in Wikipedia will allow for a greater number of people to reap the benefits of completing a puzzle by providing helpful suggestions. To the section I added the following
"For those new to puzzles it is recommended that you choose one consisting of multiple areas with contrasting designs and colors. This enables the narrowing down of potential portions of the puzzle where a particular piece will fit."
Click here to view the entire article: Wikipedia Jig Saw Puzzle Article

Wikipedia Edit # 2

For my second Wikipedia edit i decided to add the following to the Trigeminal Neuralgia article i will be contributing to this semester:

"Alternative and Complementary health care treatments such as Chiropractics or Acupuncture are sometimes used either in combination with drugs or alone to help manage pain caused by this disorder."

I am assuming most of you reading this have not heard of Trigeminal neuralgia. I hadn't heard of it either until my mother was diagnosed with it four years ago. Trigeminal neuralgia is a chronic pain disorder that affects the largest nerve in the head and causes those suffering from it to experience episodes of excruciating pain in their face. This disorder has been nicknamed the suicide disorder, since a number of patients took their lives after every treatment they tried was unsuccessful at relieving them of pain. My mother has been lucky since whenever she had an episode the medication she took was able to lessen the pain enough so that it would be tolerable. She has been in remission for a year and a half now but her and her doctors don't know whether it will come back or not.

If you would like more information on this disorder check out the following link: Trigeminal Neuralgia

Will getting involved with a social networking site help the Beer Industry get it's Buzz back?

I read this article from one of the required blogs the other day about how Anheuser-Busch has recently ventured into the world of online social networking by collaborating with social net, Minglenow to create a feature of the site called Clink. AB is doing this to promote the beer industry and its "Here's to Beer" campaign in the hopes that the beer industry will gain back business lost to hard liquor
Minglenow is a new website targeting the 21 to 36 year old party and nightclub demographic and serves as a platform where its members can find out about popular nightclubs, parties and events in their area, as well as meet and reunite with the people who to these hotspots. Clink, the portion of the site dedicated to the beer industry allows its members to upload photos of themselves and friends "clinking" beer glasses and cans together. Members vote on their favorite picture and the most popular pictures are awarded prizes. Next to the Clink Link is the "Here's to Beer" logo with a link to the "Here's to Beer" website. This website is a very dynamic site with video and provides a lot of information. It tries to show that all the beautiful people drink beer and that drinking beer is very "cool"
I think AB's decision to get involved with Minglenow was a smart decision for many reasons. Social networking sites are were it's at online with so many people spending more and more of their online time "surfing" these sites. Also Minglenow's demographic is the same one that the beer industry's campaign is targeting, which is a big plus. And the network site is focusing on a niche with a lot of growth potential that has been inadequately served up until this point, which puts it in the right direction for becoming a success. Although starting with a site in its beginning stages carries the risk of it not being a hit, the advantages provided if it does become successful make it well worth the effort. The biggest advantage is it cost less to get involved with a business at its earliest stage. Also to participate as a partner right from the beginning in something that becomes a success later will give you more control than if you "hop" on board after it becomes a big hit.
The not typical way Anheuser- Busch decided to get involved with the Minglenow website, by integrating itself into the site, is advantageous since it breaks through the clutter of the more common banner advertisements and homepage takeovers. And it does it in a way that doesn't make the viewers (or at least me) feel like they are being advertised to which gives the campaign more credibility.

Let me know your take on AB's decision to get involved with Minglenow, and also do you think AB's decision to finance the entire beer industry's campaign but not mention any of the Company's brands was a good move? Why or Why not?