Monday 13 April 2009
How to bring a long-established TV station in the 21st century?
www.bbc.co.uk was in 2008 the third most popular website in UK after Google and Microsoft. How they did it? IPlayer is the answer but before it was made to work it took BBC some years, a lot of money and Anthony Rose. He is the technical head that (eventually) lauched it in 2007 and brought it to see a huge success in just one year. Moreover, Rose is also preoccupied of how to make it even better and he is now thinking about make it possible to start watching a TV programme on TV and continue it on an IPhone (this is brilliant!!!). IPlayer is considered to have revolutionesed BBC and brough it in the new media age. Take a look and you will find a complete guide to BBC TV channels and radios with the possibility of wide access.
Sunday 12 April 2009
Top unis' websites
Following the weekly task I decided to take a look at other unis' websites and make my own top. Some of the best ones that I like for the simplicity and the easiness to use are:
- Conservatoire for Arts and Drama http://www.cdd.ac.uk/
- King's College London http://www.kcl.ac.uk/
- The Courtauld Institute of Art http://www.courtauld.ac.uk/index.html
- Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts http://www.mountview.org.uk/
The ones that I think still need improvement especially in terms of writing to increase the level of trust are :
- Scittels, School Centred Initial Training in East London Schools http://www.scittels.co.uk/
- London Electronics College http://www.lec.org.uk/
- London School of Commerce http://www.lsclondon.co.uk/
- London College of Management Studies http://www.londoncms.com/
Now if it were to decide where to go and study based on the unis' websites and a compatibility for the courses offered where would you go?
- Conservatoire for Arts and Drama http://www.cdd.ac.uk/
- King's College London http://www.kcl.ac.uk/
- The Courtauld Institute of Art http://www.courtauld.ac.uk/index.html
- Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts http://www.mountview.org.uk/
The ones that I think still need improvement especially in terms of writing to increase the level of trust are :
- Scittels, School Centred Initial Training in East London Schools http://www.scittels.co.uk/
- London Electronics College http://www.lec.org.uk/
- London School of Commerce http://www.lsclondon.co.uk/
- London College of Management Studies http://www.londoncms.com/
Now if it were to decide where to go and study based on the unis' websites and a compatibility for the courses offered where would you go?
No one can ignore the online marketing and the unis the least
In the competitive and challenging educational environment the universities have to follow the trends in new media or why not initialize some? Bellow are our reflections and recommendations for Coventry University website together with its constitutive elements:
Coventry University Main website
1. Design
The website design has a deep design meaning the pages are arranged in such a way that one leads to the other rather than having links to all pages on the home page.
The home page is designed in an attractive, functional and easy access way which contributes highly to its main objective of attracting potential students and marketing the University to them. Tabs for each of the major inner pages such as International, research and courses, enable the user to navigate straight to his area of interest. However the cascading nature of the main tabs makes them hard to chase as they are sensitive to the mouse pointer movement.
A consistent design is maintained throughout the pages but each section has a distinctive colour which enables the user to quickly identify which page they are on.
Links to other parts of the website are marked at the top and bottom of the page but are dominated by the other page elements, which makes them hard to see due to their small font size.
2. Trustworthiness
University logo appears on all pages. Terms and conditions of use as well as privacy policy statement are placed at the bottom right of the home page. Awards granted to the University and testimonials add to the credibility of the website. Contact information is also clearly available. All these factors contribute to raising the trustworthiness of the website and add elements of intention, behavior, system and disposition trust. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewPDF.jsp?contentType=Article&Filename=html/Output/Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Pdf/2640310504.pdf
3. Interactivity
Due to the nature of the website and the fact that it is designed for first time users or potential students, it does not require a high level of interactivity; however it demonstrates some interactivity in the online application section which is an added advantage especially to International Students. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewPDF.jsp?contentType=Article&Filename=html/Output/Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Pdf/0600170303.pdf
4. Performance
The website loads quickly and navigation within it is fast too. No incidents of broken links have been observed.
To start with the link towards the CU Portal is situated at the bottom right of the Coventry University Home Page being little visible.
1. Design
CU Portal is consistent in terms of colours and layout which contributes to the development of a unitarian aspect and adds to the building of the identity. Furthermore, there is no difference between the other pages of the website and that of the portal. On the other hand, there can be identified a series of setbacks: the content and the sections are not well divided, the CU Portal home page is crowded in information with no specific point of interest defined which makes it difficult to follow and decide on the priority. In addition to this the information on the CU Portal home page is not dated which produces difficulties in knowing at a glace which things are still actual. The general division of the page is not fitted to the way the information is followed. For instance, important aspects such as the hot links are not visible from the beginning so the user has to scroll down to reach it.
2. Trustworthiness
The access to the CU Portal home page does not require any identification through user name and password but if the user wants to go further it has to log in. In this respect one setback that can be identified is that it is not said who is the author and when was the last time the information was updated. Thus, it is difficult to say which information is still available and who is the contact in case of wrong information. For the ‘Discuss your Portal’ section the posts are the author’s name so as to know who to contact in case one wants to discuss privately the same issue.
3. Interactivity
The portal provides the users with an interactive space: ‘Discuss the Portal’ section. On the line above one can find useful buttons for quick access to sections such as: Coventry University, eLibrary, Module Info. Directory, SOLAR, CUOnline, Online Store, Web Mail and CUSU. On the left hand side there are also buttons for an easy access. In conclusion, it can be said that the CU Portal has a high grade of interactivity with the consequences of usability and accessibility.
4.Performance
There are no technical problems with the loading of the page (it uploads quickly) but with a view to the qualitative performance in terms of readibility some aspects need to be mentioned. CU Portal has problems in reaching its final purpose which affects its performance because it is a crowed page and it is difficult to follow the information. Another setback of the page is that it does not have a calender with the latest updates so it is again difficult to follow the events. Despite the fact that the information is clear, accurate, up to date, timely, easy to find, personalised, relevant, detailed the portal’s deep navigation structure has negative consequences on its performance.
CU online
1. Interactivity
CUonline ‘s main objective is for interaction between students and staff(lecturers)from announcements of all sorts to exam timetable, tuition fee loans etc. The most important part of cuonline is the module page which gives the student all the information they need regarding each module from the teaching plan to submission of coursework and even forums where students can discuss issues regarding assignments and coursework. It is very interactive as any student of the university can log on and search for information without having to come to the campus.
2. Trustworthiness
It is very trusting as the as the student must have a name and password to have access to it. The university logo is there which gives the student a sense of security that all their data cannot be viewed by anyone else except their tutors
3. Design
The design and layout are simple. Because there is a lot of information that needs to be gotten across to the students, the important information and links are placed at the top so it would not be difficult for the student to locate them. There is ease of reading through the page. The module page layout has a lot of clutter and students sometimes get lost when trying to locate information
4. Performance
The performance of cuonline is slow in terms of speed. It needs to be enhanced because students and staff use it on a daily basis. Because the intranet is designed for students to access it even when they are not on campus, it needs to be very fast and effective it is very slow and in some instances crashes. This needs to be upgraded
Solar
It is designed for easy access to personal details, the links are listed and useful shortcuts are provided for easy access to all areas of the webpage. With a plain white background and fonts in blue readable size it is very straightforward and easy to browse.
1. Trustworthiness
Username and password are required to access the solar webpage so students are guaranteed that no one else can access their information.
2. Interactivity
Links are provided for different problems that may be encountered while accessing this webpage. It is a fast way to communicate with the student centre as students can order student confirmation letters etc.
3. Performance
The performance can be sometimes slow but it largely depends on the speed of the Coventry university website as it is a part of the services
E-library The e-library
1. Interactivity.
The library through its online format keeps up-to-date the students and the members of the staff with the events concerning their own library accounts so as to diminuish the number of occassions when they are late and have to pay a fine. In addition to this, students may see what books are available and also locate them in the library. Furthermore, they can both request a book online in order to pick from the premises when it is made available and extend online the due in date.
2. Trustworthiness
For further access to the e-library (e.g. databases or books available just online) basic identification criteria need to be fulfilled. Thus, both an username and password are required for use it.
3.Design
The way of writing corresponds to the Western type. Most of the information is concentrated in the left side as this is the most common way of reading. A good and balanced structure with corporate identity elements easy to find (e.g. consistent font and colour) can be observed.
4. Performance
In terms of how well technically the e-library works there are no complains to make since it uploads and searches fast or in a reasonable speed range. In addition to this, the number of crashes is very low, close to none and it is always announced by e-mail.
Coventry University Main website
1. Design
The website design has a deep design meaning the pages are arranged in such a way that one leads to the other rather than having links to all pages on the home page.
The home page is designed in an attractive, functional and easy access way which contributes highly to its main objective of attracting potential students and marketing the University to them. Tabs for each of the major inner pages such as International, research and courses, enable the user to navigate straight to his area of interest. However the cascading nature of the main tabs makes them hard to chase as they are sensitive to the mouse pointer movement.
A consistent design is maintained throughout the pages but each section has a distinctive colour which enables the user to quickly identify which page they are on.
Links to other parts of the website are marked at the top and bottom of the page but are dominated by the other page elements, which makes them hard to see due to their small font size.
2. Trustworthiness
University logo appears on all pages. Terms and conditions of use as well as privacy policy statement are placed at the bottom right of the home page. Awards granted to the University and testimonials add to the credibility of the website. Contact information is also clearly available. All these factors contribute to raising the trustworthiness of the website and add elements of intention, behavior, system and disposition trust. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewPDF.jsp?contentType=Article&Filename=html/Output/Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Pdf/2640310504.pdf
3. Interactivity
Due to the nature of the website and the fact that it is designed for first time users or potential students, it does not require a high level of interactivity; however it demonstrates some interactivity in the online application section which is an added advantage especially to International Students. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewPDF.jsp?contentType=Article&Filename=html/Output/Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Pdf/0600170303.pdf
4. Performance
The website loads quickly and navigation within it is fast too. No incidents of broken links have been observed.
To start with the link towards the CU Portal is situated at the bottom right of the Coventry University Home Page being little visible.
1. Design
CU Portal is consistent in terms of colours and layout which contributes to the development of a unitarian aspect and adds to the building of the identity. Furthermore, there is no difference between the other pages of the website and that of the portal. On the other hand, there can be identified a series of setbacks: the content and the sections are not well divided, the CU Portal home page is crowded in information with no specific point of interest defined which makes it difficult to follow and decide on the priority. In addition to this the information on the CU Portal home page is not dated which produces difficulties in knowing at a glace which things are still actual. The general division of the page is not fitted to the way the information is followed. For instance, important aspects such as the hot links are not visible from the beginning so the user has to scroll down to reach it.
2. Trustworthiness
The access to the CU Portal home page does not require any identification through user name and password but if the user wants to go further it has to log in. In this respect one setback that can be identified is that it is not said who is the author and when was the last time the information was updated. Thus, it is difficult to say which information is still available and who is the contact in case of wrong information. For the ‘Discuss your Portal’ section the posts are the author’s name so as to know who to contact in case one wants to discuss privately the same issue.
3. Interactivity
The portal provides the users with an interactive space: ‘Discuss the Portal’ section. On the line above one can find useful buttons for quick access to sections such as: Coventry University, eLibrary, Module Info. Directory, SOLAR, CUOnline, Online Store, Web Mail and CUSU. On the left hand side there are also buttons for an easy access. In conclusion, it can be said that the CU Portal has a high grade of interactivity with the consequences of usability and accessibility.
4.Performance
There are no technical problems with the loading of the page (it uploads quickly) but with a view to the qualitative performance in terms of readibility some aspects need to be mentioned. CU Portal has problems in reaching its final purpose which affects its performance because it is a crowed page and it is difficult to follow the information. Another setback of the page is that it does not have a calender with the latest updates so it is again difficult to follow the events. Despite the fact that the information is clear, accurate, up to date, timely, easy to find, personalised, relevant, detailed the portal’s deep navigation structure has negative consequences on its performance.
CU online
1. Interactivity
CUonline ‘s main objective is for interaction between students and staff(lecturers)from announcements of all sorts to exam timetable, tuition fee loans etc. The most important part of cuonline is the module page which gives the student all the information they need regarding each module from the teaching plan to submission of coursework and even forums where students can discuss issues regarding assignments and coursework. It is very interactive as any student of the university can log on and search for information without having to come to the campus.
2. Trustworthiness
It is very trusting as the as the student must have a name and password to have access to it. The university logo is there which gives the student a sense of security that all their data cannot be viewed by anyone else except their tutors
3. Design
The design and layout are simple. Because there is a lot of information that needs to be gotten across to the students, the important information and links are placed at the top so it would not be difficult for the student to locate them. There is ease of reading through the page. The module page layout has a lot of clutter and students sometimes get lost when trying to locate information
4. Performance
The performance of cuonline is slow in terms of speed. It needs to be enhanced because students and staff use it on a daily basis. Because the intranet is designed for students to access it even when they are not on campus, it needs to be very fast and effective it is very slow and in some instances crashes. This needs to be upgraded
Solar
It is designed for easy access to personal details, the links are listed and useful shortcuts are provided for easy access to all areas of the webpage. With a plain white background and fonts in blue readable size it is very straightforward and easy to browse.
1. Trustworthiness
Username and password are required to access the solar webpage so students are guaranteed that no one else can access their information.
2. Interactivity
Links are provided for different problems that may be encountered while accessing this webpage. It is a fast way to communicate with the student centre as students can order student confirmation letters etc.
3. Performance
The performance can be sometimes slow but it largely depends on the speed of the Coventry university website as it is a part of the services
E-library The e-library
1. Interactivity.
The library through its online format keeps up-to-date the students and the members of the staff with the events concerning their own library accounts so as to diminuish the number of occassions when they are late and have to pay a fine. In addition to this, students may see what books are available and also locate them in the library. Furthermore, they can both request a book online in order to pick from the premises when it is made available and extend online the due in date.
2. Trustworthiness
For further access to the e-library (e.g. databases or books available just online) basic identification criteria need to be fulfilled. Thus, both an username and password are required for use it.
3.Design
The way of writing corresponds to the Western type. Most of the information is concentrated in the left side as this is the most common way of reading. A good and balanced structure with corporate identity elements easy to find (e.g. consistent font and colour) can be observed.
4. Performance
In terms of how well technically the e-library works there are no complains to make since it uploads and searches fast or in a reasonable speed range. In addition to this, the number of crashes is very low, close to none and it is always announced by e-mail.
Friday 10 April 2009
Good news for the e-marketers
In a context where the constant comments concerning the advertising expenditures are highly negative announcing gloomy days the respected online magazine e-marketer announces that 'The recession slows, but does not stop, online ad growth'(8th of April 2009). They demonstrate that 'marketers are spending more on Internet ads, while spending less on advertising in other media, such as newspapers, radio and magazines'. Why is it so? The answer resides in the easy and rapid capacity to evaluate/ measure the results from a financial point of view. In addition to this, David Hallerman, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report, US Advertising Spending: The New Reality thinks that 'successful Internet advertising creates a new paradigm for marketing on other media, namely search and relevance'.
Monday 30 March 2009
How to earn the trust of the users online ?
Type hostels in London on Google and you will get 305,000 offers to choose from. Which one to trust, which is trustworthy then? According to Hugo Burge (2008), vice-chairman of Cheapflights.co.uk one way to earn trust is through honesty and transparency. Generally speaking trust was defined by Bolton, Loebbecke and Ockenfels (2008) as the individual’s willingness to commit to do something where the cooperation of other people is crucial to the outcome. Trustworthiness is considered to involve the individual’s capacity to deliver to others, as they expect, and in the process, creates value for the group as a whole. The level of trust in an online environment can be affected by customer’s knowledge, perception, experience, attitude, reasoning and thinking. Different companies have put in place some level of security to protect the users of their websites, especially banks and companies that require customers to reveal their account details when transacting business online. This is to help reduce the level of uncertainty and encourage trust(Angriawan and Thakur 2008).
A general definition of trust is that of a ‘relationship between one or more persons, which has elements of openness and honesty, and a willingness to accept other[s] based on the opinion that the other party is both capable, and dependable. From a philosophical perspective, trust has to do with ethically and morally justifiable behavior (Buttner and Goritz 2008), but in economic terms trust is a rational calculation of costs and benefits (Buttner and Goritz 2008). In individual terms, trust is conceived as the extent to which an individual is willing to rely upon and make oneself vulnerable to another (Rotter, 1967; Frost et al.,1978 cited in Buttner and Goritz 2008). In an organizational context, trust is often a collective judgment that another group will not act opportunistically, is honest in negotiations, and makes a good faith effort to behave in accordance with commitments (Buttner and Goritz 2008). Despite the fact that trust and trustworthiness are the subjects of various disciplines most scholars agree that trust has three major constituents: (a) uncertainty about the outcomes of an interaction, (b) personal harm as a possible outcome of the interaction and (c) lack of influence on the outcomes (Petermann,1996 cited in Strander and Ramaswami 2008).
The results of a laboratory study conducted by Bolton, Loebbecke and Ockenfels (2008) on the impact of competition on trust and trustworthiness in online traditind shows that the key to reputation information creating trust, trustworthiness, and trade efficiency in the marketplace is buyer discrimination on the basis of the information. When given the choice of two sellers, it takes a large price break to convince the average buyer to do business with the seller of lesser reputation.
Online customers don’t have the opportunity of inspection the product bought or meeting the other party involved (Chanda and Debjani 2007) which mean that this kind of transaction will require a level of trust from both parties.Studies show that generating trustworthiness could be financially beneficial such as buyers reward sellers they can trust with price premiums (7-10%).
With a view to the concept of trust it can be said that there three levels of trust, the level of trust must rise to reach a level of optimal trust where the increased risk is manageable, acceptable and practical. At its basic level it is assumed that the trustor acts in a trusting manner in a situation of risk when there is little at stake (e.g. much money, very personal information) and there are recognized systems of reward and punishment. At the intermediate level, a trustor has some experience and familiarity with the web site, and so is in a situation of risk in which knowledge can be used to predicate behaviour and thus assign trust. Last in the development, which is the deepest level of trust the trustor expects that his or her interests will be respected by the web site and that he/she does not have to calculate the level of risk anymore (Winch and Joyce 2006).
The level of importance for factors affecting online sellers choice (Strander and
Ramaswami 2008)
A general definition of trust is that of a ‘relationship between one or more persons, which has elements of openness and honesty, and a willingness to accept other[s] based on the opinion that the other party is both capable, and dependable. From a philosophical perspective, trust has to do with ethically and morally justifiable behavior (Buttner and Goritz 2008), but in economic terms trust is a rational calculation of costs and benefits (Buttner and Goritz 2008). In individual terms, trust is conceived as the extent to which an individual is willing to rely upon and make oneself vulnerable to another (Rotter, 1967; Frost et al.,1978 cited in Buttner and Goritz 2008). In an organizational context, trust is often a collective judgment that another group will not act opportunistically, is honest in negotiations, and makes a good faith effort to behave in accordance with commitments (Buttner and Goritz 2008). Despite the fact that trust and trustworthiness are the subjects of various disciplines most scholars agree that trust has three major constituents: (a) uncertainty about the outcomes of an interaction, (b) personal harm as a possible outcome of the interaction and (c) lack of influence on the outcomes (Petermann,1996 cited in Strander and Ramaswami 2008).
The results of a laboratory study conducted by Bolton, Loebbecke and Ockenfels (2008) on the impact of competition on trust and trustworthiness in online traditind shows that the key to reputation information creating trust, trustworthiness, and trade efficiency in the marketplace is buyer discrimination on the basis of the information. When given the choice of two sellers, it takes a large price break to convince the average buyer to do business with the seller of lesser reputation.
Online customers don’t have the opportunity of inspection the product bought or meeting the other party involved (Chanda and Debjani 2007) which mean that this kind of transaction will require a level of trust from both parties.Studies show that generating trustworthiness could be financially beneficial such as buyers reward sellers they can trust with price premiums (7-10%).
With a view to the concept of trust it can be said that there three levels of trust, the level of trust must rise to reach a level of optimal trust where the increased risk is manageable, acceptable and practical. At its basic level it is assumed that the trustor acts in a trusting manner in a situation of risk when there is little at stake (e.g. much money, very personal information) and there are recognized systems of reward and punishment. At the intermediate level, a trustor has some experience and familiarity with the web site, and so is in a situation of risk in which knowledge can be used to predicate behaviour and thus assign trust. Last in the development, which is the deepest level of trust the trustor expects that his or her interests will be respected by the web site and that he/she does not have to calculate the level of risk anymore (Winch and Joyce 2006).
The level of importance for factors affecting online sellers choice (Strander andRamaswami 2008)
The level of importance for trust factors affecting online seller choice (Strander andRamaswami 2008)
An interesting example of website from the world of football is that of Manchester United. How is it demonstrating its trustworthiness to online visitors:
1. Website loads quickly
2. Professional design and easy navigation.
3. Home page has good layout with browsing language choice.
4. The website’s privacy policies as well as terms of use are clearly marked.
5. Contact information is provided.
6. Online shopping for team memorabilia and collectibles is secured by VeriSign (a California-based company that manages two of the world’s 13 Internet root servers, a.root-servers.net and j.root-servers.net, considered national IT assets by the US federal government).
7. A consistency of ManuUnited corporate identity elements (colour, logo).
8. The presence of the guarantee text on the home page ‘the Official website for the world’s most popular team’.
9. Trustworthy partner logos and links are included in the website. Examples (Nike, AIG, Premier League).
10. Only the website administrators can upload information so the danger of a third party intervention is reduced.
11. Initial navigation page appears once for language selection, and then the website saves the users’ preferences automatically.
http://www.manutd.com/ is a trustworthy website. The football team website is not a high risk involvement product and it has a long tradition that makes a good reputation. Our recommendations are that they have to maintain this level and observe the different factors (e.g. forged Manchester United websites) that can affect visitors’ perceptions of trustworthiness and for a better understanding of the user’s approach to the trustworthiness of the website they should develop regular online surveys.
REFERENCES
Angriawan, A. and Thakur, R. (2008) 'A Parsimonious Model of the Antecedent and Consequences of Online Trust: An Uncertainty Perception.' Journal of Internet Commerce [online] 7, (1) 74-94. Available from < vid="1&hid=" sid="6bf1beee-39cf-41aa-80a1-4eb4941be11c%40sessionmgr104&bdata=" db="bth&AN="> [25th March 2009]
Bolton, G., Loebbecke, C., Ockenfels, A. (2008) ‘Does competition promote trust and trustworthiness in online trading? An experimental study.’ Journal of Management Information Systems [online] 25, (2) 145-169. Available from < vid="1&hid=" sid="6f6b25df-f484-469c-bb8c-6cba106acc76%40sessionmgr107&bdata=" db="bth&AN="> [24th March 2009]
Buttner, O., Goritz, A. (2008) ‘Perceived trustworthiness of online shops.’ Journal of Consumer Behaviour [online] 7, (1) 35-50. Available from < vid="1&hid=" sid="393cf486-e91b-4bd8-b9e9-9f630d803ec7%40sessionmgr103&bdata=" db="bth&AN="> [24th March 2009]
Chanda, C. and Debjani, C. (2008) 'Fuzzy Rule Base for Consumer Trusthworthiness in Internet Marketing: An Interactive Fuzzy Rule Classification Approach.' Intelligent Data Analysis [online] 11, (4) 339-353. Available from < vid="1&hid=" sid="09bf3d0b-8702-49a1-b283-70e74fbf7378%40sessionmgr107&bdata=" db="bth&AN="> [25th March 2009]
Hugo Burge (2008) ‘Build web loyalty by giving honest facts.’ Travel Trade Gazette
Strander, T., Ramaswami, S. (2008) ‘The Value of Seller Trustworthiness in C2C online markets.’ Communications of the ACM [online] 45, (12) 45-52. Available from
Winch, G. and Joyce, P. (2006) 'Exploring the Dynamics of Building, and Losing, Consumer Trust in B2c Ebusiness.' International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management [online] 34, (7) 541-555. Available from < vid="5&hid=" sid="81518cce-1bcf-4ec4-8bab-efbf5932144e%40sessionmgr2&bdata=" db="bth&AN="> [25th March 2009]
Sunday 29 March 2009
The difficult topic of trust
Even if it has to do with brands in the real world the video from D&AD features some high-profile people from the communication industry. The theme of their presentation is not trust or trustworthiness but the subject seems to be of a high importance since the speakers mention it frequently. In this respect look at the Aviva example, a good though for their campaign (you can find it in the 4th presentation). One thing to remember is that brands irrespective their medium (online or not) have to make the most of the present crisis.
Friday 20 March 2009
Extending brand experience
has become possible with the use of both online communities and games. Research by Gartner, one of the leading IT research company states that ‘more than 60% of Fortune 1000 companies with a website will connect to or host a form of online community by 2010’.
Online communities engage the customers and develop their brand experience by building a relationship between the brand and the customers. Different companies have developed online communities as an interactive marketing tool that allows them to access and advertise to a large group of like-minded individuals in a social setting, encouraging communication between users and brand. Most international brand such as L’Oreal, Nokia, Nike, Amazon etc build online communities to give their customers from different countries the chance to interact, share their opinion on their product and also buy the product online. This is done mostly by the participant of the online community registering for free.
Online communities have a social and commercial purpose. They allow for marketing feedback and new idea conduits; check on quality and social responsibility. In such communities, customers own companies, rather than companies owning customers (Farquhar and Rowley 2006). The importance of online communities is increasing day by day because of consumers increasingly use of online tools to share ideas and contact fellow consumers (Casalo, Flavian and Guinaliu 2008). The success of any online community depends on the willingness of consumers to participate in the community. Community managers are assigned to these online communities to ensure that it is sustained grows and is a safe place for customers to interact with other customers and with the company.
A good example of online community is Amazon. People can buy books on their website, post their reviews and also discuss the book with other book lovers. Though recently, online communities now includes brick and mortar communities and online forum for example, second life, the information members exchange in this virtual community allows people to learn about each other as they learn more about the community’s focal topics. Interaction among the members is the engine that fosters the growth of such communities.
Research has shown that consumer motivation for joining these communities include satisfaction of needs like shared interest, relationship building and transaction
Why is it important to marketers?
Each of the decisions a buyer faces can be influenced by interactions with communities that are focused on the same product or service type in question. For consumers who have already made a purchasing decision, these communities also provide help with the ongoing use of that product. Relationships between consumers have been shown to influence brand choice and the choice of services, and research has long highlighted the importance of studying the relationships among communicators in this communities.
While consumer-to-consumer communication is not new, the organized support and public nature of the internet provides marketers with unprecedented access to information on these communications. Participation in these communities allows researchers’ early identification of trends and also access to word-of-mouth (WOM) communication – a form of communications that should not be undervalued (Pitta and Fowler 2005) .
In each of these communities, members share information of value to themselves and others, this sharing can be valuable to marketers.
Benefits of these communities are the amount of information a company can gain about its customer base which they can use for short and long customer relationship. The data collected can be used for ‘product development, customer’s feedback, loyalty management, customer segmentation, campaign targeting and individual or group customer satisfaction management’. All these information can be use in marketing and the satisfaction of customers.
Marketers can target consumers in these communities by becoming members of these communities, by participating and interacting with other members a group or mini-society could be formed for members interested in the product or service. Trust must be built over time, and can be lost quickly if the community sees the interaction as being solely self-serving so it has to be done continually and gradually without aggression.
Consumers can also be targeted through sponsorship and the use of subtle advertisement within the online communities (Pitta and Fowler 2005). To be effective, the marketer should refrain from too active and overt a role in an online community.
On the gaming side, companies have not only been utilizing existing games as advertising platform, but rather building their own games. For instance, America’s Army , released on July 4, 2002 which proved to be an effective marketing tool with 9 million players and Barack Obama’s campaign when dynamic ads were placed in the online versions of some 18 games running on Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3 video-game consoles.
Subway restaurant is also a positive example because research shows that 20% more gamers visited the place in the month afterward than gamers who did not. The ads also created a 19% lift in gamers who rated the chain as excellent or very good, a 12% jump in purchase consideration, and a 9% increase in players who would recommend http://www.promomagazine.com/entertainmentmarketing/0201-console-games-offer-brands’)
References:
Casalo, L. V., Flavian, C. and Guinaliu, M. (2008) 'Fundaments of Trust Management in Development of Virtual Communities.' Management Research News 31, (5) 324-338
Farquhar, J. and Rowley, J. (2006) 'Relationships and Online Consumer Communities.' Business process management journal 12, (2) 162-177
Pitta, D. A. and Fowler, D. (2005) 'Online Consumer Communities and Their Value to New Product Developers.' Journal of Product & Brand Management 14, (5) 283-291
Online communities engage the customers and develop their brand experience by building a relationship between the brand and the customers. Different companies have developed online communities as an interactive marketing tool that allows them to access and advertise to a large group of like-minded individuals in a social setting, encouraging communication between users and brand. Most international brand such as L’Oreal, Nokia, Nike, Amazon etc build online communities to give their customers from different countries the chance to interact, share their opinion on their product and also buy the product online. This is done mostly by the participant of the online community registering for free.
Online communities have a social and commercial purpose. They allow for marketing feedback and new idea conduits; check on quality and social responsibility. In such communities, customers own companies, rather than companies owning customers (Farquhar and Rowley 2006). The importance of online communities is increasing day by day because of consumers increasingly use of online tools to share ideas and contact fellow consumers (Casalo, Flavian and Guinaliu 2008). The success of any online community depends on the willingness of consumers to participate in the community. Community managers are assigned to these online communities to ensure that it is sustained grows and is a safe place for customers to interact with other customers and with the company.
A good example of online community is Amazon. People can buy books on their website, post their reviews and also discuss the book with other book lovers. Though recently, online communities now includes brick and mortar communities and online forum for example, second life, the information members exchange in this virtual community allows people to learn about each other as they learn more about the community’s focal topics. Interaction among the members is the engine that fosters the growth of such communities.
Research has shown that consumer motivation for joining these communities include satisfaction of needs like shared interest, relationship building and transaction
Why is it important to marketers?
Each of the decisions a buyer faces can be influenced by interactions with communities that are focused on the same product or service type in question. For consumers who have already made a purchasing decision, these communities also provide help with the ongoing use of that product. Relationships between consumers have been shown to influence brand choice and the choice of services, and research has long highlighted the importance of studying the relationships among communicators in this communities.
While consumer-to-consumer communication is not new, the organized support and public nature of the internet provides marketers with unprecedented access to information on these communications. Participation in these communities allows researchers’ early identification of trends and also access to word-of-mouth (WOM) communication – a form of communications that should not be undervalued (Pitta and Fowler 2005) .
In each of these communities, members share information of value to themselves and others, this sharing can be valuable to marketers.
Benefits of these communities are the amount of information a company can gain about its customer base which they can use for short and long customer relationship. The data collected can be used for ‘product development, customer’s feedback, loyalty management, customer segmentation, campaign targeting and individual or group customer satisfaction management’. All these information can be use in marketing and the satisfaction of customers.
Marketers can target consumers in these communities by becoming members of these communities, by participating and interacting with other members a group or mini-society could be formed for members interested in the product or service. Trust must be built over time, and can be lost quickly if the community sees the interaction as being solely self-serving so it has to be done continually and gradually without aggression.
Consumers can also be targeted through sponsorship and the use of subtle advertisement within the online communities (Pitta and Fowler 2005). To be effective, the marketer should refrain from too active and overt a role in an online community.
On the gaming side, companies have not only been utilizing existing games as advertising platform, but rather building their own games. For instance, America’s Army , released on July 4, 2002 which proved to be an effective marketing tool with 9 million players and Barack Obama’s campaign when dynamic ads were placed in the online versions of some 18 games running on Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3 video-game consoles.
Subway restaurant is also a positive example because research shows that 20% more gamers visited the place in the month afterward than gamers who did not. The ads also created a 19% lift in gamers who rated the chain as excellent or very good, a 12% jump in purchase consideration, and a 9% increase in players who would recommend http://www.promomagazine.com/entertainmentmarketing/0201-console-games-offer-brands’)
References:
Casalo, L. V., Flavian, C. and Guinaliu, M. (2008) 'Fundaments of Trust Management in Development of Virtual Communities.' Management Research News 31, (5) 324-338
Farquhar, J. and Rowley, J. (2006) 'Relationships and Online Consumer Communities.' Business process management journal 12, (2) 162-177
Pitta, D. A. and Fowler, D. (2005) 'Online Consumer Communities and Their Value to New Product Developers.' Journal of Product & Brand Management 14, (5) 283-291
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