EMARKETING WEEK 3

EMARKETING WEEK 3 BLOG

Case study (4.10): Happy Cog and Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation

1. What role did navigation and usability play in the redesign of the website?

On the original website the navigation was excessive and confusing for some users, so Happy Cog minimised and simplified the choice process to:

-          Selecting a destination

-          Then Building the itinerary

-          Then obtaining detailed information about the city

The original website was hard to follow leading to users giving up and not booking a trip to Philadelphia as they found the website not meeting the goals. Happy Cog redesigned the website so that the users would find easy to book their trip without out really having to think about it too much. The simplified the structure and made it easier to follow along with high engaging pictures etc to keep the users interested.

2. Why was the addition of social layers important in the redesign?

It was important to add the social layers of facebook, twitter etc as this brings in a whole new audience as people may not know about the website but see it on facebook and then have a look at the website. The pages also give discounts and keep up to date information which might entice previous visitors back for another visit. With the excessive use of social media these days they would have been silly not to add them on their page gain a wider audience.

3. Why did the developers decide to consolidate the content management platforms?

They consolidated the content management platforms because they had to migrate hundreds of entries manually before hand which could lead to mistakes and failures in the website. It also meant that they could code it all together to make sure the real copy of the website wouldn’t breakdown once it had been coded. It also minimised time on making the site as tasks could be distributed greater by working on the front and back end of the pages at the same time.

4. Having considered the case study, discuss in general terms what role you now understand a website plays in an overall digital marketing strategy.

Websites are a major factor because it is like an anchor point for businesses, and should be used in any marketing campaigns. With people relying on the internet so much these days, by using search engines to find information they need and if you don’t have any information on the internet you are missing out on potential customers. With a successful website development and design it should convert people looking at your website into customers as you should understand the customer’s needs and wants.

WEEK 2 EMARKETING

WEEK 2 EMARKETING BLOG

1. What is the definition of crowdsourcing?

Crowdsourcing is where a job that is usually completed by a professional is advertised to the public, generally via internet, for large groups of people not associated with the company to complete the job or task. The term was first used in 2006 by a person called Jeff Howe even though the concepts date back as early as the 1700’s.

2. What is the difference between the wisdom of the crowd and crowdsourcing?

The wisdom of the crowd refers to the collective knowledge, opinion or skills of a group of individuals instead of using one expert to solve problems. Whereas, crowdsourcing generally lets other experts or amateurs as groups or individuals solve the problem in the form of an open call.

3. What are the benefits of crowdsourcing for both consumers and brands?

Some benefits of crowdsourcing include:

-          Gain insight and knowledge of consumers wants and needs

-          Build products to meet these wants and needs

-          Pay once off for numerous solutions

-          Pay for the solutions they use

-          Able to veer away from traditional solutions if needed

-          Gain valuable external resources

4. Find some examples of online crowdsourcing platforms not mentioned in chapter 3 and include links in the shoutbox below. Start your post with ‘Crowdsourcing’ so it will stand out from posts made by other classes. Also mention whether you think they are successful or not and why.

I found www.agentanything.com has a good crowdsourcing platform as it targets two main specific groups of people, such as:

-          Busy people who need small tasks and errands done

-          People with time on there hands such as college students who need some cash and need to be able to fit it around class, practice etc.

I think this is a good initiative and Australia should look at getting something like this done, if there isn’t any currently.

What is your opinion and do you think there are any ethical considerations?

I think it is a great idea to run sites such as 99designs as it allows many more ideas for things such as logo design, web design etc. I have tried created a few logos for a few friends and family and I always think of the one type of design and can’t think outside of the box as much as others might be able to, creating many more ideas.  



EMARKETING WEEK 1

WEEK 1 BLOG EMARKETING

DISCUSS THE VIDEO ON THE INTRODUCTION PAGE

The video of an ever changing world uses statistics of how internet and technology has changed the face of this world. All of the figures that were used in this video would have increased as it is a few years old now. These technological increases will influence marketing as companies know have to use the internet as a medium for advertising etc as it is used by just about everyone at least once a day. Technology has also introduced the online stores and websites such as eBay as another way to purchase products without having to leave the house. This means companies who do not have online stores or advertising online are potentially missing out on sales.

DISCUSS THE PREFACE BY SETH GODIN. IS HE SAYING YOU CAN’T LEARN ANYTHING FROM A TEXT BOOK? WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?

Seth is suggesting that you can learn the vocabulary from a textbook which gives you a basis of marketing however, the best way to learn how to market is to research other marketing campaigns, make your own marketing campaigns for a subject you are passionate about or write blogs. I believe this has some truth to it as I believe marketing requires innovation meaning that if you learn how to market from a textbook every lot of marketing is going to be the same. Whereas, by using innovation and experience you can create something that is different from the rest which gives it uniqueness and consumers notice it standing out from the crowd.  

FIND 5 TERMS THAT YOU ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH AND DEFINE THEM

TERM	DEFINITION
Application programming interface (API)	A particular set of rules and specifications that software programs can abide by when communicating with each other. It serves as an interface between different software programs and facilitates their communication, similar to the way a user interface facilitates communication between humans and computers. APIs are often used by third-party developers to create applications for social networking websites like Twitter and Facebook.
Cluetrain Manifesto	A set of 95 theses organised as a Call to Action for businesses operating within a newly connected market place.
Really Simple Syndication (RSS)	RSS allows you to receive/ syndicate this information without requiring you to constantly open new pages in your browser. Also known as a feedreader.
Online reputation management (ORM)	The understanding and influencing of the perception of an entity online. This entails ensuring that you know what is being said about you, and that you are leading the conversation.
Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP)	A simple XML-based protocol to allow for the exchanging of structured information over HTTP.

CASE STUDY 1.9 – THE BEST JOB IN THE WORLD.

1. Why do you think this campaign garnered such impressive media coverage?

I think the campaing generated so much media coverage firstly as it was a unique job application of its kind that hadn’t been seen before to housesit an island. Due to it being part of the Great Barrier Reef, it attracted many people as the Great Barrier Reef is one of the main tourist attractions around the world. To be able to fund this campaign Tourism Queensland is a government funded agency which ment they had access to more resources then an individual advertising it would. Through the use of social media and job agencies it soon spread across the world where main television channels such as CNN and BBC did stories on it promoting it further to other viewers.

2. How did Tourism Queensland and SapientNitro approach the challenge of marketing across eight international markets?

By placing it on social media sights and advertising on international job agencies they slowly managed to extend their international coverage of it. CNN, BBC, Time Magazine and many other international related mediums also helped spread the coverage of this advertisement.

3. What role did flexibility play in this campaign?

Tourism Queensland had to flexible in the way they approached the different international markets as how to market this as many countries have different values, beliefs and views. Meaning they had to stimulate countries differently. Tourism Queensland also had to be flexible with the main website they ran for the competition as it could not handle the amount of entries and page views in the first two days.

4. How did the strategy leverage social media as a tool for engagement?

The uses of Facebook, Myspace etc. were a major factor in the output of the marketing campaign. This was due to the fact of people spreading the word of the competition and sponsored advertisements on there sites, leading to it going internationally. It also created another avenue of marketing compared to what use to be the traditional television, radio and paper advertisements.