A

DESSERTATION REPORT ON
INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY BASED MARKETING

SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULLFILLMENT OF POST GRADUATE DIPLOMA IN BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF

Miss S.Gomathi

Prepared BY
Neeraj Gupta

25059 NIILM-CMS B-II/66, Sher Shah Suri Marg MCIE, Mathura Road, New Delhi-110044

CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY

This is to certify that dissertation report on Information and Technology Based Marketing prepared by NEERAJ GUPTA Roll No. 25059 of PGDBM 2005-07 batch, is his original work under my guidance and supervision.

Miss S.Gomathi Faculty Guide NIILM-CMS New Delhi

NEERAJ GUPTA PGDBM- 2005-07 NIILM-CMS New Delhi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The feeling of acknowledging something and expressing it in words are two different things altogether. It is my weakness ,but I honestly admit that when I truly wish to express my warm gratitude and indebtness toward somebody concern ,I am always at a loss of word. I gratefully take this opportunity to express my gratitude to my most able guide Miss S.Gomathi for her active interest, timely encouragement valuable suggestion and unceasing assistance and tactfully criticism at every stage of this project. She had been a source of inspiration through her constant guidance; personal interest; encouragement and help. I convey my sincere thanks to her for being such a wonderful guide. I would like to thank my institute NIILM-Centre for Management Study providing me this opportunity to under take this project. Thanks to Faculty Gratefully,

NEERAJ GUPTA

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

"Information- and Technology-based Marketing" addresses how to use information technology to learn about and market to individual customers. Every company is emphasizing to make marketing decisions in the areas of segmentation, product offerings, pricing, distribution and promotion. Increasing use of information and communication technologies is shifting market power from suppliers to consumers; ensuing consumer empowerment is presented as an unintended consequence of marketing. Marketing implications arising from this consumer empowerment are examined in terms of a process where control and management by suppliers over consumer access and enablement are increasingly difficult. The Information technology has produced a revolutionary new way for businesses to communicate and interact with their customers. The role of marketing strategies in fostering controlled consumer empowerment is reflected in the development of information-based consumer-centric marketing strategies that seek to enable and control delegation. Every company from small firms to Fortune Companies are racing to make their mark in cyberspace with their own Home Pages on the world wide web (www).Internet growth is creating opportunities for marketers. The number of Internet users around the world is constantly growing. As Internet users are growing day by day; so are Internet advertisers because they can easily, effectively and efficiently communicate their products or services to targeted mass audience. Add to this the fact that Internet users are well educated with high incomes, it is only logical to conclude that Internet surfers are a desired target for advertisers. Before the development of the web, news was slow moving and organizations could take their time to develop structured responses to problems. Currently, rapid developments in consumer generated media sites mean that the general public can quickly air their views. These views can make or break a brand. Consumers trust these published opinions and base their buying decisions on them. For example, eBays success has been based on their system of feedback ratings, which provides consumer opinions of sellers. Any information available to company potential clients affects company reputation and their buying decisions. The influence of the information and technology on business over the next five years will be great. A the Web is beginning to shake the foundations of the advertising industry as it transforms how even offline media, such as radio, TV and print advertising, is purchased. Marketers are seeking to take advantage of vast audiences for social media sites, and tap into their inclination to participate

and interact online, as well as their potential to amplify and transmit targeted messages. Many marketers are looking to expand their messaging from TV to the Web and mobile handsets. Successful clients will develop competencies not only in broadband video ads and mobile marketing, but also in cross-media measurement and optimization. Businesses need to work harder to expand their Web audiences and customer bases online by stealing them from competitors, while also segmenting and targeting specific audiences. Companies must continue to emphasize effectiveness in their online tactics by obtaining insightful analysis of the behavior of Web site visitors, optimizing advertising and marketing budgets across the increasing number of tactics available, managing search-marketing portfolios effectively and reaping branding benefits along with direct marketing benefits from them. Internet effectiveness might also include judicious investment in Web site development. Employing rich interfaces popularized by Google Maps, for instance, creates more satisfying experiences for users. Internet effectiveness will also involve semi-automatic optimization of Web sites and landing pages to get the maximum return.

Contents

1. INTRODUCTION 2. INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY BASED MARKETING VS TRADITIONAL MARKETING 3. COMPONENTS OF INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY BASED MARKETING Internet marketing E-mail marketing Database marketing Mobile Marketing Search Engine Marketing Viral marketing Tele marketing E-Commerce Proximity marketing

4. DESIGNING INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY BASED MARKETING MIX PROGRAMS Marketing Strategy Customer Relationships Product Pricing Communication Distribution Branding

5. Articles 6. Bibliography

INTRODUCTION

The mission of marketing is to attract and retain customer. To accomplish this goals a traditional bricks and mortar marketer uses a variety of marketing variables including pricing, advertising and channel choice to satisfy current and new customer. With emergence of the internet and its associated technologies-enabled screen-to-face interfaces (mobile phone, interactive television) a new era of marketing has emerged. The goal of marketing is to build and create lasting customer relationship hence the focal point shift from findings customers to nurturing sufficient no of committed loyal customers. Successful information and technology based marketing programs move target customers through their stages of relationship building: awareness, exploration and commitment. It is important to stress that the goal of I.T. marketing is not simply building relationship with on line customers. Rather, the goal is to build off-line as well as on-line relationships. At the core of on-line and off-line marketing programs is the concept of exchange. In both the on-line and off-line worlds exchange is still the heart of marketing. In the new economy firms should be very sensitive to cross channel exchanges. That is, an on line marketing program must be evaluated according to its overall exchange impact not just on-line exchange impact. Information and Technology based marketing is having two core concept .The first concept is individual level marketing exchange. In addition to high level of interactivity, customer expect to have a personal experience with the firms. Broadcast approaches send the same message to all members of target audience .The internet enables the firm to engage in customer specific actions a broadcast to an audience of one .Equally important the customer can control the degree customization by taking action to set the level of customization he or she desires. Hence the amount of individualization can be controlled either by the firm or by its customers. Interactivity is defined as the extent which a two way communication flow occurs between the firm and customers. The internet enables a level of customer dialogue that has not been previously experienced in this industry of business. Certainly customers could have conversation with retail store clerks, sales reps, or managers; however it was not possible at the scale the internet affords. Hence the fundamental shifts one from broadcast media

such as television, radio, newspaper to one that encourages debates, exchange and innovation. Successful marketers manage to move desirable customers from awareness through exploration and finally commitment .Once customer reach commitment, the firm is in position to observe their behavioral pattern and determining which customers to nurture and which customers to terminate. Managing this building and pruning process is one of the marketing keys tasks. The four stages of customer relationship as follow which are very important to understand by marketers 1. Awareness (the degree to which the customer has some basic information, knowledge or attitudes about a firm of its offering but has not initiated any communication with the firm) 2.Exploration (customer and firms begin to initiate communication and action that enable and evaluation of whether or not to pursue a deeper connection)3. Commitment (customer and firm feel a sense of obligation or responsibility for each other) 4. Dissolution (isolation of the most valuable customer group and subsequent focus on this particular group People from all walks of life use search engines to research, and gather information so that they can make informative decisions. If the information they come across during a search relating to your brand is adverse, it can affect the decisions they make. Negative information can ultimately lead to problems in many areas including sales, investor relations, recruitment, financials, image, and reputation. In other words - damage to your brand. That is why it is essential that your website that all positive associated web sites and corporate communications related to your brand are fully optimized and published on the web. The result of doing this is an increase in your overall positive web presence, which will help you own the top spots of the search engine rankings for your brand

INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY BASED MARKETING

VS TRADITIONAL MARKETING

Web marketing and advertising is so different from traditional marketing and advertising that many people with expertise in traditional marketing find the concepts employed in copywriting for websites and internet marketing to be unusual. Many even deny the reality that web marketing and advertising on the internet is different from traditional marketing and they attempt to apply traditional marketing techniques rather than proven copywriting techniques that are successful for web marketing and advertising. The main difference between traditional sales copy and web copy for web marketing and advertising is that traditional sales copy is usually deemed to be more effective if it is brief and to the point. Copywriting for web marketing and advertising; however, is unique in that it is not intended to simply captivate the audiences' attention and prompt them to take action such as picking up the phone or visiting a store. Copywriting for web marketing and advertising actually serves to fulfill the entire advertising and sales process. Because internet business is generally automated, the sales copy is much more than material for web marketing and advertising, it is the sales person" that introduces website visitors to your products and services, highlights the features and benefits of your products and services, counters objections, asks the reader to act, and closes the sale. Because the role of sales copy for web marketing and advertising is so much more involved than that of traditional sales and marketing materials, being brief and to the point is not usually the best approach to preparing your web copy. Short web copy can be useful if you have an online catalog and you are simply providing product descriptions through your web copy. However, most ecommerce businesses need long copy to persuade website visitors to become customers, to make sales, and to generate ecommerce revenues. Crafting useful web copy for your web marketing and advertising using long sales copy techniques begins with planning. You must know your target audience, prepare a unique selling proposition that will appeal to that audience while setting you apart from the competition, develop a pricing strategy and bonuses that give customers the perception of value, and identify keyword terms and phrases that your customers will use when searching for your products or services. Using the information from your

research and planning efforts, you can begin to write sales copy for your website which will be the base for your web marketing and advertising as well as your storefront. Start your copywriting with the creation of a headline that grabs the attention of website visitors and a subheading that sparks their interest. Be sure to focus on benefits to the customer and to build credibility throughout your sales copy by including testimonials and credentials. Use bonus items and freebies to add value to your products or services. Create urgency to prompt action by offeringlimited time" discounts or special offers. Finally, set your website visitors' minds at ease by providing a strong, no-risk guaranty and ask for the order another technique that is useful for web marketing and advertising sales copy is to offer a free newsletter or a free report somewhere within your website copy. While this doesn't contribute much to the actual sales process, it will provide you with an opt-in list of customers and potential customers so you can continue marketing to those website visitors that do not convert to buyers on their first visit. If you dont get the sale, at least you will get a lead if website visitors subscribe to your newsletter or request a free report. Be sure that a disclosure is made or an option is given that makes it clear to website visitors that they are agreeing to be placed on your opt-in list to receive communications from your company if they subscribe to the newsletter or request the free report. Using the techniques suggested here in creating your sales copy for your web marketing and advertising provides a strong foundation for building your internet business.

COMPONENTS OF INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY BASED MARKETING

There are following components which are covered under information and technology based marketing Internet marketing

E-mail marketing

Database marketing

Mobile Marketing

Search Engine Marketing

Viral marketing

Tele marketing

E-Commerce

Proximity marketing

INTERNET MARKETING

Internet marketing is the use of the Internet to advertise and sell goods and services. Internet Marketing includes pay per click advertising, banner ads, e-mail marketing, affiliate marketing, interactive advertising, search engine marketing (including search engine optimization), blog marketing, article marketing, and blogging. Internet marketing is a component of electronic commerce. Internet marketing can include information management, public relations, customer service, and sales. Electronic commerce and Internet marketing have become popular as Internet access is becoming more widely available and used. Well over one third of consumers who have Internet access in their homes report using the Internet to make purchases. History Internet marketing first began in the early 1990s as simple, text-based websites that offered product information. Over time Internet marketing evolved into more than just selling information products, there are people now selling advertising space, software programs, business models, and many other products and services. Companies like Google, Yahoo and msn have leveled the playing field of internet advertising. By offering local advertising to small to medium sized businesses, ROI has grown while the bottom line has been lowered. This type of marketing is the backbone of modern capitalism, allowing anyone with an idea, product or service to reach the widest audience possible. The next evolutionary step would be to refine the consumer search to those consumers specifically searching for your product or service, and entice them with catchy tag lines and promotions. Once the consumer has chosen your company, and entered your e-store, the design of your website will determine the online to offline or e-commerce conversion rates. These are what business owners covet, the lowest cost per lead. To clarify, while internet marketing can cover any facet of online marketing as described above, current use of the term internet marketing commonly refers to the use of direct response marketing strategies, that were traditionally used in direct mail, radio, and TV infomercials, applied to the internet business space. These methods have been found to be particularly useful on the internet due to its tracking capabilities coupled with the ability to instantly reach the prospect, whether it is B2B or Business to consumer. This ability for careful

analysis has become quite common now, which is why you will commonly see terms such as ROI, conversion rate, and sales letter commonly come up when discussing internet marketing. In the beginning there were only a few people doing Internet marketing, but over time many people have come to see the benefits of working from home with an online business. Unfortunately, a large number of Internet entrepreneurs have failed in their search for online success because of an explosion of sites that profess to show people how to make millions while charging a small amount to do so. These sites have created a sense of disillusion as many people ignore the fact making money online needs to be treated like a real business. Business models Internet marketing is associated with several business models. The main models include business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C). B2B consists of companies doing business with each other, whereas B2C involves selling directly to the end consumer (see Malala, 2003)[1] When Internet marketing first began, the B2C model was first to emerge. B2B transactions were more complex and came about later. A third, less common business model is peer-to-peer (P2P), where individuals exchange goods between themselves. An example of P2P is Kazaa, which is built upon individuals sharing files. Internet marketing can also be seen in various formats. One version is name-your-price (e.g. Priceline.com). With this format, customers are able to state what price range they wish to spend and then select from items at that price range. With find-the-best-price websites (e.g. Hotwire.com), Internet users can search for the lowest prices on items. A final format is online auctions (e.g. Ebay.com) where buyers bid on listed items. It should be noted, however; as described above, under history, that current use of the term internet marketing commonly refers to the use of direct response marketing strategies, which were traditionally used in direct mail, radio, and TV infomercials, applied to the internet business space. When professionals and entrepreneurs commonly refer to "internet marketing" it is this model that they are often referring to. Benefits Some of the benefits associated with Internet marketing include the availability of information. Consumers can log onto the Internet and learn about products, as well as purchase them, at any hour. Companies that use

Internet marketing can also save money because of a reduced need for a sales force. Overall, Internet marketing can help expand from a local market to both national and international marketplaces. And, in a way, it levels the playing field for big and small players. Unlike traditional marketing media (like print, radio and TV), entry into the realm of Internet marketing can be a lot less expensive. Furthermore, since exposure, response and overall efficiency of digital media is much easier to track than that of traditional "offline" media, Internet marketing offers a greater sense of accountability for advertisers. Compared to the other media marketing (like print, radio and TV), Internet marketing is growing very fast. It's also gaining popularity among small businesses and even consumers when trying to monetize their blog or website. The measurability of the internet as a media makes it easier to experience innovative e-marketing tactics that will prove a better Cost of Acquisition than other media. However, in most developed countries, the internet marketing and advertising spending is around 5% only while TV, radio and the print.

Limitations Limitations of Internet marketing create problems for both companies and consumers. Slow Internet connections can cause difficulties. If companies build overly large or complicated web pages, Internet users may struggle to download the information. Internet marketing does not allow shoppers to touch, smell, taste or try-on tangible goods before making an online purchase. Some e-commerce vendors have implemented liberal return policies to reassure customers. Germany for example introduced a law in 2000 (Fernabsatzgesetz - later incorporated into the BGB), that allows any buyer of a new product over the internet to return the product on a noquestions-asked basis and get a full return. This is one of the main reasons why in Germany internet shopping became so popular. Another limiting factor, particularly with respect to actual buying and selling, is the adequate development (or lack thereof) of electronic payment methods like e-checks, credit cards, etc. Security concerns For both companies and consumers that participate in online business, security concerns are very important. Many consumers are hesitant to buy items over the Internet because they do not trust that their personal

information will remain private. Recently, some companies that do business online have been caught giving away or selling information about their customers. Several of these companies have guarantees on their websites, claiming customer information will be private. By selling customer information, these companies are breaking their own, publicized policy. Some companies that buy customer information offer the option for individuals to have their information removed from the database (known as opting out). However, many customers are unaware that their information is being shared and are unable to stop the transfer of their information between companies. Security concerns are of great importance and online companies have been working hard to create solutions. Encryption is one of the main methods for dealing with privacy and security concerns on the Internet. Encryption is defined as the conversion of data into a form called a cipher. This cipher cannot be easily intercepted unless an individual is authorized by the program or company that completed the encryption. In general, the stronger the cipher, the better protected the data is. However, the stronger the cipher, the more expensive encryption becomes. Effects on industries Internet marketing has had a large impact on several industries including music, banking, and flea markets - not to mention the advertising industry itself. In the music industry, many consumers have begun buying and downloading MP3s over the Internet instead of simply buying CDs. The debate over the legality of duplicating MP3s has become a major concern for those in the music industry. Internet marketing has also affected the banking industry. More and more banks are offering the ability to perform banking tasks online. Online banking is believed to appeal to customers because it is more convenient than visiting bank branches. Currently, over 50 million U.S. adults now bank online. Online banking is now the fastest-growing Internet activity. The increasing speed of Internet connections is the main reason for the fastgrowth. Of those individuals who use the Internet, 44% now perform banking activities over the Internet. As Internet auctions have gained popularity, flea markets are struggling. Unique items that could previously be found at flea markets are being sold on Ebay.com instead. Ebay.com has also affected the prices in the industry. Buyers and sellers often look at prices on the website before going to flea

markets and the Ebay.com price often becomes what the item is sold for. More and more flea market sellers are putting their items up for sale online and running their business out of their homes. The effect on the Ad industry itself has been profound. In just a few years, online advertising has grown to be worth tens of billions of dollars annually. [2][3] As Advertisers increase and shift more of their budgets online, it is now overtaking radio in terms of market share

E-MAIL MARKETING

E-mail marketing is a form of direct marketing which uses electronic mail as a means of communicating commercial or fundraising messages to an audience. In its broadest sense, every e-mail sent to a potential or current customer could be considered e-mail marketing. However, the term is usually used to refer to:

Sending e-mails with the purpose of enhancing the relationship of a merchant with its current or old customers and to encourage customer loyalty and repeat business. Sending e-mails with the purpose of acquiring new customers or convincing old customers to buy something immediately. Adding advertisements in e-mails sent by other companies to their customers. Emails that are being sent on the Internet (Email did and does exist outside the Internet, Network Email, FIDO etc.)

Advantages E-mail marketing (on the Internet) is popular with companies because:

Compared to other media investments such as direct mail or printed newsletters, it is less expensive. Return on investment has proven to be high when done properly and e-mail marketing is often reported as second only to search marketing as the most effective online marketing tactic.[2] It is instant, as opposed to a mailed advertisement; an e-mail arrives in a few seconds or minutes. It lets the advertiser "push" the message to its audience, as opposed to a website that waits for customers to come in.

It is easy to track. An advertiser can track users via web bugs, bounce messages, un-subscribes, read-receipts, click-through, etc. These can be used to measure open rates, positive or negative responses, correlated sales with marketing. Advertisers can reach substantial numbers of e-mail subscribers who have opted in (consented) to receive e-mail communications on subjects of interest to them Over half of Internet users check or send email on a typical day.[3] Specific types of interaction with messages can trigger other messages to be automatically delivered.

Disadvantages Many companies use e-mail marketing to communicate with existing customers, but many other companies send unsolicited bulk e-mail, also known as spam. Illicit e-mail marketing antedates legitimate e-mail marketing, since on the early Internet it was not permitted to use the medium for commercial purposes. As a result, marketers attempting to establish themselves as legitimate businesses in e-mail marketing have had an uphill battle, hampered also by criminal spam operations billing themselves as legitimate. It is frequently difficult for observers to distinguish between legitimate and spam e-mail marketing. First off, spammers attempt to represent themselves as legitimate operators, obfuscating the issue. Second, directmarketing political groups such as the U.S. Direct Marketing Association (DMA) have pressured legislatures to legalize activities which many Internet operators consider to be spamming, such as the sending of "opt-out" unsolicited commercial e-mail. Third, the sheer volume of spam e-mail has led some users to mistake legitimate commercial e-mail (for instance, a mailing list to which the user subscribed) for spam especially when the two have a similar appearance, as when messages include HTML and flashy graphics. Due to the volume of spam e-mail on the Internet, spam filters are essential to most users. Some marketers report that legitimate commercial e-mails frequently get caught by filters, and hidden; however, it is somewhat less common for e-mail users to complain that spam filters block legitimate mail. Companies considering an e-mail marketing program must make sure that their program does not violate spam laws such as the United States' CANSPAM Act (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act), the European Privacy & Electronic Communications

Regulations 2003 or their Internet provider's acceptable use policy. Even if a company follows the law, if Internet mail administrators find that it is sending spam it is likely to be listed in blacklists such as SPEWS. Why it works Email marketing works for a variety of reasons... It allows targeting It is data driven It drives direct sales It builds relationships, loyalty and trust It supports sales through other channels Modern email marketing services and solutions support database integration, segmentation and various other tricks and techniques for improving the targeting of outgoing messages. Advanced methods generate on-the-fly emails customized down to an individual recipient basis. And every email campaign you send out generates a heap of actionable data you can use to refine your approach and messages. Email promotions and offers generate immediate action: sales, downloads, inquiries, registrations, etc. Informative email newsletters and other emails send people to offline stores and events, prepare the way for catalogs, build awareness, contribute to branding, strengthen relationships, encourage trust and cement loyalty.

Email marketing is, as the name suggests, the use of email in marketing communications. What sort of email? In its broadest sense, the term covers every email you ever send to a customer, potential customer or public venue. In general, though, it's used to refer to: Sending direct promotional emails to try and acquire new customers or persuade existing customers to buy again

Sending emails designed to encourage customer loyalty and enhance the customer relationship Placing your marketing messages or advertisements in emails sent by other people It can be seen that the following three main forms of email marketing as the electronic equivalent of: Direct mail Sending people a print newsletter Placing advertisements in subscription magazines and newspapers

Why is email marketing so popular? Email marketing is so popular because: Sending email is much cheaper than most other forms of communication Email lets you deliver your message to the people (unlike a website, where the people have to come to your message) Email marketing has proven very successful for those who do it right The three types of Email marketing 1. Direct email Direct email involves sending a promotional message in the form of an email. It might be an announcement of a special offer, for example. Just as you might have a list of customer or prospect postal addresses to send your promotions too, so you can collect a list of customer or prospect email addresses. You can also rent lists of email addresses from service companies. They'll let you send your message to their own address lists. These services can usually let you target your message according to, for example, the interests or geographical location of the owners of the email address. 2. Retention email Instead of promotional email designed only to encourage the recipient to take action (buy something, sign-up for something, etc.), you might send out retention emails. These usually take the form of regular emails known as newsletters. A newsletter may carry promotional messages or

advertisements, but will aim at developing a long-term impact on the readers. It should provide the readers with value, which means more than just sales messages. It should contain information which informs, entertains or otherwise benefits the readers. 3. Advertising in other people's emails Instead of producing your own newsletter, you can find newsletters published by others and pay them to put your advertisement in the emails they send their subscribers. Indeed, there are many email newsletters that are created for just this purpose - to sell advertising space to others.

DATABASE MARKETING

Database marketing is a form of direct marketing using databases of customers or potential customers to generate personalized communications in order to promote a product or service for marketing purposes. The method of communication can be any addressable medium, as in direct marketing. The distinction between direct and database marketing stems primarily from the attention paid to the analysis of data. Database marketing emphasizes the use of statistical techniques to develop models of customer behavior, which are then used to select customers for communications. As a consequence, database marketers also tend to be heavy users of data warehouses, because having a greater amount of data about customers increases the likelihood that a more accurate model can be built. The "database" is usually name, address, and transaction history details from internal sales or delivery systems, or a bought-in compiled "list" from another organization, which has captured that information from its customers. Typical sources of compiled lists are charity donation forms, application forms for any free product or contest, product warranty cards, subscription forms, and credit application forms. The communications generated by database marketing may be described as junk mail or spam, if it is unwanted by the addressee. Direct and database marketing organizations, on the other hand, argue that a targeted letter or e-mail to a customer, who wants to be contacted about offerings that may interest the customer, benefits both the customer and the marketer. Some

countries and some organizations insist that individuals are able to prevent entry to or delete their name and address details from database marketing lists. Sources of data Although organizations of any size can employ database marketing, it is particularly well-suited to companies with large numbers of customers. This is because a large population provides greater opportunity to find segments of customers or prospects that can be communicated with in a customized manner. In smaller (and more homogeneous) databases, it will be difficult to justify on economic terms the investment required to differentiate messages. As a result, database marketing has flourished in sectors, such as financial services, telecommunications, and retail, all of which have the ability to generate significant amounts transaction data for millions of customers. Database marketing applications can be divided logically between those marketing programs that reach existing customers and those that are aimed at prospective customers. Consumer data In general, database marketers seek to have as much data available about customers and prospects as possible. For marketing to existing customers, more sophisticated marketers often build elaborate databases of customer information. These may include a variety of data, including name and address, history of shopping and purchases, demographics, and the history of past communications to and from customers. For larger companies with millions of customers, such data warehouses can often be multiple terabytes in size. Marketing to prospects relies extensively on third-party sources of data. In most developed countries, there are a number of providers of such data. Such data is usually restricted to name, address, and telephone, along with demographics, some supplied by consumers, and others inferred by the data compiler. Companies may also acquire prospect data directly through the use of sweepstakes, contests, on-line registrations, and other lead generation activities. Business Data For many business-to-business marketers, the number of customers and prospects will be smaller than that of comparable business-to-consumer

(B2C) companies. Also, their relationships with customers will often rely on intermediaries, such as salespeople, agents, and dealers and the number of transactions per customer may be small. As a result, business-to-business marketers may not have as much data at their disposal. One other complication is that they may have many contacts for a single organization, and determining which contact to communicate with through direct marketing may be difficult. On the other hand the database of business-tobusiness marketers often include data on the business activity of the respective client that can be used to segment markets, e.g. special software packages for transport companies, for lawyers etc. Customers in Businessto-business environments often tend to be loyal since they need after-salesservice for their products and appreciate information on product upgrades and service offerings. Sources of customer data often come from the sales force employed by the company and from the service engineers. Increasingly, online interactions with customers are providing b-to-b marketers with a lower cost source of customer information. For prospect data, businesses can purchase data from compilers of business data, as well as gather information from their direct sales efforts, on-line sites, and specialty publications.

MOBILE MARKETING

Mobile Marketing can refer to one of two categories of marketing. First, and relatively new, is meant to describe marketing on or with a mobile device, such as a mobile phone. Second, and a more traditional definition, is meant to describe marketing in a moving fashion - for example - technology road shows or moving billboards. Marketing on a mobile phone has become increasingly popular ever since the rise of SMS (Short Message Service) in the early 2000s in Europe and some parts of Asia when businesses started to collect mobile phone numbers and send off wanted (or unwanted) content. Over the past few years SMS has become a legitimate advertising channel. This is due to the fact that unlike email over the public internet, the carriers who police their own networks have set guidelines and best practices for the mobile media industry (including mobile advertising). The IAB (Interactive

Advertising Bureau) and the MMA (Mobile Marketing Association), as well, has established guidelines and evangelizing the use of the mobile channel for marketers. Mobile Marketing via SMS has expanded rapidly in Europe and Asia as a new channel to reach the consumer. SMS initially received negative media coverage in many parts of Europe for being a new form of spam as some advertisers purchased lists and sent unsolicited content to consumer's phones; however, as guidelines are put in place by the mobile operators, SMS has become the most popular branch of the Mobile Marketing industry with several 100 million advertising SMS sent out every month in Europe alone. In North America the first cross-carrier SMS short code campaign was run by Labatt Breweries in 2002. Over the past few years mobile short codes have been increasingly popular as a new channel to communicate to the mobile consumer. Brands have begun to treat the mobile short code as a mobile domain name allowing the consumer to text message the brand at an event, in store and off any traditional media. All SMS services need to be run off a short code. These are 5 or 6 digit numbers that have been assigned by all the mobile operators in a given country for the use of brand campaign and other consumer services. The mobile operators vet every application before provisioning and monitor the service to make sure it does not diverge from its original service description. One key criterion for provisioning is that the consumer opts in to the service. The mobile operators demand a double opt in from the consumer and the ability for the consumer to opt out of the service at any time by sending the word STOP via SMS. These guidelines are established in the MMA Consumer Best Practices Guidelines which are followed by all mobile marketers in the United States. The guidelines can be accessed at www.mmaglobal.com Mobile Marketing via MMS Brands are delivering promotional content such as mobile music to mobile games to drive consumer engagement. This mobile content is delivered via MMS (Multimedia Message Service). Brands are also leveraging consumer generated content. A good example of this is Motorola ongoing campaigns at House of Blues venues where the brand allows the consumer to send their mobile photos to the LED board in real-time as well as blog their images online.

Mobile Marketing via Bluetooth The rise of Bluetooth started around 2003 and a few companies in Europe have started establishing successful businesses. Most of these businesses offer "Hotspot-Systems" which consist of some kind of content-management system with a Bluetooth distribution function. This technology has the advantages that it is permission-based, has higher transfer speeds and is also a radio-based technology and can therefore not be billed (i.e. is free of charge). Mobile Marketing via Infrared Infrared is the oldest and most limited form of Mobile Marketing. Some European companies have experimented with "shopping window marketing" via free Infrared waves in the late 90s. However, Infrared has a very limited range (~ approx. 10cm - 1meter) and could never really establish itself as a leading Mobile Marketing technology. User Controlled Media Mobile marketing differs from most other forms of marketing communication in that it is often user (consumer) initiated, called Mobile Originated (or MO) message, and requires the express consent of the consumer to receive future communications. A call delivered from a server (business) to a user (consumer) is similarly called a Mobile Terminated (or MT) message. This infrastructure points to a trend set by mobile marketing of consumer controlled marketing communications. See also Push-Pull strategy and smart reply on the nature of mobile marketing in practice by business.

SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING

In Internet marketing, search engine marketing, or SEM, is a set of marketing methods to increase the visibility of a website in search engine results pages (SERPs). SEM strategies include:

Search engine optimization attempts to improve rankings for relevant keywords in search results by improving a web site's structure, content, and relevant back link count.

Pay per click advertising uses sponsored search engine listings to drive traffic to a web site. The advertiser bids for search terms, and the search engine ranks ads based on a competitive auction as well as other factors. Paid inclusion feeds listings into search engines, typically comparative shopping sites like Nextag. Social media optimization promotes by placing ideas within online communities with the hope that they will spread virally.

Search Engine Marketing Objectives SEM is most important for the businesses who sell goods and services online or who use their websites to generate sales leads. Other goals for SEM including: building a brand, enhancing reputation with investors, generating media coverage, and driving traffic to physical business locations. Organizations such as non-profits, universities, governments, and political parties also use SEM to promote their ideas. Search Engine Marketing Organizations The duties of non-profit search engine marketing organizations are to educate members and non-members, support and promote the industry, engage in research and studies, raise awareness of issues and to play an active role in the self regulation of the search marketing industry. SEMPO, the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization, is a non-profit professional association for search engine marketers. SMA-NA, the Search Marketing Association of North America.

VIRAL MARKETING

Viral marketing and viral advertising refer to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness, through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of pathological and computer viruses. It can often be word-of-mouth delivered and enhanced online; it can harness the network effect of the Internet and can be very useful in reaching a large number of people rapidly.

Some of the first recorded offline/online viral campaigns were developed by Tim Nolan of Spent2000.com fame circa 1996. By placing abstract pairings of catch-phrases, quotes, song lyrics and image mashups, Mr. Nolan developed a method of creating "buzz" around a URL based installation. Phrases like "This city isn't safe" placed alongside a URL created curiosity enough in people's minds to remember a URL and visit again once they were online. Viral marketing sometimes refers to Internet-based stealth marketing campaigns, including the use of blogs, seemingly amateur web sites, and other forms of astroturfing, designed to create word of mouth for a new product or service. Often the goal of viral marketing campaigns is to generate media coverage via "offbeat" stories worth many times more than the campaigning company's advertising budget. The term "viral advertising" refers to the idea that people will pass on and share interesting and entertaining content; this is often sponsored by a brand, which is looking to build awareness of a product or service. These viral commercials often take the form of funny video clips, or interactive Flash games, an advergame, images, and even text. Viral marketing is popular because of the ease of executing the marketing campaign, relative low-cost (compared to direct mail), good targeting, and the high and rapid response rate. The main strength of viral marketing is its ability to obtain a large number of interested people at a low cost. The hardest task for any company is to acquire and retain a large customer base. Through the use of the internet and the effects of e-mail advertising, the business-to-consumer (B2C) efforts have a greater impact than many other tools of marketing. Viral marketing is a technique that avoids the annoyance of spam mail; it encourages users of a specific product or service to tell a friend. This would be a positive word-of-mouth recommendation. One of the most successful perspectives found to achieve this customer base is the integrated marketing communication IMC perspective.

TELE-MARKETING

Telemarketing is a method of direct marketing in which a salesperson uses the telephone to solicit prospective customers to buy products or services.

Telemarketing can also include recorded sales pitches programmed to be played over the phone via automatic dialing. History The term telemarketing was first used extensively in the late 1970s to describe Bell System communications which related to new uses for the outbound WATS and inbound Toll-free services. Since 1982, Telemarketing has been a registered trademark owned by Nadji Tehrani. In a 2006 interview, Tehrani described how he began using phone marketing to sell advertising space in trade magazines published by his company, Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC). After discovering that phone marketing itself had no trade magazine, Tehrani started Telemarketing Magazine in 1982. Categories The two major categories of telemarketing are Business-to-business and Business-to-consumer. Subcategories

Lead Generation, the gathering of information Sales, using persuasion to sell a product or service Outbound, proactive marketing in which prospective and preexisting customers are contacted directly Inbound, reactive reception of incoming orders and requests for information. Demand is generally created by advertising, publicity, or the efforts of outside salespeople.

Procedure Telemarketing may be done from a company office, from a call centre, or from home. It may involve either a live operator or a recorded message, in which case it is known as "automated telemarketing" or "robocalling." An effective telemarketing process often involves two or more calls. The first call (or series of calls) determines the customers needs. The final call (or series of calls) motivates the customer to make a purchase. Prospective customers are identified by various means, including past purchase history, previous requests for information, credit limit, competition entry forms, and application forms. Names may also be purchased from

another company's consumer database or obtained from a telephone directory or another public list. The qualification process is intended to determine which customers are most likely to purchase the product or service. Charitable organizations, alumni associations, and political parties often use telemarketing to solicit donations. Marketing research companies use telemarketing techniques to survey the prospective or past customers of a clients business in order to assess market acceptance of or satisfaction with a particular product, service, brand, or company. Public opinion polls are conducted in a similar manner. Telemarketing techniques are also applied to other forms of electronic marketing using e-mail or fax messages, in which case they are frequently considered spam.

E-COMMERCE

Electronic Commerce is exactly analogous to a marketplace on the Internet. Electronic Commerce (also referred to as EC, e-commerce eCommerce or ecommerce) consists primarily of the distributing, buying, selling, marketing and servicing of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. The information technology industry might see it as an electronic business application aimed at commercial transactions; in this context, it can involve electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, e-marketing, online marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), automated inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems. Electronic commerce typically uses electronic communications technology of the World Wide Web, at some point in the transaction's lifecycle, although of course electronic commerce frequently depends on computer technologies other than the World Wide Web, such as databases, and e-mail, and on other noncomputer technologies, such as transportation for physical goods sold via ecommerce. Historical development The meaning of the term "electronic commerce" has changed over the last 30 years. Originally, "electronic commerce" meant the facilitation of commercial transactions electronically, usually using technology like

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), where both were introduced in the late 1970s, for example, to send commercial documents like purchase orders or invoices electronically. The 'electronic' or 'e' in e-commerce refers to the technology/systems; the 'commerce' refers to be traditional business models. E-commerce is the complete set of processes that support commercial/business activities on a network. In the 1970s and 1980s, this would also have involved information analysis. The growth and acceptance of credit cards, automated teller machines (ATM) and telephone banking in the 1980s were also forms of ecommerce. However, from the 1990s onwards, this would include enterprise resource planning systems (ERP), data mining and data warehousing. In the dot com era, it came to include activities more precisely termed "Web commerce" -- the purchase of goods and services over the World Wide Web, usually with secure connections (HTTPS, a special server protocol that encrypts confidential ordering data for customer protection) with e-shopping carts and with electronic payment services, like credit card payment authorizations. Today, it encompasses a very wide range of business activities and processes, from e-banking to offshore manufacturing to e-logistics. The ever growing dependence of modern industries on electronically enabled business processes gave impetus to the growth and development of supporting systems, including backend systems, applications and middleware. Examples are broadband and fiber-optic networks, supply-chain management software, customer relationship management software, inventory control systems and financial accounting software. When the Web first became well-known among the general public in 1994, many journalists and pundits forecast that e-commerce would soon become a major economic sector. However, it took about four years for security protocols (like HTTPS) to become sufficiently developed and widely deployed. Subsequently, between 1998 and 2000, a substantial number of businesses in the United States and Western Europe developed rudimentary web sites. Although a large number of "pure e-commerce" companies disappeared during the dot-com collapse in 2000 and 2001, many "brick-and-mortar" retailers recognized that such companies had identified valuable niche markets and began to add e-commerce capabilities to their Web sites. For example, after the collapse of online grocer Webvan, two traditional supermarket chains, Albertsons and Safeway, both started e-commerce subsidiaries through which consumers could order groceries online.

The emergence of e-commerce also significantly lowered barriers to entry in the selling of many types of goods; accordingly many small home-based proprietors are able to use the internet to sell goods. Often, small sellers use online auction sites such as EBay, or sell via large corporate websites like Amazon.com, in order to take advantage of the exposure and setup convenience of such sites. Success factors in e-commerce Technical and Organizational oriented In many cases, an e-commerce company will survive not only based on its product, but by having a competent management team, good post-sales services, well-organized business structure, network infrastructure and a secured, well-designed website. Such factors include: 1. Sufficient work done in market research and analysis. E-commerce is not exempt from good business planning and the fundamental laws of supply and demand. Business failure is as much a reality in e-commerce as in any other form of business. 2. A good management team armed with information technology strategy. A company's IT strategy should be a part of the business re-design process. 3. Providing an easy and secured way for customers to effect transactions. Credit cards are the most popular means of sending payments on the internet, accounting for 90% of online purchases. In the past, card numbers were transferred securely between the customer and merchant through independent payment gateways. Such independent payment gateways are still used by most small and home businesses. Most merchants today process credit card transactions on site through arrangements made with commercial banks or credit cards companies. 4. Providing reliability and security. Parallel servers, hardware redundancy, fail-safe technology, information encryption, and firewalls can enhance this requirement. 5. Providing a 360-degree view of the customer relationship, defined as ensuring that all employees, suppliers, and partners have a complete view, and the same view, of the customer. However, customers may not appreciate the big brother experience. 6. Constructing a commercially sound business model. 7. Engineering an electronic value chain in which one focuses on a "limited" number of core competencies -- the opposite of a onestop shop. (Electronic stores can appear either specialist or generalist if properly programmed.)

8. Operating on or near the cutting edge of technology and staying there as technology changes (but remembering that the fundamentals of commerce remain indifferent to technology). 9. Setting up an organization of sufficient alertness and agility to respond quickly to any changes in the economic, social and physical environment. 10. Providing an attractive website. The tasteful use of colour, graphics, animation, photographs, fonts, and white-space percentage may aid success in this respect. 11. Streamlining business processes, possibly through re- engineering and information technologies. 12. Providing complete understanding of the products or services offered which not only includes complete product information, but also sound advisors and selectors. Naturally, the e-commerce vendor must also perform such mundane tasks as being truthful about its product and its availability, shipping reliably, and handling complaints promptly and effectively. A unique property of the Internet environment is that individual customers have access to far more information about the seller than they would find in a brick-and-mortar situation. (Of course, customers can, and occasionally do, research a brickand-mortar store online before visiting it, so this distinction does not hold water in every case.)

Customer oriented A successful e-commerce organization must also provide an enjoyable and rewarding experience to its customers. Many factors go into making this possible. Such factors include: 1. Providing value to customers. Vendors can achieve this by offering a product or product-line that attracts potential customers at a competitive price, as in non-electronic commerce. 2. Providing service and performance. Offering a responsive, userfriendly purchasing experience, just like a flesh-and-blood retailer, may go some way to achieving these goals. 3. Providing an incentive for customers to buy and to return. Sales promotions to this end can involve coupons, special offers, and discounts. Cross-linked websites and advertising affiliate programs can also help.

4. Providing personal attention. Personalized web sites, purchase suggestions, and personalized special offers may go some of the way to substituting for the face-to-face human interaction found at a traditional point of sale. 5. Providing a sense of community. Chat rooms, discussion boards, soliciting customer input and loyalty programs (sometimes called affinity programs) can help in this respect. 6. Owning the customer's total experience. E-tailers foster this by treating any contacts with a customer as part of a total experience, an experience that becomes synonymous with the brand. 7. Letting customers help themselves. Provision of a self-serve site, easy to use without assistance, can help in this respect. This implies that all product information is available, cross-sell information, advise for product alternatives, and supplies & accessory selectors. 8. Helping customers do their job of consuming. E-tailers and online shopping directories can provide such help through ample comparative information and good search facilities. Provision of component information and safety-and-health comments may assist e-tailers to define the customers' job. Problems Even if a provider of E-commerce goods and services rigorously follows these "key factors" to devise an exemplary e-commerce strategy, problems can still arise. Sources of such problems include: 1. Failure to understand customers, why they buy and how they buy. Even a product with a sound value proposition can fail if producers and retailers do not understand customer habits, expectations, and motivations. E-commerce could potentially mitigate this potential problem with proactive and focused marketing research, just as traditional retailers may do. 2. Failure to consider the competitive situation. One may have the will to construct a viable book e-tailing business model, but lack the capability to compete with Amazon.com. 3. Inability to predict environmental reaction. What will competitors do? Will they introduce competitive brands or competitive web sites? Will they supplement their service offerings? Will they try to sabotage a competitor's site? Will price wars break out? What will the government do? Research into competitors, industries and markets may mitigate some consequences here, just as in non-electronic commerce. 4. Over-estimation of resource competence. Can staff, hardware, software, and processes handle the proposed strategy? Have e-tailers

failed to develop employee and management skills? These issues may call for thorough resource planning and employee training. 5. Failure to coordinate. If existing reporting and control relationships do not suffice, one can move towards a flat, accountable, and flexible organizational structure, which may or may not aid coordination. 6. Failure to obtain senior management commitment. This often results in a failure to gain sufficient corporate resources to accomplish a task. It may help to get top management involved right from the start. 7. Failure to obtain employee commitment. If planners do not explain their strategy well to employees, or fail to give employees the whole picture, then training and setting up incentives for workers to embrace the strategy may assist. 8. Under-estimation of time requirements. Setting up an e-commerce venture can take considerable time and money, and failure to understand the timing and sequencing of tasks can lead to significant cost overruns. Basic project planning, critical path, critical chain, or PERT analysis may mitigate such failings. Profitability may have to wait for the achievement of market share. 9. Failure to follow a plan. Poor follow-through after the initial planning, and insufficient tracking of progress against a plan can result in problems. One may mitigate such problems with standard tools: benchmarking, milestones, variance tracking, and penalties and rewards for variances. 10. Becoming the victim of organized crime. Many syndicates have caught on to the potential of the Internet as a new revenue stream. Two main methods are as follows: (1) Using identity theft techniques like phishing to order expensive goods and bill them to some innocent person, then liquidating the goods for quick cash; (2) Extortion by using a network of compromised "zombie" computers to engage in distributed denial of service attacks against the target Web site until it starts paying protection money. Product suitability Certain products or services appear more suitable for online sales; others remain more suitable for offline sales. Many successful purely virtual companies deal with digital products, (including information storage, retrieval, and modification), music, movies, office supplies, education, communication, software, photography, and financial transactions. Examples of this type of company include: Google, eBay and Paypal. Other successful marketers such as use Drop shipping or Affiliate marketing techniques to facilitate transactions of tangible goods

without maintaining real inventory. Examples include Amazing Refund and numerous sellers on eBay. Virtual marketers can sell some non-digital products and services successfully. Such products generally have a high value-to-weight ratio, they may involve embarrassing purchases, they may typically go to people in remote locations, and they may have shut-ins as their typical purchasers. Items which can fit through a standard letterbox such as music CDs, DVDs and books are particularly suitable for a virtual marketer, and indeed Amazon.com, one of the few enduring dot-com companies, has historically concentrated on this field. Products such as spare parts, both for consumer items like washing machines and for industrial equipment like centrifugal pumps, also seem good candidates for selling online. Retailers often need to order spare parts specially, since they typically do not stock them at consumer outlets -- in such cases, e-commerce solutions in spares do not compete with retail stores, only with other ordering systems. A factor for success in this niche can consist of providing customers with exact, reliable information about which part number their particular version of a product needs, for example by providing parts lists keyed by serial number. Purchases of pornography and of other sex-related products and services fulfill the requirements of both virtuality (or if non-virtual, generally highvalue) and potential embarrassment; unsurprisingly, provision of such services has become the most profitable segment of e-commerce. Products less suitable for e-commerce include products that have a low value-toweight ratio, products that have a smell, taste, or touch component, products that need trial fittings most notably clothing and products where colour integrity appears important. Nonetheless, Tesco.com has had success delivering groceries in the UK, albeit that many of its goods are of a generic quality, and clothing sold through the internet is big business in the U.S. Also, the recycling program cheap cycle sells goods over the internet, but avoids the low value-to-weight ratio problem by creating different groups for various regions, so that shipping costs remain low. Acceptance Consumers have accepted the e-commerce business model less readily than its proponents originally expected. Even in product categories suitable for ecommerce, electronic shopping has developed only slowly. Several reasons might account for the slow uptake, including:

1. Concerns about security. Many people will not use credit cards over the Internet due to concerns about theft and credit card fraud. 2. Lack of instant gratification with most e-purchases (non-digital purchases). Much of a consumer's reward for purchasing a product lies in the instant gratification of using and displaying that product. This reward does not exist when one's purchase does not arrive for days or weeks. 3. The problem of access to web commerce, mainly for poor households and for developing countries. Low penetration rates of Internet access in some sectors greatly reduces the potential for ecommerce. 4. The social aspect of shopping. Some people enjoy talking to sales staff, to other shoppers, or to their cohorts: this social reward side of retail therapy does not exist to the same extent in online shopping. 5. Poorly designed, bug-infested e-Commerce web sites that frustrate online shoppers and drive them away. 6. Inconsistent return policies among e-tailers or difficulties in exchange/return.

Proximity marketing

Wire medias Bluetooth Media Server specializes in providing information, entertainment, discounts, coupons, and other promotional material to users of mobile phones and other portable Bluetooth-enabled devices. The Bluetooth Media Server helps businesses and organizations implement proximity marketing by offering superior technology in the following arenas: Broadcast location-based coupons. Contextual advertising. Localized information. Gaming and music. Content on demand. How effective proximity marketing work? Retailers use proximity marketing by simultaneously targeting patrons already inside their stores and pedestrians within relative proximity of their

storefronts: people who own mobile devices that use Bluetooth wireless technology. For example, music retailers can broadcast or distribute monetized content in various formats, including MP3, MP4, or ringtone formats to patrons in a non-intrusive, inconspicuous manner. They can also reach potential customers in the immediate vicinity of their storefronts. This is location-based marketing at its best. Never before have brands, information providers, and retailers been enabled with the technology to send content and direct response advertising directly to a consumer's mobile phone. All consumers within relative proximity of a particular destination, retail store, or area. The finest in mobile marketing. Wire medias Bluetooth Media Server is a secure, permission-based system. Our Media Server is a fully hosted proximity marketing solution that services the installation and management process. We also provide an option to those seeking to manage and host the server themselves. Wire medias Bluetooth Media Server is the most scalable, robust, and secure location-based tool on the market for broadcasting promotional or informational content and applications to Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones, laptops, and handheld devices. As a powerful proximity marketing tool, the Bluetooth Media Server stands out from the crowd. Mobile marketing that delivers. Wire medias Bluetooth Media Server delivers: 1. New ways to engage customers, passers-by, and pedestrians. 2. Ability to generate incremental revenue. 3. 24/7 information. 4. Greater ability to convert pedestrians, passers-by, and window shoppers into customers or users of your brand. 5. Web-enabled click-thru metrics for each location (e.g., how many people viewed, downloaded, responded, want to be called, etc.) 6. The ability to extend your promotional efforts, information, and services to new locations (e.g., deploying our access point to another high-traffic location). 7. A simple-to-use, innovative, and responsive marketing tool. While Bluetooth wireless technology is relatively new in terms of proximity marketing and advertising, statistics show that it is quickly becoming the way to reach audiences with specific interests and ensure that they patronize the advertisers.

DESIGNING INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY BASED MARKETING MIX PROGRAMS

The articulation of the desired customer experience provides the theme for crafting of the marketing program. eBay has been positioned as largest and most trusted market place in the internet, because they emphasize more on the customer experience which provides a more detail about customer centric way of describing how the firm wants its target customers to cognitively and emotionally react to the firm, store, and its offering with this detailed spec sheet, the firm is able to design the tactics of the marketing plan. Becoming customer-centric is seldom an achievable goal. For the last decade, marketers have talked about shifting their company from being product- and brand-centric to being customer-centric. "Dont sell products. Find out what customers want to buy and sell them that." This is a wonderful idea, but few are doing it. If we were really to become customer centric, we would segment our customers and create a manager for each segment. These managers would have higher authority than brand or product managers. In most cases, it does not work; the compensation system within a company is very difficult to arrange. If the silver segment manager does a

good job, many of his customers will become gold customers. Before one mouth platitudes about becoming customer centric, do a good job of database marketing within ones current organization. The following Information and technology based marketing mix with four stages of relationship resulting in matrix using the example of eBay are Marketing Strategy Customer Relationships Product Pricing Communication Distribution Branding

DEVELOPING AND COMMUNICATING A MARKETING STRATEGY

EBay's marketing strategy can be broadly characterized as targeting the mass market with a very broad positioning appeal. While eBay's business model now includes a fixed price venue for selling goods, the majority of its revenue originates from the B2C and P2P (peer-to-peer) auction-seeking consumer segment Segmentation Two broad dimensions are used to classify customers and the type of offering they seek; (1) type of offering and (2) breadth of business. With respect to type of offering, two options are specified: mass market (offering a wide range of market products) or niche (a narrow but deep range of a specific product category). Breadth of business is classified into P2P, B2C/B2B (business-to-consumer, such as Amazon.com, and business-tobusiness, such as DuPont Chemicals), and multitype. Finally, there is a segment that seeks the offerings of firms such as eBay and uBidmass-market auctions that focus on a blend of B2C, B2B, and P2P.

UBid is positioned quite similarly to eBay, and it targets a similar segment. But while uBid also calls itself the Internet's premier e-commerce auction site, it had only one-tenth the number of unique users that eBay enjoys.

Targeting EBay is a mass-market service. Hence, it can lucratively target a mass audience. However, much like Procter & Gamble, eBay practices a differentiated, mass-market targeting strategymeaning that it uses variations on its product to cater to different subsegment, effectively covering the mass market. EBay recognizes that while mass B2C and P2P online auction services are attractive to many, there are subsegments within the market that seek more specialized services and might shy away from a generic auction service. Hence, eBay offers special services for smaller segments such as car buyers; eBay also offers special auctions for luxury goods, and provides additional services when buyers bid for real estate. EBay, then, offers several variations of its product, allowing it to effectively target the mass market

Positioning How does eBay position itself? EBay's positioning message revolves around being "the world's online marketplace." This tagline expresses two of eBay's key benefits: (1) the size of its membership and product offerings, and (2) its sense of developed community. As the "world's online marketplace," eBay positions itself as a global business with products so varied that they would attract consumers from around the world. By positioning itself as a market place rather than simply an auction site, eBay communicates its emphasis on community and the sense that there is more to the site than business transactions alone. The firm's positioning message consistently supports, and is in alignment with, the corporate strategy set out by eBay-selling nearly anything through a friendly, welcoming, auction-style environment.

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS ON THE WEB

Awareness

As the No.1 general auction service on the Internet, buyers and sellers alike recognize that eBay is where the action is. Individuals and businesses interested in selling their goods immediately recognize eBay as a possible exchange partner. To maintain high awareness levels, eBay also undertakes both online and offline advertising and promotion. EBay has promoted its brand name predominantly through online means. For example, eBay's alliance with AOL gives it access to more than 60 million AOL customers. This is a very good fit in terms of awareness creation, not only because of the sheer size of the AOL customer base, but also because of that customer base's general demographics. Exploration EBay encourages exploration of its site by not requiring browsers-people who are just looking-to register. Individuals who are interested in exploring the site can do so easily and conveniently. They can look at the items for sale, watch the bidding process, and read about the sellers' reputations

without having to buy or sell. Access to the chat rooms, however, requires user registration.

Four Key Stages of Customer Relationship

Awareness Exploration/Expansion Commitment Dissolution

Product Price Place Promotion

Brand
Commitment EBay encourages customer commitment in all three of the ways identified earlier in the chapter. First, eBay works hard to create a strong sense of community among its users; the site's community-based culture is reminiscent of the early days of traditional commerce in which face-to-face transactions were commonplace. Although eBay interactions are virtual, there is a sense that the organization is providing a forum that empowers individual buyers and sellers. Second, eBay encourages users to invest in their relationship with the firm. EBay offers individualization options for keeping track of transaction histories, and encourages users to evaluate other buyers and sellers through the Transaction Forum feature. The users hold the rights and responsibilities for the transactions, and user commitment is increased when they participate in community related behaviors. Finally, eBay is a well-designed service that stimulates repeat interactions that sustain the buyer-seller relationship. Dissolution From eBay's perspective, the relationship may be terminated if a seller violates a basic rule by attempting to sell counterfeit software, for example, or because trading partners have consistently rated them poorly. Also, the firm utilizes its member-driven ratings system called the Feedback Forum. Users have a profile that is continuously updated based on feedback and ratings from other members of the community. Members who have developed good reputations have a star symbol placed next to their name that is color coded to show the net amount of positive feedback they have received. Members who receive negative feedback are essentially shunned and their relationship is dissolved.

PRODUCT

EBay has successfully leveraged product development levers to move users through the four stages, thereby increasing the level of relationship intensity

with its users. This example will focus on the exploration/expansion and commitment stages. Exploration/Expansion EBay advances users into the exploration/expansion phase with several product development levers. The attributes and features of the service promote exploration. For example, the site's fast and reliable search engine makes it easy for people to find the items they are looking for. Picture, which sellers can post, allow buyers to see what they are buying. EBay's wide variety of categories also allows users to browse through a large quantity of information. All of these attributes keep people at eBay and encourage them to explore the site. EBay also relies on a positive, well-designed customer experience. Searching and browsing are fast and easy. Bidding can even be thrilling, as many auctions end in the final seconds. EBay sends bidders e-mails as higher bids are received, encouraging users to go back to the site and enter a higher bid. EBay remains a fun site to interact with, in large part because its interactivity in the form of bidding and its individualization in the form of personal e-mails. EBay further promotes exploration and expansion by making complementary products available to its customers, including an escrow service, which allows buyers to reduce their risk on expensive items by giving them a chance to have items appraised and to return them if they don't meet expectations. Another complementary product is an electronic bill-paying service, which eliminates the need for users to pay each other by check or money order through the mail. Commitment EBay utilizes multiple product levers to drive and sustain commitment. The most important lever in this category for eBay is enabling community. Without a committed community of buyers and sellers, eBay would be worthless. The large number of buyers keeps sellers committed to the site by driving prices higher, and the large number of sellers maintains buyer commitment by ensuring the availability of a large number and wide variety of products. EBay invests significantly in promoting community, offering feedback forums and responding to community demands. EBay leverages its community to improve customer care by utilizing a community forum to have customers answer questions posed by other customers. This ensures rapid responses (and costs eBay very little). EBay

also employs customer-specific attributes and features levers that give customers access to their own purchase histories and rankings. Sellers, too, can track their current auctions. Other product levers that eBay employs to build and sustain the commitment stage of the customer relationship include upgrades and improvements to the site (in terms of technology, customerfacing features, and services) Dissolution Because the eBay service itself is the product, it is extremely important to the firm's success that users do not detract from the eBay experience or drive other users away. For this reason, eBay has included certain attributes and features that help to control and if needed, dissolve the relationship with problematic customers. Customer care for eBay, in the dissolution stage, involves terminating customers who detract from the overall product by harming the community.

PRICING

EBay does not charge individuals for browsing, bidding, or buying items. Instead, the auction site generates revenue through fees for listing and selling items. Listing Related Fee The eBay model is simple one: Users register items they want to sell for a small insertion fee that depends on minimum bid they are asking. Regular listings charge insertion fees based on the minimum bid for an item Reserve-price auction listings allow the seller to specify a reserve price, or minimum starting bid. If no buyer takes the reserve price, the item does not sell. Dutch-auction listings allow sellers to list multiple quantities of the same item. The insertion fee for this service is based on the minimum bid multiplied by the quantity of items offered. Final-Value Fee Exploration/Expa nsion Commitment

Final-value fees are charged only when an item on eBay is sold. For real estate, however, there is no final-value fee even for successful sales. For other successful regular and reserve-price auctions (where the item is sold and meets any minimum bid requirements), this fee is based on the final value, which in this case is the closing bid. In Dutch auctions, the fee is also based on the final value, but in this case the final value is the lowest successful bid multiplied by the quantity of items sold.

COMMUNICATION

Few firms have been as successful in the realm of communication as eBay. The online leader in the auction space centers its marketing strategy on promoting its brand and attracting new buyers and sellers. After its founding in 1995, eBay initially relied almost exclusively on word-of-mouth advertising to attract new customers. EBay utilized an effective viral marketing campaign that allowed the company to experience phenomenal growth in both users and items being auctioned. EBay launched its first major marketing campaign in 1998 with three new components. Strategic alliances with online partners: EBay bought substantial advertising space on AOL, and partnered with Go.com. Development of free media exposure: EBay sponsored bidding on Mark McGwire's and Sammy Sosa's homerun baseballs, and a charity auction with notable television personality Rosie O'Donnell. Print and radio campaigns began in October 1998 with the slogan, "You just might find it on eBay," which aired on more than 12000 radio stations across the country.

EBay did not attempt to build its brand and attract users with television advertisements until the end of 2000.

EBay's Internet marketing campaign relied heavily on referrals from the Web's largest properties such as AOL and Go.com, eBay also pioneered some highly creative and inexpensive approaches to online marketing. EBay also leveraged its power as an advertiser to negotiate a test period for all advertisements placed. This proved especially powerful in the Furby campaign, because eBay estimated that it could tell within two days whether or not a placement worked. If the placement did not yield traffic, eBay could withdraw quickly.

DISTRIBUTION

The business model for eBay is based purely on distribution. It is a business that neither produces nor sells anything; rather, it connects buyers and sellers. In distribution terms, eBay is classified as a broker, that is, a channel intermediary that brings together buyers and sellers but does not carry inventory, participate in financing, or assume risk. EBay does not have responsibility for the goods offered at auction, for collecting payments, or for shipping. Its role is to create the infrastructure necessary for buyers and sellers to find each other, and to maintain the integrity of the process. EBay enables hundreds of small firms to distribute their products in a costeffective way. Small businesses selling antiques, collectibles, jewelry, dolls, and a variety of other items have access to customers like never before. Beyond maintaining a secure and reliable electronic exchange, eBay provides value through a number of services to facilitate an easy and smooth distribution process between sellers and buyers. Exploration/Expan Commitment sion E-Stamp: EBay developed a relationship with e-Stamp, a US Postal Service product that enables people to buy and print postage online Parcels with eStamps are exempt from the Postal Service's security regulation that requires that all stamped packages weighing more than 16 ounces must be handled by a postal clerk. So instead of traveling to the post office and standing in line to mail items they have sold, sellers can drop packages

weighing less than five pounds into a mailbox or have a mail carrier pick them up. Thus, e-stamp saves sellers time and energy, making it more attractive to participate in eBay. I Ship: EBay has a relationship with iShip that enables buyers to estimate shipping costs. This service helps auction winners avoid unpleasant surprises about an item's total cost. Mail Boxes Etc.: EBay users receive a discount of 10 to 15 percent on items shipped through this national chain. Tradenable: Buyers and sellers can use this escrow service to ensure the security of their transactions. Escrow is when a buyer places money in the custody of a third party they trust (e.g. Tradenable). The money is paid to the seller once a specified set of conditions is met. Bill point: Through a relationship with Wells Fargo Bank, eBay provides secure online credit-card transactions. Unlike purchases paid for with money orders or personal checks, credit-card purchases can be shipped immediately.

BRANDING

Similarities and Differences in Offline Vs Online Promotion and Branding

BRANDING ELEMENT

OFFLINE

ONLINE

1. Clearly define the brand audience

Limited to manage no. of segments to prevent inconsistent messaging

Could include larger no. of segments, with customer driven messages

2. Understand the customer

Requires understanding of environment, desired purchase and usage experience

Requires more through understanding of environment, desired purchase and usage experience in an interactive environment

3. Identify key leverage points in customer experience

Buying process is typically a simplified representation of customer segment behavior with static leverage points

Buying process tends to be more dynamic and flexible.

4. Continually monitor competitors

Requires monitoring of competitors advertisements and activities.

Competitor advertisement and activities can be monitored online.

5. Design compelling and complete brand intent

Brand intent is designed to addresses the needs beliefs of target segments.

Greater opportunity for customization of key messages.

6. Execute with integrity

Strong, positive brands are built up over time

Online interactions bring in added concerns of security

and privacy. Limited famililiarity with online brands make fostering trust more difficult.

7. Be consistent over time

Brands intent guides

Brands intent guides

marketing communications Image reinforced through variety of offline media.

marketing communications With the ability to customize, one customers brand image may be different than another customers brand image.

8. Establish feedback systems

Collect and analyzing customer feedback is more time consuming.

Sophisticated tools exists for tracking online, allow for anonymous, interactive, quick feedback.

9. Be opportunists

Marketing strategy includes plan for sequenced growth and

Customization for multiple segments and opportunity for early

adjustment of brand based on changing customer needs.

recognition of the changing customer requires a corresponding tailoring of brand intent.

10. Invest and be patient

Building brand awareness requires significant investments. Building Brand loyalty takes time especially because early customer receptivity to brands is difficult to asses(and usually involves market research).

Building brand awareness requires significant investments, especially for those competitors who are not in their category online. Brands have the potential to generate loyalty more quickly, especially if customers are targeted effectively.

With respect to the brand name itself, the meanings and associations of Amazon and eBay are quite different. EBay has consistently focused on its core values of benefits (i.e., enabling individuals to easily do business with one another) and the emotional aspects of excitement and a sense of community. Although Amazon executes extremely well in customer service and support, its traditional customers do not necessarily share these interests. Auction Watch.com rates eBay lower than Amazon on services and fees, customer support, and design and functionality, yet eBay dominates Amazon on market share. A powerful explanation for this is the momentum and markets size that eBay was able to capture before competition entered. Capturing a large market share leads to greater competition for products, higher bids and sellers becoming more likely to post their goods with eBay.

The result is greater attractiveness to buyers, which reinforces the competition for products. A second reason that early market share has benefited eBay is that sellers create their reputations (i.e. their brands) within the eBay community. Sellers learn to trust them, and this increases the likelihood of bidding and high prices. EBay has been highly consistent in building its brand. Whereas eBay is only in the auction business, Amazon' heritage has been in books and CDs. Amazon's expanded product line now includes toys, video games, and home improvement products. It has also announced a free e-card service and zShops- where small independent merchants can do business under the Amazon.com. brand name. These strategies have the potential to dilute Amazon's brand equity. On the positive side, Amazon does reinforce its auction service associations via a link to Sotheby's (a $45 million equity investment and website association should help). However, Sotheby's is not a mass market brand that will attract a large volume of new buyers. The eBay brand is much clearer and easier to understand for the majority of consumers. EBay has been innovative, but consistent with its co-branding strategies. for example, in 1999, eBay was involved in a 10 day auction of the first BMW X5 sport utility vehicle in the United States. The winning bidder received the automobile two weeks before the car would be available in US showrooms. It helped the brand images of both BMW and eBay that proceeds of the auctions were given to a charitable organization. It has also established alliances with Saturn for inspection of used vehicles sold on the site, with the NFL to sell to-end memorabilia, and with Warner Brothers to establish integrated online auction sites throughout its various sites.

ARTICLES

Afraid of eMarketing? Author: Robert Fleming, CeM Website: www.emarketingassociation.com In the past, many marketing programs were totally vertical. In other words, they were purely direct mail or purely magazine direct response and so on. Today, virtually all marketing contains a web address. In adding that component to our off-line marketing, we are doing e-marketing. We are telling our prospects to go to our site, just as an 800 number tells them to call us. Unfortunately, many marketing efforts do not coordinate the on-line component and leave the prospect in bewilderment. For example, if you are selling an insurance program via direct mail and include a special free trial offer, yet fail to put that offer on your site, you will degrade your response. People that go to your site will expect to see a "mirror" of your off-line promotion. Not having that will certainly hurt your response rate. Think about it. Imagine someone calling your 800 number only to speak to someone who knows nothing of your marketing promotion. Yet that is done more and more every day as marketers put a web address on everything from business cards to milk cartons. I think there is a reason for this. Most marketers don't have much experience in e-marketing. They are afraid. We all tend to use what we know to solve problems. If you are a

surgeon then surgery must be the answer. If you are a direct mail expert than direct mail surely is the way to increase your business. So, we fall back on what we know, and what we are comfortable with. The site is up to the IT people. They run it. They control it. And when you go to them with a request all you hear is how long it will take to make the change on the site that you want, and how complicated it is. Bull. Lets start demanding that our websites reflect our off-line efforts. Lets learn more about how e-marketing works. Lets get more comfortable with it because it is here to stay. No marketing lives in a vacuum. Virtually all marketing is a combination of media. It is the integration that will help any program truly meets its full potential. Ignoring the Internet, wishing it wasn't so difficult, and hoping that it won't matter, is not going to make it go away. If you are a marketer and have not embraced the greatest marketing medium of all time - you will be left behind. Employers want to see internet expertise in their marketing managers and executives. These skills are not optional. They are mandatory. Marketing will change. New marketers will be combination technical, design and copy people. They will be open to change and understand the technologies that are now emerging. It is time for those who put their heads in the sand to wake up and join the party. It's a great new world out there and it is up to us to make it all happen.

The Top Ten Challenges Facing e-marketers Author: Robert Fleming Website: emarketingassociation.com

1. Dealing with the IT Department - It's been IT vs. Marketing in many circles for too long. It's time we understood that we need to partner with our IT friends to implement our marketing programs. It's simple, we need them and they need us. 2. Continuing Education - Marketers of the 21st century, need to be constantly learning. The lessons of the dot bust era taught us that success in new channels requires knowledge, sound business practices and common sense. Those marketers that don't keep up will be left behind. Knowledge in marketing comes with an expiration date, and continuing professional

development is a necessity. Take a class, get a certification, read a book, whatever works for you, but keep learning. 3. Bad Marketing - Anyone can call themselves a marketer, web designer, SEO expert, consultant and so on. There is a lot of bad marketing out there as a result. Poorly created and executed marketing programs degrade our profession, and create mistrust between clients and marketers. By doing marketing right, you help to tip the scale in favor of our profession. 4. Lack of Trust - Spam, identity theft, intrusive advertising and technological glitches have left many miss-trusting of marketing in general, and especially eMarketing. You are either part of the problem or part of the solution. 5. Know-It-Alls - Nobody fully understands all aspects of eMarketing. There is simply too much to know, and whatever you do know is changing at supersonic speed. If you are going to be an expert, you will have to specialize in one aspect of e-marketing. 6. Ethical Practices - The Internet has spawned a unprecedented mass of un-ethical businesses. There have always been scam artists and bottom feeders, but the Internet seems to have brought them out in epic numbers. Make sure your own practices are squeaky clean and try to educate your customers about some of the pitfalls of ecommerce. 7. Corporate Culture - In many companies no department "owns" the website, and every department "owns" the website. Websites should belong to marketing, not finance, operations, IT or legal. It is difficult to produce good marketing by committee, especially when the committee doesn't have a clue. Collaboration is important, and your associates should provide input, but marketing should make the final decisions. 8. International Commerce - The Internet has made products and services available around the world as close to customers as their living room (or wherever they have their computer). This new world channel allows for unprecedented revenue flows in and out of foreign countries, and that impact could eventually have a dramatic effect on our domestic economy. We have a lot in common with people of other cultures and countries, but there are differences. Understanding is the key to good international commerce as well as relations. 9. Intellectual Property - It has never been easier to steal someone else's hard work. Everything from music, to software and images are lifted from the Internet every day. This is a bad thing.

10. Customer Expectations - Never before have customers expected so much. Managing your customer expectations is vital to marketers, because if you don't your competitors will. Without customers you will not have a business, take the time to get to know them, treat them with care and respect, the same way you want to be treated as a customer. 11. Love - The dictionary defines love as a benevolent concern for the good of another. Relationships with your associates, employees, customers and even competitors can dramatically affect your success and happiness. At the end of the day, it is still people, not technology that makes our profession and our lives worthwhile.

The Four Deadly Sins of e Marketers Author: Robert Fleming, CeM Website: www.emarketingassociation.com First lets forget about phones, who needs them? They are expensive and we would have to have machines or (God forbid) people to answer them. In fact if we make it impossible for our customers to actually contact us we won't have to deal with them at all. Imagine no phones, no faxes, no emails, no mail, we will save a bundle. Next, lets make people who want to buy our product or service watch a five minute animated flash movie. If we have a store we can have guards up front (right near the entrance) and when people walk in we will stop them. Then we will force them to watch a movie before they are "allowed" to come in and buy anything. In fact to slow things down even more lets eliminate the parking lot so it takes our customers even longer to get to us. Oh yes, and here is a great idea, as soon as you walk in we will stop you and ask you at least a dozen questions about yourself, your income, and your family. Those that don't answer the questions will not be allowed to shop with us, period. And if they do have the nerve to shop with us after answering those questions we will ask them even more questions when they check out. And finally, if we have a technical or service business lets make it very difficult for our customers to understand what we do, after all we just want all that venture capital money for ourselves anyway, and who needs customers. Sounds absurd? Not really it's is the way many online businesses conduct themselves. Here are the four deadly sins of eMarketers:

1. Lack of Contact Information- Imagine how ridiculous it is not to have an email contact on your site, or better yet a phone number and a email. Or a really novel approach, a address, phone number, fax number and email. I have seen hundreds of sites without contact information, or contact information so buried it would take a paleontologist to unearth it. Or contact information that requires that you fill our a 50 question form before you are allowed to present your question, comment or complaint. Your customers deserve better. The internet deserves better. If you don't want your customers to contact you it is my bet they will be contacting someone else. 2. Flash, Animations, Music and other bandwidth sucking websites Ok, I know it is neat and cool all the flash graphics and stuff. But over 80% of internet users do not have broadband, and are working on 56k modems. Even less have flash installed (some don't even know what flash is). And, well, all that stuff slows them down, and does it really help sales? I don' think so. If you must have movies or flash on your website at least make it optional for the user. In other words make it easy to turn off. And the music, well I for one don't really want "Born to be Wild" blasting on my office computer when I look for a birthday gift for my son. Thank you. 3. Demographic Questions - This is one of the worst sins. I was shopping on line at a very popular baked goods gift site the other day. After making my selections, filling out my credit card information, typing in out my delivery information and a gift card, I proceeded to check out. When I pressed purchase, I got this screen that kicked me back to the order area (where all the information that I had spent the last 20 minutes inputting was gone) and told me that I forgot to tell them where I had heard of them, a required question. Needless to say, they won't be getting that information or my business any more. Make your survey questions optional; make your check out as easy as possible. I can't imagine going to my local bakery just to have them tell me that before I can buy anything I HAVE to answer survey questions. 4. Inability to describe your business - This is a good one. I can't tell you how many sites I have been to that I really don't understand what it is they do or what it is they are selling. This is especially true in technical and internet service companies. They go on and on about how important they are to me, how the will transform my business, make me more effective, but never tell me exactly how. If you can't describe your business in a few sentences - I for one won't be sticking around to find out what you do. All in all, most internet businesses provide a simple, convenient and painless e-commerce experience for customers. But the ones that don't hurt the ones that do. They make the internet more frustrating and more difficult and turn

people off. EMarketing is NEW lets not damage the greatest marketing medium of all time by pretending that in cyber space, customers are not people. Lets treat them as special invited guests, lets listen to them and make their experience at our site a positive one. Lets not be guilty of the four sins. Oh yes, and join the eMarketing Association (just had to put that in, after all I work here).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Internet Marketing , Tata McGraw Edition by Rafi A. Mohammed, Robert J.Fisher, Bernad J. Fisher, Alieen M. Cahill. www.Google.com www.Themanager.org www.bob-baker.com www.wikipedia.com www. marketingteacher.com www.webmarketingteam.com www. wiki.media-culture.org.au www.goecart.com www.marketingtitan.com www.iternia.com www.emarketingassociation.com