Marketing Through The Internet

I watched the clip of the Bon Iver band on the David Letterman show and I have to say I really like their music. Here is the YouTube clip to watch:

 "The Internet played a significant role in feeding people the music.... It's like wildfire [how it] spreads," Mr. Vernon

It's amazing how the fame and recognition of Bon Iver started on the internet. Marketing on the internet in today's day and age really seems like the way to go however. With so many people casually searching the web and stumbling upon new things, they are exposed to a variety of new talents, marketing strategies, advertisements, etc. On the Ellen Degeneres show she usually has people on each week that she found on YouTube who have a talent. It seems like a lot of people can get recognition via the web. Another great aspect to marketing yourself or your business on the web is that it is relatively inexpensive to do. You do not need a huge budget if you are going to post YouTube videos of yourself or blog about yourself or be a part of a social network. In fact, most of it can be done for free. Another great aspect about marketing online is that people will share their opinions of what it is you are marketing whether that is commenting on something you have posted, or blogging about it. People who are on the web actually spread what is is that you are marketing for you.

"The Internet has been like the French Revolution for the music business," says Panos Panay, founder and CEO of Sonicbids

It makes me wonder if the internet can be this useful and powerful for musicians, can it be equally as useful for businesses? Can Mike Vitone use this to helpp get recognition of Campus Mom?

In Response To Kristen

J.C. Penny going green?

This reminds me of our discussion in class about social responsibility. J.C. Penney may be trying to go ‘green’ out of a social responsibility to be good to the environment, or they may being going ‘green’ in order to attract more customers. Either way I feel like it is a good thing to be a socially responsible company. I feel that would absolutely attract a larger customer base. If J.C. Penney were to get rid of a $454 million sales opportunity they are expecting that they will make up in sales with this ‘green’ appearance. I could not see them dropping a multimillion dollar opportunity without projecting to make more than what they are dropping. I wonder if other companies have tried this technique and been profitable?

Changing Jobs, Good Or Bad?

Executives try out unfamiliar roles article in the Wall Street Journal discusses how people are being swapped into roles in businesses that they are not as familiar with. The article mainly discusses higher levels of management or chief officers who are being switched out of their job that they are comfortable with and have expertise in. The idea behind this is to introduce new ideas and a different pace into certain departments. There were examples of big and well to do companies that have tried this idea of swapping people into different jobs and departments. Walt Disney in 2010 swapped their CFO and their Head of Parks and Resorts. Tom Staggs CFO, commented on the idea of being switched by saying:

"will bring you more ideas for change when you're the new guy," Mr. Staggs says. And "I see people in my old organization under Jay that are showing increased energy."

This idea of swapping positions was successful in Walt Disney; however it was not as successful with the GM Company. Mr. Preuss was promoted to an operational role in GM. He barely had one year working with the company as the head PR man and was moved to an operational role. This was done because the chief executive wanted to “challenge some of the conventional thinking". However GM’s latest CEO was not satisfied with his work in the new position.

I think that experience level, personality, and adaptability all have an impact on whether or not a person will be successful in a role that they do not have expertise in, or background in. Could a manager be good at a job that they are thrown into without any expertise? What does it take for a person to adapt and be good at a new job or to new tasks?

No One at The Theatre? How will Movie Companies React?

"The number of movie tickets sold in North American fell 7% in 2010 to 1.3 billion from more than 1.4 billion in 2009" -Motion Picture Association of America.

"Even more worrisome is the precipitous decline in DVD sales. At $7.8 billion, last year's level was 43% below the 2006 peak of $13.7 billion" -IHS Screen Digest data

People just aren't as willing to go to the movies or to go to the video store to rent a movie. There are so many more convenient and less expensive ways to view different kinds of media today. NetFilx is a widely used and convenient way to watch movies by getting them sent to you in the mail. Another way is Pay Per View which shares the convenience of NetFlix. Movie prices have raised in order to keep up with the lack of demand, this is ultimately drawing people away from going to the movies. So how are movie companies overcoming this problem? They are trying out a variety of strategies. One strategy includes the use of sequels. Because there was a first movie to the sequel there will not have to be near as much promoting the movie and ultimately would be cheaper. Some sequels that were and are expected to be successful are Toy Story 3, Pirates of the Caribbean, Scream, Mission Impossible, and Transformers. Another way that these companies are overcoming the lack of sales is to incorporate items to the movies that could be sold such as toys for Toy Story 3. Another way is to incorporate the use of franchises in order to overcome lack of sales. Another idea is to appeal their media overseas. I personally have noticed that I am not going to movies or renting them anymore, I wonder how companies can appeal to people who have found cheaper and more convenient ways of watching media?

In Response to Britney Perkins

If Wal*Mart is selling milk for $3.00 per gallon and your local farm is selling milk for $5.00 per gallon, which milk do you purchase?

When everything else is equal I completely agree I would buy the $3 dollar milk from Wal-Mart just like Britney. I also agree that companies should be socially responsible and I would like to say I would support a more socially responsible company over an unethical one.Supporting local farmers who are being ethical is a more optimistic choice rather than buying from Wal-Mart who does not have the same ethical standards in animal treatment.

Why do you think Wal*Mart has been so successful when they have been criticized about so many socially irresponsible aspects of their company (paying women lower wages, sweatshops over seas, child labor over seas, poor animal conditions, etc)?

To answer Britney's last question I can see how people would still buy the cheaper milk. Even if people want to support local farmers and an ethical company, some people just cannot afford to. An extra $2 for milk and an extra $2 for fruit and an extra $2 dollars for vegetables adds up! In today's economy where the unemployment rate is still high Wal-Mart strives to serve people who cannot afford other products.

If You Can't Beat Them, Join Them.

WSJ Video
I have included this WSJ video that gives insight to the affect of Facebook on companies such as Yahoo. 

Facebook has become a huge social networking scene that had been catching not only the attention of the general public, but also of different corporate companies. Yahoo for example is trying to incorporate Facebook tools onto their website. They have seen a 10% decline with their users and are being affected by the various Facebook capabilities. They have now incorporated a Facebook 'like' and 'share' button onto their Yahoo site in order to have people share their Yahoo sites via Facebook.
Yahoo considers their relationship with Facebook as a 'Frenemy', which is part friend, part enemy.

"The friend part is that Yahoo has stopped trying to get people not to go to Facebook and decided it was better off enabling that, largely because it didn't have a real choice" -WSJ

The CEO of Yahoo called Facebook its top competitor. They do not feel that they can 'beat' Facebook, so they are using Facebook as a way to get more promotion. Do you think that this is a good idea? Will this encourage more Yahoo users?

In Response to Nicole Perry

There may not be any rules in business but morally there may be.  Do you think this stealing strategy is right in your mind?

What Nicole is talking about here is Mike Vitone's plan to take business away from his competitor E&R. The question at had is if it is moral to plan ahead of time to steal business away from a competitor. I agree that it seems a bit harsh to want to 'steal' business from others. However if Mike wants to become profitable or make Campus Mom become more well known, that may be what he has to do. If he offers lower prices than his competitors he will be likely to steal away some of their business. Like he said in his presentation though, that may not be as easy as it sounds. If he remains at Keene State or at public colleges he knows that he will not have a profitable business in the long run, so I believe his only chance is to have him 'steal' away the private school business. I wonder if there are other ways to get business without having to steal it away? Maybe working in an area that doesn't have this service? Or with different businesses?