Social media has become a powerful weapon of communication and interaction between the companies and customers. Although several people can see these tools as a way of chatting or showing the exhibitionism of the internet users, the facts have demonstrated that it is much more than that. Twitter, Facebook, the blogs, even Youtube can be instruments with a great potential for companies to gain customers’ insights or create experiences.
On the one hand, there are clients that can be interested in what a company communicates in a specific moment, without waiting for a press new or an advertising message, but like a direct message, brief and immediate. And, on the other hand, they can be interested also in what other clients say about this company, also briefly and immediately.
I am going to talk about how hotels use the Social Media to create experiences. Most people tend to think that this is just a new way to do marketing or to sell more rooms. However, in my opinion the Social Media allows hotels intervene or, what is more, influence in the purchase process that before were totally inaccessible for a hotel (only accessible for big companies with great budgets who could afford great advertising investments).
The purchase process of a client (both traditional and online) starts when the customers decides to travel and finish with the return home, so the attitude of the hotel in each phase will be different if they want to influence in the purchase decision.
First off, the decision of organizing a trip is the moment when a client receives some recommendation or simply as a response to the need or the interest in travelling. So here it is especially important the social information as well as the one generated by hotels. At this moment, it is not only important customers’ opinions in online agencies but also the comments in videos, photographies, forums…
Secondly, the planning. When a client is planning the travel he will visit travelling guides, other websites and consult with other clients about the possibilities of the destination, the activities and recommended services. And this is the point when a hotel needs to approach the customer, show their products and make an adequate proposal.
About the price, other users’ opinions, especially in online agencies, become very important because the client will contrast the online reputation with the experience of other users’ with the price. Besides, the customer will make his own expectations which will influence in his decision as well.
When purchasing, hotels must be interested in being fairly accessible and visible for clients that are already willing to buy. From my point of view it is a good strategy the sponsored links (The advertisements which appear when opening the Facebook or the messenger, for example).
And the last phase and probably the most important is the return. When a customer finishes his travel he will probably want to share his experience with others, generating social content, evaluate the hotel’s service and definitely contribute to the Social Media to inspire or influence in others and, this way, the cycle of this newer tend starts again. Because the next customers’ decisions will depend on their evaluations, opinions and comments in agencies websites, blogs, forums, etc. about the hotel’s services.
As for the Google search tools you provided us, I found really interesting the one of the blogs. In other marketing class, we are working on a project to organize a marketing campaign of a newer Texan vodka just emerged in the market. It is named SAVVY Vodka and I needed to find the current perceptions of the customers about this brand. It was something challenging for us, as it is still quite unknown between the customers. In our firsts researches we only had the website opinions and some comments in the company’s Facebook, but nothing more. I did not know about this site where you could find all the blogs which talked about a particular issue, but surprisingly I found several blogs talking about SAVVY vodka! So it has been really useful for my project, now we can build the general perceptions (much more accurate) of customers towards SAVVY vodka.
To conclude, I would like to say that the Social Media is all around us, it is an advantageous tool for everyone to feel free to use it, not only as an entertainment but also as an important channel of communication, in terms of sharing experiences, perspectives or learning about other people.
Finally, the knowledge and the intention of orienting the actions towards the client is the key for determining the marketing success.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Blog 4 - The gathering and privacy of customers' information
Gathering information from the customers is increasingly becoming one of the main tools companies are using as an approach to customers’ real needs and insights. Having a consistent data gathering system could be the competitive advantage that differentiates a company from its competitors and, at the same time, give the organization the opportunity of satisfying the individual shoppers’ needs and insights, as well as gaining new customers.
According to the article “What Wal-Mart knows about customers’ habits” ‘Wal-Mart amasses more data about the products it sells and its shoppers’ buying habits than anyone else’. The way they obtain all this data about products and customers’ buying habits is through checkout scanners. Their managers also use wireless hand-held units to collect more data. I guess this device is directly connected to the main system to which they can add what a customer asks in a certain moment to an employee (e.g. information about a specific product).
However, the way I see it, Wal-Mart is more focused on the products sold in the stores than on the preferences each customer has. It is a reality that they collect an enormous amount of data of the preferences the customers have of their products but, in general, without specializing in their clients individually. This particular theory has, from my point of view, some advantages as well as disadvantages. As it is mentioned in the article, with this method they have the opportunity of meeting one of Wal-Mart’s goals which is avoiding having too much inventory or not enough. At the same time they can let the suppliers know whether their products are being sold or not. On the other hand, they lose the opportunity of approaching the customers’ interests in an individually manner and address them with a personalized offer. The proper way to obtain this would be implementing a loyalty program through a loyalty card. However, according to Wal-Mart this would imply an increase in their costs so they are not really interested in this method. But my point is… having in mind that Wal-Mart is currently the company which has collected most data from their sold products and their customers’ habits, why don´t extend this leadership position? I mean…Why couldn´t the company try to collect the maximum information about customers individually and be the leaders also in this field? From my point of view, having this loyalty card the quality of the approach to the customers and the personalized offer will clearly improve.
Another important issue to discuss is to what extent the companies keep and use data they obtain from the customers for their own benefit, how they use it or, what is more, to what extent we are aware of the personal information they have and use.
Many companies consider that there is no reason for worrying because their privacy policies protect consumers’ names and other type of personal information. Besides, they think the data gathering is also beneficial for consumers pointing out that it is a way to improve their knowledge about customers’ real needs.
On the other hand, we have to take into account that a new technology revolution is emerging and is capable to gather massive amounts of data, something that traditional communication channels are not able to do.
Curiously, consumers have not reacted against this phenomenon but probably it is due to the fact that the majority is not conscious of what the companies are doing with our private information. The reason of this is because the majority of companies do not let people know what, when and for what they are gathering our information.
The problem becomes aggravate if we consider that lately some internet giants (such as Google, Yahoo…) are acting as intermediaries with several companies. They capture a lot of information about ourselves and provide it to organizations so we cannot even imagine who is now using our personal data to make their market study, for example.
It is obvious that customers need more protection from the authorities or at least more information from the companies about how they are using our personal data. This is not about a perception or a point of view; it is just about letting customers choose what they want to share with the companies in which they are investing their money. As I see it, this is a primary right everyone deserves: to be able to keep our personal information in private.
According to the article “What Wal-Mart knows about customers’ habits” ‘Wal-Mart amasses more data about the products it sells and its shoppers’ buying habits than anyone else’. The way they obtain all this data about products and customers’ buying habits is through checkout scanners. Their managers also use wireless hand-held units to collect more data. I guess this device is directly connected to the main system to which they can add what a customer asks in a certain moment to an employee (e.g. information about a specific product).
However, the way I see it, Wal-Mart is more focused on the products sold in the stores than on the preferences each customer has. It is a reality that they collect an enormous amount of data of the preferences the customers have of their products but, in general, without specializing in their clients individually. This particular theory has, from my point of view, some advantages as well as disadvantages. As it is mentioned in the article, with this method they have the opportunity of meeting one of Wal-Mart’s goals which is avoiding having too much inventory or not enough. At the same time they can let the suppliers know whether their products are being sold or not. On the other hand, they lose the opportunity of approaching the customers’ interests in an individually manner and address them with a personalized offer. The proper way to obtain this would be implementing a loyalty program through a loyalty card. However, according to Wal-Mart this would imply an increase in their costs so they are not really interested in this method. But my point is… having in mind that Wal-Mart is currently the company which has collected most data from their sold products and their customers’ habits, why don´t extend this leadership position? I mean…Why couldn´t the company try to collect the maximum information about customers individually and be the leaders also in this field? From my point of view, having this loyalty card the quality of the approach to the customers and the personalized offer will clearly improve.
Another important issue to discuss is to what extent the companies keep and use data they obtain from the customers for their own benefit, how they use it or, what is more, to what extent we are aware of the personal information they have and use.
Many companies consider that there is no reason for worrying because their privacy policies protect consumers’ names and other type of personal information. Besides, they think the data gathering is also beneficial for consumers pointing out that it is a way to improve their knowledge about customers’ real needs.
On the other hand, we have to take into account that a new technology revolution is emerging and is capable to gather massive amounts of data, something that traditional communication channels are not able to do.
Curiously, consumers have not reacted against this phenomenon but probably it is due to the fact that the majority is not conscious of what the companies are doing with our private information. The reason of this is because the majority of companies do not let people know what, when and for what they are gathering our information.
The problem becomes aggravate if we consider that lately some internet giants (such as Google, Yahoo…) are acting as intermediaries with several companies. They capture a lot of information about ourselves and provide it to organizations so we cannot even imagine who is now using our personal data to make their market study, for example.
It is obvious that customers need more protection from the authorities or at least more information from the companies about how they are using our personal data. This is not about a perception or a point of view; it is just about letting customers choose what they want to share with the companies in which they are investing their money. As I see it, this is a primary right everyone deserves: to be able to keep our personal information in private.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Creativity and innovation - blog 3
The product I have chosen as innovative and creative is the 3G TOUCH WATCH PHONE OF LG. This exclusive piece of new technology offers the customer the opportunity of see satisfied two of our most common needs in one: wear the mobile phone in our watch!
LG was pioneer in launching not only a watch that includes 3G connectivity, MP3 reproduction, video-calling, voice recognition… but also its sophisticated design with a touchable screen. LG Mobile Communications CEO sold it as “It’s undeniable the entertainment of this device that seems to be extracted of a spies or a science-fiction movie”
Now let’s talk about the CREATIVITY. The creativity is defined as the capacity of finding new methods of making tasks in new or different ways with the objective of satisfying a certain purpose. And I would call this purpose customer insights or needs. However, I think that if you want a product or a service to be creative it is not enough to find a different way of satisfying an existing need, but this new item or service has to meet some characteristics that make you and your product actually creative.
First of all, you have to be able to find the underlying need, which none else has taken into account or maybe has not found it as interesting as to look for a new way to satisfy it. In my example, LG was the first one that stopped and thought that customers were demanding a new concept of their mobile phones, so that they could wear it as another accessory and, at the same time, developing the concept of the current watches, so that they could offer the customers the same functions of a mobile phone.
Secondly, and with the rapid changes we are experiencing in the field of creativity nowadays, you need to give an ingenious respond so that it can make a great impact in customers’ mind and its consequent reaction to make them be interested in your product. For all of us, both the watches and the mobile phones are part of our daily lives, but none else before had stopped to think of joining them in the same device. However, when this new idea came up it was a surprise to everyone. In my opinion, this capacity of inventing a new product from combining two simple and existing ones is what makes the product different and unique! This is what I would call ORIGINALITY.
Another important characteristic of the product is that it has to be elaborated. I am referring to the level of detail, development and complexity of the new product. In the case of the watch-phone, one characteristic that makes it be elaborated is the high-quality features it offers in such a small watch and, overall, the design of the touchable screen that, in my opinion, gives it a sophisticated style.
The last characteristic I would remark is the internal coherence, if the product is actually useful and makes sense, which actually the watch-phone does, as long as you usually wear a watch and use the mobile phone, of what I am pretty sure that everyone who read this blog agrees.
To finish with the reflection of the creativity, I will talk about the INNOVATION. I left this for the end because from my personal point of view, creativity involves innovation. Something innovative offers the customer a new alternative to solve a need or a problem, but also raises the uncertainty of if it will be better than the existing solution. Here is when the customer has to decide if the new product offers him an advantage, efficiently or economically talking, comparing with the existing one. Referring to the LG 3G watch- mobile, customers have to decide if it is worthy paying a higher price for the comfort of wearing both watch and mobile in one, for the features it offers, or for the sophisticated design. Here is where the role of each customer’s insights plays.
Very related to my personal creative and innovative device is the article of “The new, faster face of innovation”. As we can observe, all the innovation we are experiencing nowadays is around the development of the new technologies. What the article calls ‘the innovation of rapid innovation’. Because all this new items that are coming up, from the MP3 to the later MP4, then the iPods, the iPhones, the watch-phones… as well as the new ways of communication as Facebook or even Skype are making our lives cheaper, faster and more comfortable. We have to bear in mind that in the future the change and development of new technologies will be even faster, so the opportunities to find something new to invent will be more complicated, or not! If you find the way to look behind the customers and search for their insights so that you can come up with something innovative and creative to satisfy their needs!
Sunday, September 27, 2009
The effect of expectations - blog 2
The primary lesson of the chapter 9 from Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely is that the expectations, stereotypes and beliefs we can have, and in fact, do have, affect every aspect of our lives. What the article is trying to show us is that every decision we take in our daily life is utterly influenced by something irrational that makes us behaving in that way and not in other one. This “something irrational” is beliefs that our brain has created throughout our life affected by our environment, country, society, politics, or even family or friends. And the outcome of all of this is what finally builds ourselves and defines our attitudes.
Referring to what a marketer should do if he wanted to gain valuable insights or design valuable experiences for customers I would like to raise something remarked in the text: Is it true that “When we believe beforehand that something will be good it generally will be good”? Or, rather, if this is true could a marketer change this? From my point of view, the preconceived idea a customer can have of a company, a product or even a brand is really difficult to change but it also depends on the situation of the company or the product in the marketplace. It is obvious that the image that a popular brand has in the marketplace (as the example of the article with Coke) is a clear advantage for the future products that this company will want to launch. However, the marketers have to think themselves which the position they want to reach is and which perceptions of their products they want the customers to receive. From this point, work on a research and find out the barriers, in terms of expectations or beforehand beliefs, could damage the message, idea or image they want to give to the customers. And obviously, try to overcome them, but here is the key, how to get to know these expectations is not an easy deal.
The experiment that Ariely uses to demonstrate how influential our held impressions are in all the decisions we take was based in giving students the opportunity of taste two different types of beer. One of them was a popular brand (Budweiser) and the other one an unknown brew they made, with two drops of balsamic vinegar for each ounce of beer. The result of the experiment was that without foreknowledge about vinegar, most of them chose the unknown beer, while when they knew about the vinegar in advance, they chose the Budweiser. So here is a demonstration of how far can our expectations lead us to change our “real” tastes or preferences.
About my experience, it occurred here in Austin with a movie of Quentin Tarantino. I had never watched Pulp Fiction because I did not like other films Tarantino has directed, so despite being so popular I was unwilling to watch it. However, some weeks ago, my roommates were watching the TV and I decided to join them, without knowing it was the movie I hated! They lied to me just because they knew I would complain about it. Surprisingly, I really liked it. But what would have happened if I had been conscious of the film I was watching? Probably, I would not have liked it as much as I did, or blindly wouldn’t have thought that I like it. This fact reaffirms the theory defended in the article; some expectations created by our own brains can really change our enjoyment.
Referring to what a marketer should do if he wanted to gain valuable insights or design valuable experiences for customers I would like to raise something remarked in the text: Is it true that “When we believe beforehand that something will be good it generally will be good”? Or, rather, if this is true could a marketer change this? From my point of view, the preconceived idea a customer can have of a company, a product or even a brand is really difficult to change but it also depends on the situation of the company or the product in the marketplace. It is obvious that the image that a popular brand has in the marketplace (as the example of the article with Coke) is a clear advantage for the future products that this company will want to launch. However, the marketers have to think themselves which the position they want to reach is and which perceptions of their products they want the customers to receive. From this point, work on a research and find out the barriers, in terms of expectations or beforehand beliefs, could damage the message, idea or image they want to give to the customers. And obviously, try to overcome them, but here is the key, how to get to know these expectations is not an easy deal.
The experiment that Ariely uses to demonstrate how influential our held impressions are in all the decisions we take was based in giving students the opportunity of taste two different types of beer. One of them was a popular brand (Budweiser) and the other one an unknown brew they made, with two drops of balsamic vinegar for each ounce of beer. The result of the experiment was that without foreknowledge about vinegar, most of them chose the unknown beer, while when they knew about the vinegar in advance, they chose the Budweiser. So here is a demonstration of how far can our expectations lead us to change our “real” tastes or preferences.
About my experience, it occurred here in Austin with a movie of Quentin Tarantino. I had never watched Pulp Fiction because I did not like other films Tarantino has directed, so despite being so popular I was unwilling to watch it. However, some weeks ago, my roommates were watching the TV and I decided to join them, without knowing it was the movie I hated! They lied to me just because they knew I would complain about it. Surprisingly, I really liked it. But what would have happened if I had been conscious of the film I was watching? Probably, I would not have liked it as much as I did, or blindly wouldn’t have thought that I like it. This fact reaffirms the theory defended in the article; some expectations created by our own brains can really change our enjoyment.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
10 characteristics that define myself as a customer
As we have been talking in class these last weeks, the market place is demanding not only for innovative products, but also for the experience it can offer to a customer. I am talking about the individualization of the sale. This is the reason why it is essential to get to know the insights of the person who marketers address to, so they can order to build an accurate persona of the customer and give the best service.
Here are some characteristics of my persona that I think a marketer should know about me:
I am Iratxe Garcia, a 22-year-old girl. I love fashion and the little amount of money I earn, I spend it on clothes or during leisure time. I love listening to music and dancing, in fact I used to dance a lot in Spain before coming here.
10 specific characteristics about myself when purchasing a product:
1. As I said before, I like to be up to date with everything related with fashion. I love going shopping with my friends, so in this field I appreciate the design of the product more than the quality. Very often, it is the design of a product that catches my eye and I cannot avoid buying it!
2. This point has to be with the first characteristic. I am very a very impulsive and impatient person. I know that if I want something, although I cannot afford it, I will probably end up buying it!
3. On the other hand, despite spending a lot of money on buying clothes, accessories, make up, I am not very loyal to a particular brand, and I do not usually buy very expensive brands because I do not have enough money to afford it!
4. I like products that have a guarantee. I think this always gives credibility to the products, or at least to the company who sells the product.
5. I really appreciate going to a shop and find a nice salesman/woman who helps you choose your purchases. I think it also benefits the salesman/woman, because it is probable that you will go back there or even recommend this place to someone else. As we said it is important to focus on personalization.
6. I prefer to try the product before buying it.
7. Sometimes, I don’t mind paying a great amount of money for something that I think is worth its price, this is why in these cases I am very discerned with the quality.
8. I am a bit lazy, so I prefer the shops that can deliver your products to your home.
9. About advertising and promotion, I hate when marketers overwhelm you with such amount of information and leaflets of their products and services!
10. I like to read fashion magazines and take note of what famous models wears in order to create my own style. I do not like to copy because I think that each one of us have our own personality, and therefore have our own style.
Here are some characteristics of my persona that I think a marketer should know about me:
I am Iratxe Garcia, a 22-year-old girl. I love fashion and the little amount of money I earn, I spend it on clothes or during leisure time. I love listening to music and dancing, in fact I used to dance a lot in Spain before coming here.
10 specific characteristics about myself when purchasing a product:
1. As I said before, I like to be up to date with everything related with fashion. I love going shopping with my friends, so in this field I appreciate the design of the product more than the quality. Very often, it is the design of a product that catches my eye and I cannot avoid buying it!
2. This point has to be with the first characteristic. I am very a very impulsive and impatient person. I know that if I want something, although I cannot afford it, I will probably end up buying it!
3. On the other hand, despite spending a lot of money on buying clothes, accessories, make up, I am not very loyal to a particular brand, and I do not usually buy very expensive brands because I do not have enough money to afford it!
4. I like products that have a guarantee. I think this always gives credibility to the products, or at least to the company who sells the product.
5. I really appreciate going to a shop and find a nice salesman/woman who helps you choose your purchases. I think it also benefits the salesman/woman, because it is probable that you will go back there or even recommend this place to someone else. As we said it is important to focus on personalization.
6. I prefer to try the product before buying it.
7. Sometimes, I don’t mind paying a great amount of money for something that I think is worth its price, this is why in these cases I am very discerned with the quality.
8. I am a bit lazy, so I prefer the shops that can deliver your products to your home.
9. About advertising and promotion, I hate when marketers overwhelm you with such amount of information and leaflets of their products and services!
10. I like to read fashion magazines and take note of what famous models wears in order to create my own style. I do not like to copy because I think that each one of us have our own personality, and therefore have our own style.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
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