Reflection on learning- All marketers are liars Youtube video

This weeks topic was basically talking about marketing through a different perspective. This weeks topic was based on a Youtube video of Seth Godin. Seth Godin discussed four major points which were:

• How billion dollar decisions have nothing to do with technology with the example of Yahoo not being as successul with auctions compared to eBay and how Google is highly successful.
• How products consumers buy are generally for a particular story. (Telling of a story)
• Funnel marketing
• Flipping the funnel which is ideally like word of mouth.
• The term remarkable which is basically people do not want to talk about something unless they have a remark about it.
• Lastly Seth discussed fashion/permission complex.

This week discussed many topics although I found watching a Youtube video not the best way to learn since it took too long and I lost interest.

Week 6- All marketers are liars youtube questions

Make sure you take notes as you watch the video and answer the following questions:

1) When talking about Yahoo auctions, what did Seth Godin mean by 'billion dollar decisions do not have anything to do with technology'?

When Seth Godin talked about “billion dollar decisions do not have anything to do with technology” he meant that just because a company puts a lot of money into an idea does not mean it will work. When Yahoo created Yahoo auctions this was not successful. The functions of Yahoo auctions were not successful compared to eBay which was simpler and appealed to consumers. When discussing the 'billion dollar decisions do not have anything to do with technology' this ideally is shown through Godin’s example of Google. Google used a simple format and had adverts on the side bar which was not in the way of the user who were looking up information. This ideally made Google successful because the adverts were there for users to see but not in the user’s way. Google become successful through word of mouth which is a good promotional tool because it is free for the company and gives good recognition. Google made revenue through adverts in the side bar which allowed users to seek the information if need be (Godin, 2006).


2) What has story telling got to do with cat food?

When Godin discusses the story telling and cat food this is just an example of how people buy products just for the story that goes with it. Godin uses cat food as an example of that the cat does not really care about the brand, this is just the story that goes with that product which the owner buys for the cat. Godin uses the example of bottled water and Chanel no5 stating that when consumers buy these products it is not because they need this, it is the story which is associated with the product. Ideally stating the worth of the product reflects back on the user. Godin states that consumers are “buying wellbeing” (Godin, 2006). Consumers buy products for the story telling (Godin, 2006).


3) Explain the concept of funnel marketing, and how would 'flipping the funnel' help the marketing of a product?

The concept of funnel marketing seems to be when marketers market to people which means “put them in the funnel” some people fall out but some come out the bottom. This means that the advert or what the business is selling some consumers have bought the product or the message has reached the consumer “half way down the funnel”. My interpretation of this is that marketers send out the adverts or the message which goes into this fictional funnel and the consumers more prone to listening to the message will be caught and buy the product or are being reached. Godin later talked about the flipping the funnel would help marketing a product because it would act like a speaker type thing. Ideally word of mouth is a very influential way of marketing because consumers listen to people who have experienced the product or service. By having the funnel flipped this would help in marketing products because word of mouth is a very strong marketing tool(Godin, 2006).


4) What does the term 'remarkable' mean in the context of purple cows?

When Godin talked about the term remarkable in the context of purple cows this ideally just means that remarkable is worth making a remark about. Godin uses the example of his children being bored and seeing cows but if the cows were purple the kids would want to go and touch the cows. This is because it is worth talking about. It is worth making a remark and to tell people. This is a good example of how something different causes people to talk about something. Just like when the new iphones came out consumers made remarks because it was worth talking about since it was new. Just like the example of the cows being regular the children would not say anything but would just go along and do their regular thing. If the cows were different or unusual then the children would say something and make sure they told someone (Godin, 2006).
As eMarketers we all want 'happy surfers'. Godin talks about the fashion/permission complex. He lists four parts to the fashion/complex.They are

1) Make it (the message) worth listening to
2) Tell it to the people who want to hear
3) Tell their friends
4) Get permission to tell about your next fashion.

Can you think of an example from your experience that demonstrates the fashion/permission complex?

Sadly enough the only example which comes to mind was when I was looking for a job I seen an advertisement for Seek.com which is a website which is advertising for jobs. So when I started uni I realised that I needed to work so I seen the advert on the television and looked up jobs in the area which I was interested in. I then used one of the links to the email for a job in the city. Which when looking for jobs I tend to tell people to look on the internet before anything to see what is out there. Ideally when I graduate from university I plan to have looked up jobs from these type of websites and receive a job in the marketing field. I am hoping this is an example which represents the fashion/permission complex.

All the following information was sourced from the youtube video made by Seth Godin. 'All Marketers Are Liars’ Youtube video.

Reflection of learning- Focus on Place (distribution) and Promotion

This week’s topic covered place, promotion and the marketing mix, We learnt that distribution is vital for a company and discusses various ways in which distribution can take place such as:
· Direct from the website
· Neutral marketplace
· Direct to the consumer
· Presence

We also learnt about the importance of promotion because without it products and services would be harder to sell.

There are ten different types of promotions which are:
· Advertising
· Selling
· Sales promotion
· PR
· Sponsorship
· Direct mail
· Exhibitions
· Merchandising
· Packaging
· Word of mouth

Overall this week we have learnt that promotion and place plays a large part in e-marketing.

Week 5 - Focus on Place (distribution) and Promotion

The role of place online has led to new ideas of distribution online. Read about these and include a summary on your blog page.

When discussing place online this leads to how do a company sell its products? With the internet becoming more popular for businesses to sell products and expand their brand recognition place/distribution has been given more opportunities. Businesses can now sell products and services online by using a different range of distribution methods such as:
· Selling direct from the website
· Neutral market place
· Direct to the customer
· Presence

These different distribution and place methods allow businesses and consumers have a little more freedom. The buying and selling on the internet has become more appealing due to how effective and efficient it is. Such websites as Amazon allows consumers to buy products online which range from books, electronics to tools (Amazon, 2009). This website allows consumers to buy a different range of items. Other websites such as eBay allow consumers to buy and sell products online using a neutral market place (eBay, 2009). The internet is becoming bigger causing more companies to have an online presence. This is shown through the big four banks with their online banking. Online as a place is becoming larger causing more ways for companies to distribute their products.

All too often people confuse promotion with advertising. Advertising is just one type of promotion. What are the others? List each of the 10 types of promotion on your blog page and give an (real) example that you have found for each.

There are ten different types of promotion which are advertising, selling, sales promotion, PR, sponsorship, directmail, exhibitions, merchandising, packaging and word of mouth.

Advertising is when a company publicises a product or service. Advertising consists of interactive ads that allow the consumer to see the product and allows the company to sell a type of story to the consumer. An example would be commonwealth bank advertising its banking online by using ads online.

Selling is when a company tries to sell a product by using “virtual sales staff” (Knox, 2009). Selling is ideally when the consumer can go onto the website and buy a product through links. An example would be going onto the JB website and buying a product online through the buy link.

Sales promotion is when there is a product which is being sold at a cheaper cost. This could include “online loyalty and rewards” (Knox, 2009). Ideally this means that when purchasing a product online which is apart of a promotion could be cheaper or come in a deal which includes like a buy one online and receives the second one half price or for free. An example of sales promotion is like buying make up online and receiving a free lip gloss.

PR is public relations which is when another company such as newspapers, magazines and blogs for example write about a product. Public relations are ideally free promotion. For example when the ipod came out there were a lot of press about the new product which allowed consumers to comment on their experience and share with other people. Newspaper articles discussed the rise in popularity and talked about its functions. Blogs also discuss their experiences which other blog members could comment on.

Sponsorship is when a company/ product are used to sponsor a cause or event. Ideally when promoting a product a good way is to promote an event which will allow the product to be recognised for a good cause. An example would be like IKEA promoting the football and using one of their cars as a promotional tool. This allows consumers to see the product when going onto the website and associating the brand with the event.

Direct mail is when a company sends out emails to their clients or to random email addresses. An example which has occurred to me is a 24 hour fitness gym sends out emails discussing new deals. This email was generated and sent to a bunch of different email addresses.

Exhibitions are when a company shows the consumers what the product of place looks like by being virtual. An example I have encountered is my old work which is called Atlantic in the city. Atlantic is a function centre which has an online virtual exhibition on their webpage. This allowed consumers to view what the function centre looked like and what the venue has to offer.

Merchandising is when a product is sold or promoted in shopping centres or e-tailing.

Packaging is when a company promotes a product through its packaging. This is demonstrated through showing the package of the product on the company’s website. An example would be a coke bottle which can be bought in a new glass bottle. This is ideally different since the glass bottle looks different to the plastic and can packaging.

Word of mouth is when consumer talk to each other about a product or advert. Word of mouth can be for an example you tube. You tube can be a good way to spread word of mouth. Consumers can use you tube talk about the product or make their own mock ads for products.

Select two of the winners and discuss them on your blog page in terms of the promotional mix. What communications tools were used in each award i.e. Advertising, selling, public relations etc.

After looking at the website and the winners I found that the version of the magazine booklet was very blurry and could hardly make out what was said in the article. Although I cannot clearly state which marketing tools were used I could indeed tell you what award they had won.

The two winners which I have chosen are:
· Cadbury’s the natural confectionery company which won the consumer products and services award. The words which I could make out were that the company used:
* You tube
* Radio
* TV ads

This ideally demonstrates that Cadbury have used advertising and PR to sell their products.
· The other winner was UPS Widget which won the award of Business to business which I have thought to have been more selling to another company as a promotional tool.

At first glance, what do you think of Facebook, Twitter, MSN, Hotmail, or eBay? They do not look great. Why do they work?

Facebook: When looking at facebook it seems to be just for socialising and not really marketing much. Although since this has become popular amongst people of all ages it has become clear to why marketers use facebook. Facebook is free and if a company wants to increase recognition this is easily done by having the become a fan function. Facebook is an easy way for marketers to inform consumers of new products and anything new.

Twitter: After looking at Twitter and its functions it seems to be just a direct few words to describe what you are doing and your current mood. From a marketing perspective this can be seen as a way to inform people of new sales and promotions. With many companies stating follow us on twitter this encourages consumers to follow many companies.

MSN: Msn from my point of view is a purely a socialing vehicle which links people together so they can talk online. Although it does make sense with the fact that there are adverts on the bottom of the screen advertising different companies and offers which could be successful and reach people? Personally the adverts are being ignored.

Hotmail: Hotmail is basically used for emails. When signing up consumers can opt to have different things sent out to them but personally I don’t click on the box to have various things sent out to me.

eBay: eBay is clearly a good marketing website since people use it for almost everything. A company could put out a new top or DVD and people would bid on it.

REFERENCES:

Amazon.(2009). Amazon.com. Retrieved September 1, 2009 from: http://www.amazon.com/

eBay.(2009). eBay. Retrieved September 1, 2009 from: http://www.ebay.com.au/

New media age.(2009). New media age effectiveness award 2009. Retrieved September 1, 2009 from: http://www.nmaawards.co.uk/

Knox week 5 slides.