Group Assignment: Post # 1

(The first Question / Activities by Jenny on Friday, January 16, 2009)

This week we looked at several Internet Marketing methods. Together with your groupmates, find a specific example of how a company is using each method below:

• Blog
• Interactive advertisement
• Search engine
• Online partnerships or affiliate marketing
• RSS feeds
• Social networking
• Gadgets

By the way, the examples you find do not all have to come from the same company.In your group blog, list all the examples you find, together with links to each example. Also provide a description of the effectiveness of each example.

Finalized Answer:

Blog: It is a kind of Web 2.0 Marketing tools with rich online collaborations. It updates daily or weekly around a single topic. Typically, corporations use blogs as an instant publishing tools to create a humanized two-way conversations with customers, allow to share and preview features, functions, and benefits of their products and services before the products are released. On the other hand, Blogs provide an excellent way to gather feedback and to make sure products meet the needs of their user community, to have a more personal image. (from wikipedia)

Example 1 :
明報 Blog http://blog.mingpao.com/cfm/index.cfm
(Rita)


Interactive advertisement: The floating wind-chime on the right column is one kind of “Rich Media Interactive Advertisement”, with application on the Flash / Shockwave programming technology with sound effect. It interacts with direct linking function to the correspondence homepage which would approach to those who interest by simply click on the chime. The decoration features arouse visitors’ interests to contribute higher clickthrough rates.

Example:
The right column wind chime as an example which is created by Adobe System Japan – http://www.adobe.com/jp/ and an authorized Adobe training centre CSHOOL – http://www.cshool.jp/. The application refreshes the wind-chime patterns every 5 times to display their Promotional events on the chime theme. This is designed for promoting the training seminar held by CSHOOL on 2007 while the event is already complete.
(Rita)

Search engine: It is a form of Internet marketing that seeks to promote websites by increasing their visibility in search engine result pages. The search engines provide an index of content which can be searched by Keywords. There mainly divided into 2 parts named as Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and the Paid Search Engine Marketing (SEM).

The Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a Paid Search Advertising that the company’s message reaches customers at the moment they demonstrate in what they sell.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the process of improving the position and frequency of a company's web site “page rank” from search engines via natural search results where most users are tent to choose.

Example:
Yahoo! : http://www.yahoo.com/

(Rita)

Online partnerships or affiliate marketing: Affiliate websites are often categorized by advertisers and affiliate networks, which they gather people who sharing common interests to become a popular commuity.

Example: DCFever http://www.dcfever.com/
It firstly set up as a content websites, including users product reviews, price comparisons, photos sharings by photographers (niche market group) / digital camera (DC) lovers. When photography is still a kind of pricey hobby which the "investment" usually increases with the addicted extend, visitors must carefully choose "the most worthy" to buy. All sharings and reviews by experienced users are found informative and useful for each others to gain the public praise and attract more visitors to slowly developed as a community.

With the high visiting level, they open their first offline shop which become an affiliate marketing
http://www.dcfever.com/shop/index.php
(Rita)

One more example of affiliate marketing
where two company have a colleberation, a join force to create more awareness of their brand, new functions, promotions. Another example such as the banner at the bottom of our Blog, 'Join Red Campaign', to promote the awareness of global proverty, celebrities and Coverse place their promotions in Myspace.com, magazines, Converse international websites.

(Joyce)



RSS feeds: RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a standard format for sharing and distributing Web content updates by content publishers through a list of notifications called an “RSS feed”. Using an RSS reader called “RSS aggregator”, allow users to check new RSS feeds items on an ongoing basis from various updates, links to full stories, in a single place instead of visiting each visiting each of the websites themselves.
User can receiving the real-time express news delivered directly to desktop that images themselves are already “close to the society”, which also require the width and the depth of the RSS subscription.

Example:
Ming Pao http://www.mpinews.com/cfm/inews_rss.cfm
(Rita)







Social Networking: This is where company use and allow other online channels to expose themselves to reach more public audience and members on their recognition, promotions, values, product, service etc. For instance, Marie Claire magazine in US joint with 'myspace.com' to have their own official page where the fans can add the magazine as 'friends' , leave their comments, read its updates on blog, photos, clips. The most recent project for the magazine is promoting a new reality show on three interns working for it, Marie Claire posts the videos via Myspace and Youtube video channel so people can choose any of those popular channels to get connected.

Example: http://www.myspace.com/marieclairemagazine Sponsorship advertisements appear on sites' top banner for a relevance promotion.
(Joyce)


Gadgets : It refers to small mini-applications that can be downloaded to the user's desktop or embedded in their blog/web pages. The photo showing gadget from Flickr.com that displays photos is already a good example of a gadget and it helps Flickr to promote itself as well.

Example: Flickr Album blogparts (example in our blog)
http://www.flickr.com/badge.gne (login required for use)
(Rita)