Dawnita Brown
Marketing & The Internet
Analysis #6


Ann Taylor Online

Ann Taylor is a premier American specialty apparel retailer for professional women operating in excess of 580 brick and mortar stores in 42 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. For forty-seven years Ann Taylor has been a well-known resource for quality suits, separates, dresses, shoes and accessories with a feminine, polished approach to updated classic style. Ann Taylor offers collections with versatile styles that coordinate not only from head-to-toe, but also from season-to-season, allowing women the ability to build a full wardrobe. This postioning remains consistent in the online store.

Ann Taylor’s online store offers the same image as its’ brick and mortar stores. The site is clean and polished with a classic style. On the homepage is the image of a woman wearing an elegant spaghetti strap black dress and beautiful paved bangles with the caption “The Perfect Occasion”. Under the caption organza, satin, cashmere, lace, and pearls…find your perfect mix is in a smaller font with an arrow to click on link. This link leads you to a page with the caption “Perfect, Just Perfect.” On this page are three images as follows: The one on the left is of a man and woman (start with a splash: dresses) links to dresses, the one on the right is of the woman in a skirt and sweater (stir up a romance: skirts) links to skirts, and the one in the middle is the same as the one on the home page with (top with a twist: jewelry) links to jewelry. Once linked to any of those pages the customer is able to view “The Perfect Occasion” Catalog and mouse over any product for information and price. This “Perfect Occasion” theme is indicative of the kind of site that Anntaylor.com is. It has a very feminine feel and remains true to Ann Taylor’s dedication to helping “her be at her best” which has led to an exceptional level of enduring client loyalty.

In addition to shopping by themes, the customer is able to shop by outfit (suits that work, work casual, weekend casual, special occasion) and by category (sweaters, tees & knits, blouses & shirts, suits & separates, pants, skirts, dresses, jackets, outerwear, accessories, shoes, legwear). My favorite is the petites collection (tops, suits & separates, pants, skirts, dresses, jackets, outerwear) because it’s hard for me to find nice quality clothes that I do not have to have altered. Also included in the petites collection is a printable petite fit guide that the customer can refer to while shopping. The customer can also shop by sale items which are also broken down into categories. This entitles the customer ease while shopping.

Once the customer clicks on an item a description and price along with suggestions of other items that will make a complete outfit are given. The loyal Ann Taylor online shopper is privileged to update account profile to reflect shopping preferences, use “express checkout” service to save time, save shopping bag selections, and save addresses in personal address book for future use.

All of this is consistent with the Ann Taylor Stores, however, Ann Taylor is branded is markets under two divisions, Ann Taylor and Ann Taylor Loft. Where Ann Taylor caters to a successful, relatively affluent career woman, who needs appropriate, fashion conscious attire for her professional life, Ann Taylor Loft collections are designed for value conscious women with a more relaxed lifestyle both at work and at home for a little less. This can cause potential channel conflict because Ann Taylor Loft collections are not offered at the online store.

The Ann Taylor online store offers the “whole product”. The customer is able to check her account including order history (order status, returns processed), personal information (profile, address book, password) and payment information (credit card information, Ann Taylor credit card information, e-gift certificate balance inquiry, gift card balance inquiry), access the store locator, Ann Taylor Card info, track orders according to dates, investor relations, obtain privacy policy, and a 1-800 number that is on every page. The site also offers size charts, a fabric glossary, and a color glossary. Everything for the shopper is right there as if the customer was in the store along with e-coupons. The ability to shop from head to toe selecting the item that the customer wants by color size and quantity is fulfilling. I love piecing outfits together and do so.

Although Anntaylor.com is very successful in integrating the online medium they should consider including Ann Taylor Loft collectibles. this website definitely offers me the ability to That would really complete the ultimate Ann Taylor experience.
  ¶ Tuesday, October 28, 2003

  Assignment #6 Barnes and Noble Barnes & Noble

The only thing that I don’t like about Barnes & Noble (B&N) online store is that I can’t buy a fresh cup of coffee, or can I? I believe that most companies like B&N developed their online store to make it more convenient to buy products. I feel that with most companies the experience is totally different from the one where you actually visit the store. However, I took a look at what might be the same and what might be different. This is what I found.

If you walk into a B&N to search for a book, you have two options: (1) You go directly to the help desk and from there a customer service representative will assist you, or (2) you walk through the store hoping to find the book. If the book is in stock you can take it home, and if was not, they will order if for you. If you wanted to buy the book online you would begin by performing a search. After the search, you get a list of options. You could then buy the book. The best part about this option is that the book is almost always in stock and you don’t have to drive to the store to find it. If you don’t know what book you want, you can browse online just as if you were in the store. B&N’s website offers various search options when looking for a book.

On B&N’s homepage they have different tabs that you can search under such as: Used & Print, Books, Business & Technology, Children, DVD & Video, Music and much more. In addition, they offer sources of information on the following: bestsellers, recommended, coming soon, meet the writers and book clubs. As far as I know, the store does not have writers sitting in the chairs talking about their writing techniques. So, I find this information on writers helpful from the online store. Not only do they have information on writers, but they give you lists of what is coming soon. B&N has this information in there stores, however most of the time is not centrally located.

Overall, B&N has done a great job at keeping the experience balanced between online and offline shopping. They give you the same information either way. They have customer service for both channels and many options for each experience. The online store does offer more information and products, but the offline stores offer a personal touch. As for the coffee, I guess I will have to make my own. However, as a suggestion, I would offer a way to buy online gift certificates to Starbucks.


  ¶ Tuesday, October 28, 2003

  assignment #6-Melanie Cramer I entered Hecht’s into Google in an attempt to view the Hecht’s department store website. I was immediately redirected to the May Company website. The May Company is a retailer that operates fourteen different retailers under its corporate retailer umbrella. In addition to Hecht’s, they own Lord and Taylor, Filene’s, The Jones Store, and After Hours. Out of curiosity, I searched one of the other department stores in Google. The websites for both stores were identical, despite the image evoked by each department store’s brand. Hecht’s represents an indirect channel in that the manufacturers sell to the wholesalers, who in turn supply merchandise to the online retailer and the traditional brick and mortar store. The retailers (Hecht’s, Lord and Taylor, After Hours, etc) are responsible for reaching the consumer and distributing the product. The May Company also aligned itself with The Knot, a metamediary. The Knot advertises products on the May Company’s websites. If a product is purchased, the May Company pays commission to The Knot. The Knot also benefits from the additional traffic to its site and the recognition it receives from co-branding with the May Company.
The online medium has been integrated into the marketing and distribution channels. Transactional functions are built into the site in order to improve the marketing communications with the consumer. A visitor to this site has the option to join the Hecht Company mailing list. Once a visitor has been added to the mailing list, they receive special online promotional offers as well as advanced notice for in-store sales. The in-store sales notifications (sent via e-mail) also include point-of-sale coupons. Utilizing the Internet to perform this function allows the retailer to more effectively reach its target consumer, without having to invest additional time and money. The company differentiates between its in-store promotions and its online promotional offers. By offering strictly in-store promotions on the website, it encourages shopping at the traditional brick and mortar locations. The site also contains a store locator that will direct the visitor to the nearest location. This added convenience for the potential customer alleviates the need for additional searches. It also avoids losing a potential sale if they become frustrated with locating the nearest store. The website also has the capability to track the visitor’s activity. In researching the check out process, I abandoned a shopping cart and exited the site. When I returned to the site, it recognized my IP address and the items I selected were still in my shopping cart. This mechanism allows marketers to develop a consumer history and more effectively direct promotional materials to its consumers.
The distribution function for Hecht’s is handled by UPS, a Third Party Logistics Company. By introducing UPS into the distribution channel, Hecht’s does not have to learn the ins and outs of shipping products to consumers. They leave that responsibility to an outside company who specializes in consumer delivery and has a reputation for reliability. This also provides a value-added service to the consumer. When products ship, the consumer can track the package by the tracking number assigned to their shipment. As with many online retailers, returns are a problem for Hecht Company. The website clearly states that the consumer is responsible for all costs associated with shipping a return and the company encourages insuring the shipment to avoid further liability.
Facilitating functions have also been added to the site to ensure consumer satisfaction. Hecht’s utilizes Secured Socket Layer encrypting during the checkout process. This is important to consumers who abandon shopping carts because they are hesitant to place their credit card information online. Hecht’s alleviates some of the concerns associated with shopping online by making this feature known to its visitors. Hecht’s also stresses that they will not sell or rent personal information that is entered into the system. Finally, to make purchasing merchandise online easier, the site has the capability to remember billing and shipping information. The consumer has the option to use this “Express Check-out” function to make future purchases faster and easier. For customers who do not want their account information stored, they can by-pass this function and begin checkout immediately. In providing all of these additional services, they are working to make online shopping convenient and easy. Hecht Company is establishing trust with their customers and encouraging repeat purchases.
From disclaimers on the site and the differentiation between online and in-store promotional offers, I believe that channel conflict may have existed. The Hecht Company homepage clearly distinguishes the differences in promotional offers available online versus those available in the stores. There are two navigational bars located on opposite sides of the site that read, “In Store Promotional Offers” and “Click Here for Online Savings Offers”. They clearly state in the Customer Service screen that online offers are not available in the store and vice versa. The Customer Service screen explains that products available on the website are “select gift suggestions and much of what is available in the store, is not available online.” The site frequently directs consumers to sales associates and provides a link to the store locator. This occurs when a visitor is attempting to locate items that they saw in an advertisement or in a store. Finally, there is a price disclaimer found in the Customer Service screen. It states that prices available online may differ from those available in the traditional brick and mortar locations.
The site does offer consumers the convenience of 24/7, online shopping provided they are interested in merchandise that is being offered online. However, the site does not enhance the “whole product.” The images evoked by the brand and the experience of shopping at their brick and mortar stores is not reflected in the website. The website is poorly designed in that it is difficult to navigate and the home page is extremely busy and overwhelming. It also was discouraging to see that all of the retailers under the May Company’s umbrella had identical websites with the exception of the name displayed in a small font at the left-hand corner of the homepage.
I feel the company should consider redesigning the website to better complement the brand’s image and the storefront. Each department store under the May Company should have individual websites designed to reflect the uniqueness of their store. I also think the company should consider offering the same promotions online as in their department stores. Differentiating between the promotions could cause confusion for the consumer if they do not read the “Frequently Asked Questions” section of the Customer Service screen. In addition, offering different prices in each location also creates an uncertainty for the consumer. Finally, I think Hecht’s Company should consider offering the same product lines in each location. I think it causes frustration for consumers, limits the convenience of Internet shopping, and deters online purchases.
  ¶ Tuesday, October 28, 2003

  Assignment 6: Shannon Tucker Welcome to oldnavy.com!

Old Navy’s mission has been to provide affordable, fashionable clothing to individuals of all ages. Capitalizing on the successful marketing and distribution strategies of its parent company Gap, Inc, Old Navy has been able to successfully reach its intended market. Unlike many other online retailers, Old Navy’s website provides a consumer with an experience similar to shopping in a physical store. The overall look and feel of the site mimics the in-store signage, along with print and television advertisements. Even the pricing, specials offers, and clearance items can be matched to items in the store. It is clear that Old Navy has made a concerted effort to concentrate on its own successes instead of mimicking the successes of other online retailers.

The choice to make the consumer shopping experience mimic the in-store experience presents the retailer with a specific set of technical problems. To truly mimic the in store experience, one must provide the consumer with as much information as possible. This is particularly important when ordering. If a consumer is shopping in a store it is clear if a size or product is not available it is just not there on the rack. If an online retailer wants to mimic this experience it is vital that an inventory management system be connected to the online retail store. A consumer should not be allowed to purchase products that are no longer available due to stock shortages. While there site is not perfect, Old Navy does provide good information about inventory. As an example, when I was looking for a pair of pants under the women’s clearance section I found a pair of trousers that were offered in two color options. One option, Oatmeal Heather was clearly labeled sold out. The Gray pant was available, but only in size 1 short (see attached figures). If purchasing this item, I would be unable to make a mistake. The site would not let me purchase an item that was unavailable. My one complaint is that all color options appear for items made in several colors even when only one color was available. While this is a slight inconvenience, it does not hurt the retailer’s presentation of a shopping experience.

Contributing to the establishment of the Old Navy online store as just another mechanism to purchase Old Navy goods is the online retailer’s return policy. A consumer who has made a purchase at the online store can visit any brick and mortar retailer and make a return or exchange without hassle. This only shows the strength of the order and inventory systems used to power this retailer. If a retailer is going to make a successful addition of an online retail shop, system integration is key to the overall success of the venture. If a consumer can go to a physical store and make a purchase with less hassle they will, but if they can choose from two almost equivalent experiences it allows them to shop according to their preferences.   ¶ Tuesday, October 28, 2003

  Assignment # 6: Diane Hemelt Pier 1 Imports

Pier 1 Imports, a publically traded company, is North America's largest specialty retailer of fashionable and unique decorative home furnishings and gifts. Founded in 1962 with one store in California, Pier 1 now exceeds 1000 retail locations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico and United Kingdom. In 2000, Pier 1 launched its current advertising campaign- "Get in Touch With Your Senses". This marketing strategy strives to create an environment rich in sound, sight, scent and touch. Based on consumer research indicating customers enjoy a sensory shopping experience, a Pier 1 "bricks and mortor" shopper will experience upbeat but not overwhelming music, scented candles and product displays of contrasting yet inviting textures and colors. Pier 1 positions itself as not only a place to " have fun" while shopping for distinct casual home furnishings at a good value, but also as a place to " discover something new and exciting with each visit". To accomplish this goal, Pier 1 rotates collections , brining in distinct products from over 50 countries and changes 65% of the stock, annually. This strategy keeps loyal customers returning to brick and mortor locations on a regular basis, but presents marketing challenges for creating the same atmosphere when shopping Pier 1.com.

The homepage does a great job of using language and color to evoke sensations and image. My first quick look at the site made me think of Fall, crisp greens, warm brown and orange shades. Centrally pictured were a father and young son sitting in a Pier 1 chair, surrounded by a tasteful and discrete background featuring additional product selections. The image was simple, yet created a strong visual of an attractive and inviting home- something a Pier 1 purchase can help you achieve! The right margin featured three different products with simple descriptions. 'Bunch of Color' was the caption describing an arrangement of mums, 'Spicy Scents' next to an array of candles, while a selection of glassware proclaimed 'Make a Toast'. Terms used included 'warm seasonal mood, tranquil scent, lustrous and handpainted'. The web page designer created moods with words, thereby integrating the Pier 1 marketing strategy- Get in Touch With Your Senses, successfully.

The overall feel of the site was uncluttered and easy to navigate with five different catagories: Shopping Online, Bridal Registry, Sales and Events, Clearance Store and Furniture guide. You can also search by products or departments (ie. bed and bath, home accents, kitchenware). Other features include a store locator, an idea center and a very liberal return policy of up to six months.

Pier 1.com is not likely to convert most loyal customers into switching from the retail "bricks and mortor" visit. Since the Pier 1 mision statement is based on creating a fun and atmospheric centered shopping experience, their online business is an extension of its committment to the customer- being available at all times. The potential for attracting new customers will be in the geographic areas where no retail stores are available. Customers will likely use the site for information and ideas. Potential exsits for additional market share using the convenient bridal and gift registry feature. Pier 1 uses fixed pricing for regular and sale items.

Pier 1 has consistently promoted the themes of something new and exciting each visit, along with getting in touch with your senses across their selected media- store graphics, direct mail pieces, magazine and television advertisements. But while this was my first visit to their website, I believe that they also redesign and update their web content on a regular basis. This would be further committment to integrating their marketing message to online medie.

Pier 1 is successful "tangibilizing the untangible" with its artistic design and well worded graphics. The "Ideas for the Taking" section is an online magazine which displays various possible combination and uses of product by selecting the designated catagory. Pier 1 could further the tactile experience by adding virtual tours or interactive segments to really demonstrate the possibilities of their goods. Additionally, they could also issue a special discount or coupon to entice more online orders, but this strategy could create some channel conflict. The distribution division should also consider possibilities for lowering shipping costs, especially on the less expensive orders. In some cases the S & H total close to purchase prices if you want to make a small a (price) purchase.

  ¶ Tuesday, October 28, 2003

  assignment #6 When adults hit middle age, many enter a crisis state. They wonder what happened to their youth and why they have not become the doctors, firemen or baseball players that they used to dream they would be. In many instances, the crisis becomes so overwhelming that afflicted people may need to seek professional counseling. During this counseling process, trained professionals teach the suffering men and women that the root of their anguish is in their childhood. Their parents are to blame for their malcontent, their divorces, their drug abusing teenagers. Perhaps their mother didn’t hug them enough. Maybe their father was a drunk. One thing is for sure, it is due to something that was done to them as a child.

Several years from now, when my hair is thin and my gut fat, I’m sure that I will not need to visit a therapist. I already know what horrible thing happened to me as a child. My mother is a high school, home economics teacher. That in itself isn’t so bad. I learned how to do laundry, cook, and clean up after myself — things that have helped me attract women over the years. What has scarred me for life, was what my mom used to do to me every summer. She took me to the Jo-Ann Fabrics 50% off sale.

If you’ve never been to a Jo-Ann 50% off sale, you’re lucky. Sale is a word that Jo-Ann marketers use. Melee is a word that I like to use, but this is no quick, 5-minute battle, this is a day-long event. At the crack of dawn, my mother would drag me into the car and drive the hour and a half to the closest Jo-Ann store. Here, we would wait in line at the door with other seething housewives — their eyes bulging, jaws clenched, and Jo-Ann circular clutched in hand.

When the doors opened, the women converged. Mom was right there with them. She would charge into the fray, with me tucked under one arm and the other held straight out like a football player blitzing through a defending line. She would rush to the back of the store and plop me in front of a basin of irregular buttons and instruct me to “play quietly” while she “shopped.”

The first two hours weren’t too bad. I would sift my hands through the buttons, bury myself in the giant bin, and pick out the ones I liked the best. After that, things got boring — not just mildly boring, like when you’re watching reruns of Saturday morning cartoons, but insanely boring like when you’re in church on a beautiful Sunday morning in the middle of July. At this point, I would count the buttons, then I would organize the buttons, then stack the buttons, then quietly cry until I fell asleep with a button up my nose.

Eventually my mother would come for me, her arms laden with packages and hair matted to her skull with sweat. I’d help her carry her things to the car and then, on the long ride home, I would stare out the car window and dream of a day when no child would be forced to play with buttons for 10 hours.

That day has finally arrived! Now frugal mothers and home economics teachers alike can shop for fabric at home, while their children run and play outside, the way God intended. Finally, Jo-Ann got her act together.

joann.com is almost exactly the same as any Jo-Ann store, except for the obvious lack of a bin of irregular buttons. There are patterns, reams of fabric, spools of thread and tons of tips and tidbits. What you experience at the site is nearly identical to what you would experience in a store, right down to the sales. The online medium has become a Jo-Ann store. You can shop there just like you would at a brick and mortar. Pile things into your cart and check out at the end. The interesting thing is this is where the integration leaves off. The online store isn’t tied to the brick and mortars at all — outside of the functionality similarities. The online version offers different sales pricing than the stores, and even has its own circular. While the sales occur at the same times, the pricing and stock is varied.

The marketing of the two products is also different. While the store circulars don’t mention a thing about joann.com, the site provides directions and circulars for all of the stores across the country. That makes me feel that Jo-Ann would much rather you shop at her stores than at her web site. That is the only channel conflict I can see. The two identities are obviously of the same parent but are rival siblings.

Jo-Ann hasn’t used her web site to enhance her whole product, she has created a whole new product. There’s no guarantee that what you find on the site will be at the store, or vise versa. You can’t return web purchased items to the brick and mortars, and while shipping on the site is cheap, there’s no option of picking up the items at your local store. Considering that fabric shopping, like clothing shopping, is a very touch-oriented experience, Jo-Ann should work harder to make the web site and the brick and mortar cooperate. Perhaps she should consider an option similar to Best Buy where you can make a purchase and then pick it up at the store, as well as return it to the store if there’s a problem.






  ¶ Tuesday, October 28, 2003

  Emily Christenson . Assignment #6 1-800-CONTACTS is a company that buys and warehouses contact lenses in large quantities, then sells them to consumers at relatively low prices. Before having a web presence, they were a mail-order company--- consumers called their toll-free number (the same as the name of the company) to order their contact lenses, which were delivered to their homes. They were not catalog-based—consumers had to know which product they wanted to buy when they called. Now, users can browse the company’s online product listing and buy their lenses from the Website, 24 hours a day.

Even though the distribution channel, home delivery through the mail, has not changed at 1-800-CONTACTS, the fact that users can access an online catalog and order any time of the day greatly enhances their product. An unfortunate and unique marketing problem may have been that the company’s name refers directly to their original ordering medium, a toll free number. In order to preserve their valuable brand identity, they had to translate that name directly into their URL, which resulted in a slightly peculiar web address. Because products are still being delivered via mail, there is no channel conflict. Also, 1-800-CONTACT’s customers are used to paying a shipping fee, so ordering their contact lenses online rather than over the phone does not cost them more.

In addition to conducting their business online, 1-800-CONTACTS has also used the internet to enhance their whole product. Consumers can find on the site information about contact lens prescriptions and eye doctors, as well as a detailed Flash tutorial about how eyes work, called Vision 101. Also, individual account information can be accessed online—even if the customer’s first purchase is over the phone.  ¶ Tuesday, October 28, 2003

  Assignment #6: Jeff Shepherd Assignment #6: Jeff Shepherd
Marketing & the Internet



http://www.Sears.com


The introduction of the Internet has forced many traditional offline companies to adopt this new technology and incorporate it into their marketing communications plan. One such company that was relatively late in adopting this technology is Sears, Roebuck and Company.

Sears, Roebuck and Company was founded in 1886 by Richard Sears, and a watchmaker named Alvah C. Roebuck. Since then, Sears has become a multi-billion dollar industry with distributors, wholesalers, and retailers worldwide. Sears has a history of being the leading department store company offering customers an assortment of clothing, appliances, jewelry, and tools. Only recently has Sears lost its’ standing as a department store leader to other relative newcomers in the industry. Stores like Walmart, Nordstrom, Hecht’s, and Target have developed large followings of loyal consumers by tailoring their corporate identity to specific target segments, and incorporating the Internet as a channel in their marketing communications plan.

Due to this increased competition, Sears was forced to reposition itself among its competitors and redefine its corporate image among consumers. In order to do this, Sears had to incorporate the Internet as a channel for delivering its new image. Sears is now recognized more as a supplier of automotive service, home appliances, and tools such as Kenmore and Craftsman tools. In 1999, Sears launched Sears.com to meet the challenge of increased competition among other department stores.

The homepage of Sears.com features links to several departments within the site. The links include Appliances, Automotive, Clothing, Computers, Electronics, Fitness & Recreation, For the Home, Jewelry, Kids, Lawn & Garden, Tools, and Toys & Games. The homepage also offers weekly specials on several items. Interestingly, none of these weekly specials were clothing or jewelry. All weekly specials were home appliances, tools, and lawn & garden equipment, which further re-enforces Sears’ positioning itself as a leader in home appliances and tools. The Clothing section does offer a link to Lands’ End.com for a complete selection of apparel. However, the section also states that most of the clothing offered by Sears is available only in their retail stores.

Sears.com seems to have successfully integrated its online operation and its distribution channels into one seamless process. For instance, customers can order online and pick up the item at their nearest retail store. Customers can also return an item ordered online to the retail store, and vice versa. In addition, customers can go online and schedule a home service or repair 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Sears.com tries to create a relationship with its online visitors by encouraging them to create an account. Customers are asked to provide personal information so that marketers can record this data in their customer database. Visitors are asked questions about their hobbies and their level of interest in several areas. Several questions in this area are deliberately worded to determine if the visitor is an innovator, an early majority, a late majority, or a laggard. For example, one question asks how they feel about technology. The visitor is then asked to choose from several options: (1.) I buy products with the latest features & innovations, (2.) I buy products with mainstream features & technology, (3.) I am not interested in technology, keep it simple for me. Other questions ask the visitor about their home status, if they have any children, and the ages of their children.

In an additional effort to create customer relationships and increase repeat business, Sears.com encourages visitors to sign up for a Sears Credit card. The application process is simple and applicants are immediately notified online if they have been accepted or not. Sears.com further encourages credit card usage by offering a 10% discount off everything ordered with the Sears card.

In a bold move, Sears.com has partnered with eBay to provide a way for customers to buy products through auctions. This arrangement, however does not seem to be fully integrated into Sears’ SCM (supply chain management). Auctioned items ordered online cannot be returned to Sears stores even if the item is broken or incorrectly delivered. In addition, the site also states that on “rare” occasions listed auctioned items may be unavailable at auction end. In these instances, the winner is notified and Sears will try to arrange for a reasonable item substitute.

Sears.com has managed to incorporate the company’s principles and further enhance the image of its whole product. The website consistently emphasizes the company’s long-held motto, “Satisfaction guaranteed, or you’re money back.” All merchandise can be returned in the original packaging for full refund minus the shipping charges. Customer service is provided 24 hours a day, seven days a week via a toll free number or email. Online customers are also offered free shipping on all items ordered online with a mail-in rebate. Customers can also sign up to receive special online offers and savings via email. Customers are offered, “Worry-free shopping” with a promise to match any price plus 10% of the difference.

Although quite functional and easy to navigate, the homepage design of Sears.com was rather “vanilla” and very subdued. One almost gets the impression that marketers would prefer customers to actually go into the stores as opposed to shopping online. There is no real pull to search the pages and browse through the items. The area in which Sears.com does succeed is in conveying the company’s principles and delivering the whole product to the online consumer.

  ¶ Tuesday, October 28, 2003

  Assignment 6 : Gina Eliadis : PLA-ZA Artists

 

PLA-ZA Artists Materials on the Web

PLA-ZA Artists Materials, a traditional brick-and-mortar that carries a large selection of artist supplies, has only half-heartedly pursued Internet marketing. The store’s web site, online for at least four years (possibly longer), has continued to offer less and less to customers and potential customers.

What makes this so unfortunate is that PLA-ZA could clearly gain from focusing on its online strategy. With an outstanding selection of products and only ten locations throughout the country, PLA-ZA could very well expand its market beyond the geographical locales of its stores and increase sales.

It has made a feeble attempt to do so. At one time www.pla-za.com offered a full store catalog along with some form of online ordering. The catalog was gradually scaled down, and at some point, it appears that it was removed from the site altogether. So PLA-ZA’s primary products aren’t even featured on the site. The only content featured are some brochure-type pages, news areas and discussion groups, which are a nice touch but don’t seem to be well-populated.

(It should be noted that the “Corporate Client” section of the site is password-protected. It’s unclear whether a catalog has been made available to that particular market segment.)
The catalog issue might be an example of channel conflict. PLA-ZA seems to pride itself on its broad selection of products. It has (or used to have) a large print catalog. So the absence of an online counterpart seems to convey the opposite message.

Here’s what PLA-ZA should do: Focus on site development immediately. Make available an online store to both corporate and individual clients. Offer online ordering and put into place a system for billing and order fulfilment. This shouldn’t be difficult since PLA-ZA has been handling phone orders for years.

PLA-ZA maintains that its web site is still in development. But the site has been live for several years, and PLA-ZA is wasting numerous market opportunities by stalling the growth of its online presence.

  ¶ Tuesday, October 28, 2003

  Assignment #6 - jcpenney.com The first JC Penney store was opened in Wyoming in 1902. Since that time, the store has expanded to become a major mall anchor, with 1,075 department stores nationwide. The company has also expanded into two additional channels – the JC Penney catalog and jcpenney.com. The company’s online arm was launched in 1998 and “within two years grew into one of the most popular retail sites.” The site carries about 150,000 items and follows the same motto as the brick and mortar store – “it’s all inside.”

From examining the website, it appears that JC Penney has successfully integrated into the online marketing and distribution channels as a business to customer site. Links to all of the company’s merchandise are clearly laid out – women’s, men’s and children’s clothing; shoes; jewelry; for the home; toys; sports and leisure; electronics and music; gift registries. Next to these links is a shopping bag and when it comes time to checkout an item, credit cards or gift cards can be used or, if you are uncomfortable using your credit card online, the site provides an 800 number to call and place an order. Once placing an order, it can be tracked via the site. The store has further marketed itself online by providing a store locator function and the ability to search what JC Penney store products are on sale online or at the nearest brick and mortar store. The site also matches products to buyers’ needs by providing gift ideas and buying tips (ex: characteristics to look for when buying a diamond).

It does not appear that jcpenney.com experiences channel conflict since the site carries 150,000 items. It is doubtful they would provide so many products online if customers were not purchasing them. In fact, the site calls itself, “your full-service store.” There are links not only to regular merchandise, such as clothing and home items, but there are also links to JC Penney optical, JC Penney portrait, JC salon and JC Penney custom decorating. The site caters to online shoppers by providing certain products only on the site. The site’s online outlet store carries discontinued and overstocked merchandise at discounts of 20-70 percent. The site can also email customers with regular updates on new products, offers and events. The buying tips and gift idea functions of the site are also things you cannot find in the brick and mortar store. Additionally, jcpenney.com provides ordering services for international customers who want to access company products but who may not have access to the department stores.

The JC Penney website seems to successfully walk the fine line of catering to all different customer types – those who like to shop in the store, those who like to shop by catalog and those who like to shop online. For example, for those who like to shop in the store, the website is useful to find the location of a nearby store and find out what items are on sale there. For those who like to shop by catalog, they can order the catalogs through the site.

Jcpenney.com succeeds in promoting a whole product online by providing a majority of the department store’s generic and expected products online and the means to purchase them online. The site augments the company’s products by providing information on sales dates, store locations, providing an express checkout option, access to catalogs, the ability to track orders, receive email updates on promotions, access sizing charts and buying tips, and other functions. In the future, the potential of the company’s products could be expanded by offering innovative functions that other retailers have adopted, such as the ability to shop with a friend on the site. Otherwise, the site is one that is very complete.
  ¶ Tuesday, October 28, 2003

  Assignment # 6 - WestWightPotter.com

Posted on my server at www.davidreiss.com

A review of a small sailboat manufacturer based in California, International Marine, and how this company has developed their web presence to enhance their customer realtionship building, marketing and sales efforts. I should know, I bought a boat from the factory in 1997, using the traditional methods of faxing documents and telephone calls to order the build my boat, WWP 19 Hull #947.
Pictures of my old boat, (I've since sold her), are avilable on-line at www.potter-yachters.org  ¶ Monday, October 27, 2003

  Assignment #5
Assignment #6  ¶ Monday, October 27, 2003

  Assignment 6 - Beth Mazur Zagat.com (pdf; 388K)  ¶ Monday, October 27, 2003

  Assignment #6, Adam Marton Assignment #6 (pdf)  ¶ Monday, October 27, 2003

  #6: EJ LEE West Elm


West Elm is a part of "Williams-Sonoma, inc. Brands" which includes Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, pottery barn kids, PBTeen, west elm, Chambers and Hold Everything. West Elm carries furniture like sofas, tables, beds, chairs, and bath supplies such as towels, shower curtains, and accessories. West Elm also carries a few items for kitchen, and for house decorations. Its style is simple and modern, with an Asian influence, especially Indian. This brand was totally off-line (based on catalog and telephone) and recently built a web site for itself. The company is located in New York city, New York. The price for a table is around two or three hundred dollars. The catalog is simple, well organized, and clean differing from many other catalogs which suffer from too many items. The catalog works well with both beautiful pictures and attractive products. Just like catalog, West Elm keeps the theme or approach consistent with its web site, westelm.com.
The web site has the same feel as its catalog. There are few interesting items in this site. First, the site tells the consumer right away if items are available or on backorder. Usually when online shopping, customers will get an email later from the site notifying there is a backorder or if the item is not available. Second, this web site combines its catalogs together. There is a section called "catalog quickshop" which is very easy to use. By entering a product name, one or more keywords, or a catalog number, the user can order the item. Third, discount items are provided online but not on catalogs.
West Elm’s merchandise and style appears to target women from twenties to forties. But the web site targets women who shop online. Therefore its target segments are a little different offline and online. Online shoppers would likely use both online and offline. This may not be the case for online shoppers initially. But after shopping online and discovering the discounts that are provided only online, customer may never shop offline. Therefore the online target audience of West Elm could be a younger population than its offline target segment. Since West Elm was originally based on a catalog not on a brick and mortar store, I think there is not channel conflict.
This web site is well designed but suffers from an execution problem. The web site is terribly slow. West Elm may have tried to provide too many high-resolution pictures slowing the web site down but definitely West Elm has not solved or recognized some of its technical problems. The design of the web site provided ease of use but the lack of speed makes the appreciation of the design work frustrating.
  ¶ Monday, October 27, 2003

  Assignment #5 - Dave Clossey Dave Clossey

Baseball Prospectus – www.baseballprospectus.com

Sports fans come in many different flavors, from the casual observer to the diehard sports nut. As I observed when researching ESPN.com for Assignment #3, it’s the folks who lean toward that last group that are the focus for most marketers. The diehard fans are the ones willing to plunk down their money for all manner of team-affiliated sportswear and other gear.

Baseball has a special set of sports nuts that seem to form almost a lunatic fringe of baseball fandom – the sabermetricians. “Sabermetrics” is the study of baseball statistics, a term coined by members of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). To baseball fans both casual and serious, sabermetricians are an entirely different breed. Rather than appreciate baseball strictly for its aesthetic merits, the sabermetrically inclined prefer to delve deep into the copious statistics that baseball provides, often creating new statistics and methods of research in their quest to uncover truths that the human eye alone can’t envision. In other words, they’re baseball snobs.

Marketers hold sabermetricians in even less regard. They generally have absolutely no fanatic affiliation to one team, which means they buy precious little logo-bearing merchandise. However, there is one thing for which they will plunk down their coin in a heartbeat: books. Or, more specifically, information. It is this endless quest for information that has propelled Baseball Prospectus (BP hereafter) from a geeky little website into a multimedia business

BP.com was the sabermetrician’s – the baseball geek’s – dream come true. The site was simple in design and construction; no Flash introductions, no fancy buttons, hardly any color. It was just a series of links connecting the baseball geek to their manna: statistics. Oodles of statistics, both ordinary and not-so-ordinary. It was (and is) the place to go for “statheads” seeking higher baseball knowledge.

What made BP different weren’t the stats, however. It was the stuff around the stats. BP’s originators made researching and creating baseball statistics – some of which are pretty complex – interesting and even exciting to the average fan. The articles soon became the focus of the website.

I don’t pretend to know the genesis of the site’s transformation ( and I don’t have a response yet to my query I sent them), but I imagine they saw that hit counts to BP.com were skyrocketing and realized they were reaching more than the hardcore baseball stat geeks of the world. BP then did two things that propelled them into the mainstream. They published their work in annual book, starting in 1999. And in 2002, they moved much of their content to a fee-based subscription service.

It was this second decision that set the course for BP. It was quite a risk; would their loyal fans be willing to pony up $30 a year to read the same content they were previously getting for free? The answer was “yes”. The subscription model gave BP not only some capital to play with (or pay themselves with, most likely), but it also legitimized them to prospective investors and other media outlets. Soon, BP’s work was being hailed by some of the folks who run baseball teams. The annual book began to sell enough copies to warrant multiple printings, and the website received a long-overdue facelift.

Is BP still an online product, so to speak? Well, mostly. Their annual book is the only tangible product they offer, in addition to a few logo-bearing items (ironic, isn’t it). But their growth into more mainstream media is what has propelled the company. In addition to having a weekly feature on ESPN.com, BP this past season launched “Baseball Prospectus Radio”, an online radio channel that features BP authors giving their usual analysis, as well as interviews with general managers and players past and present.

It doesn’t look like BP needs to change much of anything right now. Their chief product is and will continue to be information, both statistical and anecdotal. As the quality of that work continues to improve, their reach outside of the little pocket of sabermetricians to which they originally catered will continue to expand.
  ¶ Tuesday, October 21, 2003

  Assignment #5 - E*TRADE After the Internet boon of the 1990s nose-dived, taking most pure play Internet companies to their graves, a few of the strong survived and now thrive. Many continue to be totally online companies, offering more or less what they did at their inception. Others have branched out and offer a broader selection of products and services in both the virtual and physical worlds.

E*TRADE FINANCIAL (formerly just E*TRADE) is one company that endured the 90s slaughter, and just last week reported its best quarterly earnings in the company’s history. This, however, does not assure them success in the future. Like all businesses, E*TRADE must continually reinvent itself to stay within the realm of the early majority consumer.

The company started out as one of the premiere online investment firms. The company offered online trading, investment strategies, stock quotes and a wealth of other useful information all updated regularly and available online. Since then, the company has evolved dramatically and offers services over a much broader spectrum.

E*TRADE is no longer just a place to trade stocks online. E*TRADE FINANCIAL offers the same online banking options that your own brick and mortar bank does. E*TRADE FINANCIAL clients can now open accounts, apply for loans, maintain portfolios and plan their financial futures.

With its inception, E*TRADE was a perfect name for the company, there was no ambiguity. The company facilitated consumers’ stock trading, electronically. That was what the company did, end of story. Now, however, the story has grown to include such a wide variety of products and services that simply tacking FINANCIAL onto the end of their name doesn’t really tell the story any more.

Perhaps E*TRADE is too young to make a major name change. Maybe it wouldn’t survive the loss of name recognition. Perhaps there is some nostalgia that doesn’t permit it to sink the flagship brand. Or maybe they’re just stupid. It seems to me, with my months long background in marketing, that they are neglecting a larger market audience by not changing their name.

Despite the recent revenue growth spurt, the “TRADE” in E*TRADE will inhibit the company in the long run. At a glance, an unfamiliar consumer would assume that the company is only involved with Internet trading (a key contributor to their initial success). It becomes no more clear by adding FINANCIAL. While “FINANCIAL” has the potential to create a link between banking and investing, it is not precise. Any company that deals with money — be it stock trading, lending, refinancing or otherwise — could include “financial” in its name and not incorporate any other form of banking in its business. E*TRADE does, however provide these other services. In order to bring their brand closer to what they really are, they need to include bank somewhere. Even if only in a tagline, it needs to be incorporated.

It’s not that “bank” is a magic word that will automatically bring in customers, but without it E*TRADE is missing out. There are no E*TRADE ads in the latest issues of The Economist, Business Week, FORTUNE, TIME or FAST COMPANY. . Likewise, I have not seen any television ads promoting these features. So it’s hard to say how E*TRADE is positioning itself through advertising. Although their web site makes it apparent what they are involved in, it is not clear how E*TRADE FINANCIAL is getting its story across to consumers. I for one didn’t know until today.

  ¶ Tuesday, October 21, 2003

  #5:EJ LEE Readymealsinfo.com (e-Procurement)


Prior to 1999, most companies were looking at the supply chain from an internal perspective. But in the late ‘90s things began to change.
"People have started to understand that the Internet can be used to communicate with, and enable supply chain management with, customers and suppliers." ( Larry Lepide, vice president and director of supply chain strategies for AMR Research, E food procurement in the U.S.)
Moving procurement to the Internet gives some benefits such as "cost savings" and "reducing administrative overhead".
Companies are able to purchase products from a few strategic suppliers and this allows them to receive better terms, better discounts and better support. Indeed, the Internet allows companies to eliminate paperwork. The Internet increases the ability to communicate, improve information exchange, and increase efficiency.
Unfortunately, eventhough there is the potential to provide substantial cost savings, 95 percent of supply chain transactions in America are still conducted manually for example by picking up a phone or by fax or mail.
Some businesses are keeping the traditional way because of the unique difficulty of using online. For example, using a computer system could be difficult in a messy environment of a fishing boat. The type and quantity of the fish and the specific suppliers (individual boats) are not known until their arrival at the dock.
So what does the e–procurement market look like sooner or later?
"Companies across the broad are begging to understand that the challenge is not simply to lower costs but to make procurement truly strategic. Maximize organizational effectiveness. Increase contract leverage. Improve supplier performance. Eliminate non-value-added activities. And, drive continuous improvement."(Readymealsinfo.com, US food companies use of the Internet, from B2B exchanges to marketing)
Readymealsinfo.com is a web site to serve both buyers and suppliers at market place for communication and giving information in the United Kingdom. It carries a variety of informations about food in the marketplace, and helps for buyers and suppliers to connect:
"Request for Quote is an easy way for manufacturing companies to find suppliers for a single or multiple supply contract. The two sides of the equation are the User and the Supplier. The User has a demand for goods and fills out a simple form. The Supplier is a relevant company from the RFQ register who are able to fulfil that demand for goods."(Readymealsinfo.com, request for quote)
The web site is superbly well organized to search easily and to get necessary information. It has "categories" which explains the packaging, labeling, storage, machinery, transport, wholesale, information technology, manufacturers and ingredients. Buyers and suppliers use the "marketplace". "Resources" encompass publications, market research, event calendar, spotlights, press release and books. "Recruitment" provides job search information. And it also includes featured articles, food safety, legislation, buyers’ guide, product showcase and shopfronts. It has site links for more information.
The original idea can be assumed by the name of the site is a market niche of ready-meal (meal-ready-to-eat), and its slogan which says, "Total information solutions for the ready meals market". This site originally tried to connect buyers and suppliers in convenience food category. There is difference between UK and United States in perception of ready meals. Ready meals (home replacement meals, convenience food, TV dinners, and meals ready to eat) are still associated with low income, over processed junk food in the US, but in the UK, many ready meals are marketed as "gourmet" meals, and aimed at affluent busy people.
This site might have outgrown its original idea and it appears to have extended its market reach to service both the buyers and suppliers. This site is well executed in both ready meals entire food at market an I do not believe it needs to be repositioned.
"E-Procurement technology is improving to help companies keep track of their asset purchases, from the point of procurement and the delivery of the product to its deployment and implementation, and on until the asset is actually removed or recycled within the company,"(Bill Eisele, an analyst with Hurwitz Group's Electronic Business Strategies, E Food Procurement in the U.S)





Reference:
www.readymealsinfo.com, resources, spotlight, "E food procurement in the U.S." "US food companies use of the Internet, from B2B exchanges to marketing"
www.readymealsinfo.com, marketplace, "request for quote"
  ¶ Tuesday, October 21, 2003

  Assignment 5: Shannon Tucker Shannon Tucker
Marketing and the Internet
Assignment 5
21 October 2003

American Online (www.aol.com)

In 1985 America Online was formed under its original founding name Quantum Computer Services and began to offer its online service Q-Link to owners of Commodore Business Machines. As the company expanded to offer similar online services to PC and Macintosh users in 1989, the AOL brand was formed. Over the next 18 years America Online has expanded to serve a community of internet subscribers around the world. Prior to 2002, AOL has had a successful history of creating marketing alliances to increase the ease of accessing information for subscribers and creating lucrative relationships with other service providers to provide guaranteed visibility. However, in 2002 AOL merged with Time Warner to become AOL Time Warner and sparked a new debate about the identity of both companies. Blending AOL with Time Warner would provide both companies with access to a whole new set of consumers. Customers subscribing to AOL services would have unfettered access to Time Warner content online and Time Warner customers would now have a new unified way to access online Time Warner content. Because of the recognizable nature of both brands and the different corporate cultures of the two companies, it was difficult to determine in news media which company and corporate structure was being referenced. Perhaps more difficult to determine is the corporate message this new company is sending as AOL Time Warner. After years of establishing unique brands, both AOL and Time Warner would now need to re-brand themselves in an effort to successfully represent this new corporate identity. As a strategic move, AOL has determined to forgo re-branding and incorporating Time Warner into its established brand. AOL’s website and online service do not mention Time Warner in areas normally visited by subscribers. Instead, all references to this merger are relegated to the back pages of AOL corporate information. For an AOL visitor or subscriber who was unaware of the recent merger, it would appear as if the merger never took place. By holding onto a successful brand, AOL has avoided brand confusion among subscribers in the marketplace.

The strong branding AOL has developed has been beneficial to the success of AOL as an internet service provider. Users with little knowledge of the internet can use AOL to meet all of their online needs in one easy to use interface. However, the introduction of broadband internet service has undercut the viability of AOL as an internet service provider. A major part of AOL’s success is that it was able to offer customers both internet access and a portal in which to access the internet, email, and instant messaging. While AOL successfully dodged a potential brand nightmare with the merger with Time Warner, they now face a new problem – broadband. Currently, AOL is thought of as a low speed ISP, not a provider of high speed internet. At this point AOL is just starting to reach these consumers through a newly branded service AOL for broadband. While AOL defines this as a different AOL brand, it remains as an extension of the modem based AOL service. In limited areas AOL has established the ability to offer DSL or cable modem service through what can only be assumed is a series of contractual relationships with local phone and cable companies to offer their service branded with the AOL Desktop at an inflated price. While this arrangement does allow AOL to continue to be the internet service provider of choice to a wide range of customers, it does not meet the needs of customers who already have a high speed internet provider. AOL is trying to do this within the AOL for broadband brand by providing AOL subscribers with the AOL interface for a $15 dollar fee per month. The hope is to establish AOL as the portal for all of an individual’s online needs. The brand doesn’t not accurately reflect this, because of past brand positioning. With AOL for broadband, AOL is trying to position itself as the portal of choice for all of your online communications. What isn’t established is the value of this arrangement. Since most broadband providers providing subscribers with a portal page to access news, games, email, and other entertainment resources where is the value of purchasing an additional service?

Maybe it is time AOL addresses the inclusion of Time Warner into its brand. Exclusive online rights to all of Time Warner’s content would provide AOL with the leg up it needed to prove that its service even without providing internet access is worth a subscription. If consumers are able to easily recognize the amount of content available to them through this one subscription, they might be able to see a perceived value in subscribing to AOL. This would allow them to avoid purchasing individual subscriptions to desirable content.
  ¶ Tuesday, October 21, 2003

  Assignment 5 - Jennifer Accongio Jennifer Accongio/Assignment #5
www.theknot.com

Initially funded by AOL in 1996, The Knot launched on AOL that year, and moved to the web in 1997. Shortly thereafter, it raised additional funding from QVC among others. In 1999, The Knot went public and raised $35 million in its IPO. Now, in 2003, The Knot is the #1 wedding planning website online. It boasts over 2 million individual visitors per month with 3,600 new members joining each day.
In 1996, The Knot was a first-of-its-kind online wedding planning hub. Accessible on AOL by the keyword "weddings," The Knot later moved on to be the exclusive wedding content provider for many popular internet subscription services such as CompuServe and MSN. When it was an online-only service, The Knot positioned itself as a resource for "real weddings" that occur in the "real world" putting themselves in opposition to the sometimes bizarre high-fashion print magazines of the day, such as Modern Bride.
Today, The Knot has grown far beyond the online-only hub it was in 1996. The Knot's website features original articles, wedding planning tools, extensive national and local vendor listings, a supply shop that promotes house brand merchandise, partnerships with various designers and department stores, a honeymoon booking service, and a wedding registry. In addition to its online presence, The Knot now publishes a national magazine (The Knot magazine), local magazines (WeddingPages magazines), and the televised Real Weddings from The Knot which features the actual weddings of its membership rather than pie-in-the-sky events as depicted by such publications as Martha Stewart Weddings, as well as several books and guides.
The Knot's website launched its redesign only this past month, and appears to be attempting to return to its roots as an online tool. I mention this because links or information about The Knot's other media publications have disappeared from the opening page of the site, and are now somewhat difficult to find in any form. I was aware that The Knot published a magazine of the same name because of my prior experience on the site, but my search for the a subscription form on the redesigned site has been fruitless.
The new Knot site does not advertise its other products to the detriment of its main position. If anything, the opposite is true. I would not have known that other Knot products existed without prior knowledge. In this, The Knot has been successful in returning to a strict definition of their original position, but whether their other endeavors founder as a result of the redesign remains to be seen.  ¶ Tuesday, October 21, 2003

  Assignment 5 - Beth Mazur PDF of assignment 5 (140K)  ¶ Tuesday, October 21, 2003

  Analysis Assignment 5 : Gina Eliadis ICQ: From Simple Chat Tool to Burgeoning Online Community

In the mid to late1990's, as giants like AOL Instant Messenger and Yahoo! Chat stormed into cyberspace, ICQ quietly cultivated a powerful following among young web users. Launched by Mirabilis in 1996, ICQ became the most popular chat service on the web within two years of its release.

It began as a bare bones chat tool. Users were directed (mainly, by word-of-mouth) to mirabilis.com, where they were invited to complete a brief profile and download the ICQ software. In those first few years online, Mirabilis kept the focus on the tool itself, providing little to assist or encourage users to find each other. Still, users seemed to be pleased with the technology and were content to develop their own means of seeking out other users. Mirabilis, meanwhile, witnessed growing brand awareness for its star product. Within six months of its launch, nearly one million people had downloaded ICQ.

In 1998, Mirabilis was acquired by AOL, and ICQ began a huge transformation, evolving into a large online community. With less focus on the technology, ICQ now seems to direct its efforts to connecting users and providing a host of peripheral services.

Multiple market segments are clearly delineated by "Interest Sites" – subcommunities where users connect based on personal interests. There are also several search tools that chatters can use to find one another. In addition, ICQ offers personals ads, e-cards, games, an online store and a variety of tech tools like ICQ2GO, email, and wireless.

Whereas ICQ's initial target market consisted of early adoptors of chat technology, the brand seems to have been repositioned to embrace the early majority. (This is contrary to AOL's comment below describing its current target market as "early adopter." I disagree. I think that chat in general and ICQ in particular have become so feature-focused and user-friendly that those services are now part of the mainstream web.)
If ICQ's target market did change, it doesn’t seem as though dramatic repositioning was necessary. Instead, it appears that ICQ grew and evolved along with the chat community. Here's how AOL describes its ICQ market:

"With over 150 million registered users, hundreds of millions of messages exchanged daily and one of the internet's top websites, ICQ can give any brand the local or global exposure they need. ICQ users are a young (80% under 30), audience of early adopters. They are active shoppers and trend setters, gamers and media consumers, interested in music, sports, technology & dating. ICQ users are online, on ICQ over 4 hours a day on average, accessing from many different platforms & devices."

ICQ can't possibly be a big moneymaker for AOL. It currently remains a (mostly) free service that relies heavily on advertising. But it's doubtful that it will remain so. ICQ has amassed such a great deal of brand value that AOL would be foolish not to convert that value to higher profitability.
  ¶ Tuesday, October 21, 2003

  Assignment 5, Adam Marton Assignment #5, Salon.com (pdf)  ¶ Tuesday, October 21, 2003

  Dawnita Brown - Assignment #5 Netflix.com

Netflix.com, the world’s largest online DVD movie rental service has been in business since 1998. Initially, Netflix’s objective was to use the DVD format (which at that time was about 3 years old) and the internet to make it easier for customers to find movies of their choice. In 1999, Netflix launched its’ subscription service reaching one million subscribers faster than AOL. Four years later, Netflix continues to grow and remains true to its’ original goal with minor improvements. Instead of just offering customers the ability to find movies of their choice that they would enjoy, Netflix is now positioning itself to be the world’s largest and most influential movie supplier by introducing subscribers to lesser-known titles providing a win-win situation for both the viewers and filmmakers.

In order to achieve this goal, Netflix positions itself as a step above it’s brick-and-mortar video store competitors by utilizing several differentiation strategies including: site environment, tangible the intangible, trust, efficiency/timeliness, pricing, and customer relationship marketing.

The site environment of Netflix.com is user-friendly and easy to navigate. Each phase of the DVD rental process is clearly defined verbally and visually. This is important in positioning because “an online product or service cannot be seen except by an image or description.” (Strauss, El-Ansary, Frost, 2003, p.246) Netflix.com not only illustrates the phases of the DVD rental process, but also shows images of the DVD’s along with movie trailers. These features make the customer feel comfortable in choosing an online store because they are indeed tangible. This is where the trust factor comes in.

Netflix.com builds and maintains trust with its’ subscribers by clearly defining the company’s privacy policy. In searching the website I noticed that they even had a clause that if third parties solicit the subscribers then the subscribers should contact Netflix to handle the problem. In addition, on the Contact Us page the subscriber can get help with his/her account, answers to questions about the Netflix site and service and even submit requests and suggestions regarding title requests, movie corrections, and suggestions for Netflix about improving its’ website or service.

One of the strongest motivators for customers who make Web-based purchases is the ease of ordering. (Strauss, El-Ansary, Frost, 2003, p.246) Netflix offers a simple movie selection process as well as fast free delivery. Since Netflix now has twenty shipping centers nationwide, more than half of its subscribers generally receive next-day delivery. By the end of 2003, 75 percent of Netflix members will get generally next-day service. (http://www.netflix.com/PressRoom?id=1005)

Free delivery is a way that Netflix has created positioning. Pricing for Netflix is definitely comparable to its’ brick-and-mortar competitors, starting at $13.95 where a subscriber can rent four dvd’s a month, two (2) titles out at a time up to $39.95 where a subscriber can rent unlimited dvd’s, eight (8) titles out at a time. The pricing that is the most common subscribed to is the standard $19.95 a month where the subscriber can rent unlimited dvd’s, with three (3) titles out at a time. Included in this cost is a postage-paid return envelope which is a method Netflix uses to build customer relationship management.

In addition to the postage-paid return envelope and free delivery, Netflix builds customer relationship management by customizing the subscribers account based on previous movies viewed and customer reviews. Netflix has more than 150 million movie ratings from customers and the average customer has rated about 50 movies. Moreover, Netflix members select approximately 60 percent of their movies based on movie recommendations tailored to their individual taste with no late fees or return deadlines. (http://www.netflix.com/PressRoom?id=5206)

Overall, Netflix’s positioning on the web is successful and consistent with its’ original brand. From a service attribute, Netflix by far beats out the brick-and-mortars by having no late fees or return deadlines. The Netflix commercials mocking brick-and-mortar competitor s stores’ return policy do a great job visualizing this attribute. Using these humorous, catchy commercials was a smart way for Netflix to position itself offline. Also, Netflix offers priceless convenience with more than 15,000 titles spanning 300 genres. As far as technology, it offers easy navigation as well as movie trailers for subscribers. Furthermore, the benefits are phenomenal. A subscriber can customize a movie database, view other customer’s reviews, and to top it off Netflix has a film critic as part of their team along with a referral program where subscribers earn money for every new customer they bring to Netflix. Free trial. No driving. No lines. No hassles. No commitments. Cancel Anytime. (http://www.netflix.com/Default?sutest_cntr=WELCOME_TAB).

This sounded too good to be true so I did a search to see how Netflix was rated.
On bizrate (http://www.bizrate.com/) it received an overall positive rate while on outcrier (http://www.outcrier.com/) the reviews were mixed. The main complaint was the delivery time and movie selection. If Netflix were to reposition itself it would clearly be to display boldly that there are more shipping houses and movies available, especially now that its’ using offline positioning. Other than that, business is booming. If I had time to watch tv I would unquestionably become a Netflix member.
  ¶ Tuesday, October 21, 2003

  Melanie Cramer-Assignment #5 Reed Hastings founded www.netflix.com in 1997 and this company launched its strictly online, DVD rental website in 1999. The homepage is well organized and easy to navigate. Both of these characteristics are essential when the company boasts the ease and convenience of its online video rentals. New release previews are available on the homepage and the rental process is simplified to three, easy steps. There is also a free trial option that allows a new visitor to participate in the program, free of charge, as long as the trial is cancelled by the deadline date. By clicking the “Learn More” tab, the visitor is provided with a complete service description that clearly sets the customer’s expectations. By clicking on the “Previews” tab, the DVD’s have been categorized by recognizable headings. The headings are listed in a side bar, common to all pages, that allows visitors to flip effortlessly between categories. The site also introduces the visitor to the company’s management team, provides specific biographical information, and briefly highlights accomplishments of each. This increases consumer confidence because it alleviates the anonymity factor of the Internet.

When the company was introduced, the press release title read, “NetFlix.com Site Offers Unprecedented Title Selection, Availability, and Convenience.” After examining this site, it is clear they have achieved their goal and fulfilled their promise to the online community. NetFlix.com offers its subscribers multiple copies of over 15,000 movie titles to ensure availability. As the first company to offer DVD rentals online, this company has set a standard for those that have followed. In addition to DVD availability, this company possesses a strong customer service focus. Members use an email address and password to access their account and video listings. It clearly states on the log-in page that e-mail addresses will not be sold or used in an unauthorized manner and it clearly posts a padlock denoting the use of a secure server. Finally, another 1-888-number is provided for customers that have additional questions before logging in. These features help to alleviate some of the fears associated with conducting on-line transactions. In an effort to establish a relationship with its customers, the company provides various means of communication. There is an option for email correspondence, a 1-800-phone number for personal customer service, and a physical headquarters address.

Despite the company’s overwhelming growth, it has not outgrown its original brand and positioning statement. The company, as well as the website, has remained focused on providing an affordable and convenient way to rent a DVD. However, NetFlix.com has had to make adjustments to its business due to an increased customer base and its continued growth. Originally, the cost of DVD rentals was $4.00 for the first two movies and $3.00 for each additional movie. They also charged $2.00 shipping and handling for the first movie and $1.00 for each additional movie, not to exceed $5.00. A more simplified fee schedule is now offered to its members. There are now three plans available: “$13.95 Four DVDs a month, two (2) titles out at a time, $19.95 Unlimited DVDs, three (3) titles out at a time, $29.95 Unlimited DVDs, five (5) titles out at a time, $39.95 Unlimited DVDs, eight (8) titles out at a time.” Shipping and handling is now free.

NetFlix.com understands the importance of its customer. The company strives to increase its customer base while providing superior Customer Service to its existing base. An incentive program was instituted for other Internet websites. Sites willing to advertise and provide links from their site to NetFlix.com receive payment based on the number of visitors that become members. The company opened eighteen additional shipping locations in order to ensure timely delivery to its increased customer base. In addition to its pricing adjustments, it also offers incentives to customers who introduce new members to its company. Members are also privy to movie reviews posted by other members. Through cross-referencing databases, movie suggestions are posted to personalized, member web pages based on previous rental history and reviews. This function encourages members to rent additional movies and offers a value-added service to NetFlix.com’s customers. Finally, members can opt-in to email newsletters from the company.

  ¶ Tuesday, October 21, 2003

  Emily Christenson . Assignment #5 Snapfish.com

Snapfish.com is a service that develops film sent through the mail for a relatively inexpensive fee. It mails traditional prints back to the customer. Its web component consists of server space and a personalized webpage where customers can store and view their photos. For customers who send in film to be processed, photos are posted to their online photo albums at no charge in addition to the traditional prints sent through the mail. Customers taking digital photos are able to upload their photos at no cost to them. Snapfish was founded in 2000, and is an independent business unit of District Photo, an established mail-order film processor. In addition to storing and organizing photos on the site, customers can also order reprints, share photos with friends by sending Snapfish links, buy customized photo merchandise, enter contests, and download free photo software. The newest feature on Snapfish enables customers to access their Snapfish photos from their camera phones. The site also features an extensive help section and customer-support telephone numbers. Snapfish offers one roll of free developing and reprint credits for new users. Users pay for developing as they go—there is no monthly or annual fee. All web features are free to any registered user (registration is free, too.)

Mail order film developing is not a new service, but Snapfish packages it with other desirable services to create a new, whole product. Their positioning statement is, “Snapfish makes it easy to share memories with family and friends.” They are targeting adults, most likely parents, who not only don’t have time to take in film for developing, but who are also frustrated with the amount of time and effort taken by circulating photos among family members, figuring out what wants copies or which photos, going back to the developer to make copies, then mailing them all out. In addition, this market is spending more time communicating online, making online picture sharing a necessity. More generally, Snapfish is currently targeting the early majority—those who are looking for reliable practicality at a low cost. The site includes a proliferation of positive recommendations from customers and positive reviews from the media. Since the early majority wants to be sure that they are receiving a quality product, recommendations are important to them. Most of the recommendations on the site focused on the quality of the photos—it’s obvious that Snapfish wants to assure its customers that they are not sacrificing quality for the ease-of-use and low price tag. The site’s bright, fun, and easy-to-understand graphics make the technology involved virtually invisible to the user, thereby making online photo albums almost as personal as physical albums. For instance, the Snapfish photo albums can be added to, rearranged, renamed, captioned, and deleted… all intuitively and within a few clicks. This makes the customer feel like the albums are theirs, and not that they are inaccessible once online.

Snapfish has not yet outgrown its brand because it is not mainstream enough yet to stop targeting the early majority. Once online photo storage and sharing is considered the baseline for archiving, Snapfish will have to move on to target the late majority. Until then, their message speaks well to the audience that needs to be listening.
  ¶ Tuesday, October 21, 2003

  Assignment # 5- Diane Hemelt SpineUniverse.com

SpineUniverse.com was created as an online forum for spine doctors to educate patients (consumers) about spinal disese and back ailments, while creating trust with the medical community. Although this product is intangible, the experience, expert knowledge and education provided by SpineUniverse doctors will aid the consumer in recognizing the benefits of current medical diagnostic and treatment options, therefor encouraging the sufferer to seek help. The website logo is "Better Care Through Education", and this also seems to be the promise and identifying information used to brand SpineUniverse.com.

SpineUniverse seeks to fill a vital need by providing credible and neutral information on a fairly non-commercial site to a specifically targeted audience ( those with back pain), and this is where the brand "promise" creates value for the customer. SpineUniverse does this by recruiting world renowned spine surgeons who are both members and content providers of the website. The site can easily provide answers to any medical question through a search or by clicking through the various catagories; conditions, treatment, wellness, resources, community, surgical treatment, technology and tools, or other links of interest to patients. Ultimately, each click or search takes you to articles by specific doctors. The site also includes an extensive video series including treatments, operations and exercises for pain relief. It is interesting to note that all doctors have their pictures included with each article, to possibly inspire a more human connection. Of course the goal of the consumer/patient education is to persuade you to visit a doctor for correct and thourough evaluation. By keying in a zip code, listings of area back specialists are instantly available (international referals, too). If the visitor does contact a listed spine specialist, SpineUniverse has successfully moved the customer/visitor from one way communication (veiwing available information) to two way communication (actual contact with Doctor's office and possibly an appointment) and this is a major goal of brand marketing.

For the physician memebers of SpineUniverse, the brand promise " Better Care Through Education", means exposure to the most recent discoveries and innovations in the spine care industry. Physicians can access up to the minute news , articles and abstracts concerning their research and patients. Sub-sites include sections on practice management, professional meetings and industry events, publications, leading industry periodicals, pathology, devices and partners in education. The partners section is comprised of American Association of Neurological Surgeons, National Association of Orthpedic Nurses, Internatinal Spinal Injection Society, Scoliosis Research Society and collaborative marketing with AANS Journal of Neurosurgery. The editorial board is comprised of the "World's Top Spine Specialists". The physicians also continue to gain value when they are able to attract new patients from publications they have listed or an internet based referral from the "locate a specialist" search designed for the visitors.

One feature of the site which gives it an air of dignity and authority as an educational resource is the minimal advertising. Only a select few ads are displayed (no banners) and they are directly linked to solving back pain, such as specially designed furniture, medication, braces or treatment centers. The physician section contains a little more advertising, mainly items for their practice.

SpineUniverse strives to give value to the visitor/patient by providing solutions to their back pain through education. If this site does meet the visitors expectations on-line, then the "educated" patient can participate knowingly in their own case. The physician memebers also realize their promise, as they gain the position of a most trusted and preferred source of spine healthcare information and services.

The SpineUniverse brand was initially focused on patient education. While that is still a large focus, since its creation in 1999, expansion has been geared towards the physician members. Featured services available to the doctors include referrals, online practice marketing and quality education. Neither visitors or physician members are charged a fee any service. One public relatiosns article states that SpineUniverse now averages over two million visitors per month.

SpineUniverse founder, Dr. Stewart G. Eidelson, envisioned a globally branded and peer reviewed forum to create better spine care through education. After examinig the vast quanity and quality of resources available through SpineUnivers.com, I do not believe that this site has outgrown the original brand, nor do I see any reason to repostion. The brand appears to deliver on its promise- to both consumers and physician members. The growth and success of this site is linked to their ability to become the information center for spinal physicians and their patients. Conducting web searches on various search engines consistantly led me to SpineUniverse for answers to spinal questions. It seems SpineUniverse has achieved its goal.  ¶ Monday, October 20, 2003

  Dave Reiss Assign #5 Online at www.davidreiss.com/ub.html  ¶ Monday, October 20, 2003

  assignment #5  ¶ Tuesday, October 14, 2003

  Assignment #4 - Nielsen//NetRatings.com Nielsen//NetRatings.com provides “real-time” research and analysis of Internet users in the U.S. and around the globe for companies looking to better position themselves on the Web. The Nielsen//NetRatings.com site has a simple and attractive design and is easy to navigate. I was hoping the site could be used to directly research specific market segments by offering some kind of a search engine, but the site is instead set up to primarily outline the five services the company provides that can be tailored to specific research needs. I’m assuming the company must be contacted directly – their contact information was listed on the site - in order for a company or individual to receive these services, but this was not clearly explained. The costs and conditions of using these services were also not explained on the site.

The five research services provided by Nielsen/NetRatings are thoroughly explained on the site. The NetView service provides general research on Internet audiences and the “Digital Media Universe.” The service measures such things as the use of instant messaging, media players, Web phones and news and information toolbars. In-depth reports provided by the company cover audience demographics and usage, the most popular pages within a Web site, etc. The NetView service seems to be a good tool for companies in the beginning stages of establishing a site. The statistics provided by the service could be valuable tools for companies to utilize when making a decision about what market segments to target. NetView also offers two subservices called Global Internet Trends and Global WebWatch that would be excellent tools for companies to use in evaluating an established site and gaging how their site is doing compared to other sites around the world. For example, by using Global WebWatch, companies can answer questions such as – what is my global reach and how does it compare to my competitors? Does it make sense to expand to other countries? How is my site performing in the regions important to my business? Based on the information obtained through this service, a company could make adjustments, if they are needed, to better position themselves on the Web or to expand to other market segments.

The @Plan service is described as the leading target-marketing platform for Internet media planning, buying and selling. While NetView is a more general service, @Plan is a service specifically for advertisers, web publishers and eCommerce marketers. @Plan offers services such as “site profiling” in which a company can compare the data on their site in comparison to the data on other sites to measure their strengths and weaknesses.

The AdRelevance service is specifically for the ad industry. It offers the industry “Cloudprober” technology to monitor Web traffic 24 hours a day to capture advertising data on the Internet. The WebRF service is “the industry’s only comprehensive online reach and frequency media planning tool.” This service can evaluate such things as Internet advertising campaigns. Lastly, Nielsen//NetRatings offers analytical services to help companies best utilize the data provided by Nielsen//NetRatings. Through this service, Nielsen//NetRatings can help companies look at the data and stats on certain market segments and decide how to increase market penetration, build brand equity and gain competitive insights based on the data.

One of the negatives about the Nielsen//NetRatings web site is that it is a little difficult to determine the differences between some of the services, such as the differences between the AdRelevance, @Plan and WebRF service. A company would clearly have to contact Nielsen//NetRatings directly for help in determining exactly which service would best fit their needs. On the positive side, the Nielsen//NetRatings site advertises free demos of their services. Also, in explaining each service, they provide sample reports that highlight the kinds of charts and graphs used to organize the data they provide.

Nielsen//NetRatings.com seems to be a very credible site and one that I would likely contact if I were a marketer for a company. They have the advantage of name recognition on their side from their broad work in evaluating T.V. audiences and the site refers to this when describing their “50 years of best practices in audience measurement.” Throughout their site they use phrases such as “the authoritative source of information,” or “unmatched global reach” to describe and position themselves as a leader in their industry. The services they provide are also global in reach, evaluating Internet usage in 10 different countries. They also can customize their data reports for companies and provide regular email updates as data becomes available.

Besides primarily using their site to explain their services, Nielsen//NetRatings.com does provide a “Top Rankings” page with some general Internet usage statistics for the U.S. and ten other countries, such as the general weekly and monthly Web usage numbers for different countries and the top parent companies and advertisers on the Web around the world. The site also has a “Press Room” page where site users can access articles about the kinds of Internet usage trends Nielsen//NetRatings targets. For example, the most recent article on the site was about how Web surfers at Halloween-related sites jumped during the week ending Oct. 5. Interestingly, Buycostumes.com saw a 71 percent jump that week over the previous week.
  ¶ Sunday, October 12, 2003

  Assignment 4 D Drees Desperately Seeking Segments

For my term project I was hoping to use my own artwork/graphic services for the product to market online. In my lengthy adult life I have not yet succeeded in finding a segment to target. I have had a few one-person shows and have sold better than most in the same locations but the work was so labor intensive I was pushing the limit on price and paying myself very poorly. My last two commercial jobs have been at a higher rate but I would like to make a jump to computer art that can be editioned and get wider exposure to the right viewers. I have a number of other product options I would enjoy. At present accounting I get paid much more for my day job but I have a dream of retiring from it and concentrating on selling the artwork. I have spent forty years in training for it.

Feeling clueless, I looked at all the listed Savvy Sites on pp.263-264 of the E-marketing book. Survey.net had a Society and Entertainment button but I could not get past their seven labor-intensive surveys. So I went to their Netforum area and chose Media and Entertainment but it did not get near my kind of art nor did Society and Culture.

http://www.stat-usa.gov had information on leading economic indicators, which seemed too general for a small business but gave me an idea to mention my product as an investment. Also, maybe I could find art price records somewhere. It seemed overwhelming and would require a three-credit course worth of study for me. A couple of other sites revealed recent concerns like spam from unsavory sources and protected content for children. I might be able to work these concerns into my general appeal as promoting uplifting art with positivist content.

http://demographics.com/ looks good enough to join. I think I shall when I have a moment. As for http://cyberatlas.internet.com/; I will be back. It is still a little “high roller” for me but an article on small businesses making transitions to larger with concomitant worry about success looked interesting, should I progress that far. I do not know if I would want to be a larger business.

http://www.pewinternet.org/ had a survey on the front page that asked
“Are you an artist -- musician, writer, painter, or other type of artist? We would like to know how you use the Internet and your views on copyright issues. Specifically, what's your opinion about file-sharing programs and their impact on the artistic community?”
That is all it asked with an open-ended write-in form for the response. It seems to be an extremely broad question to me and even to attempt an answer would be daunting. But at least it is an acknowledgement of artist’s existence. I wonder if the question has an agenda?

Data on this site about Internet use by region seems promising but it is still very general. I think it is too general to segment off a niche. I think I am looking for people with enough discretionary money to afford artwork and people with a level of education that would allow them to value artwork. But what ages would apply? How can I find out who buys artwork as opposed to high-end clothes or electronic equipment or fancy cars? Do Internet surfers like wall-hung artwork? Is there a market for artwork displayed on CRTs?

At http://elab.vanderbilt.edu/ I found an article and link about artist’s businesses that was the closest to a direct hit of anything I had found. Elab is a program in the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. It is one of the "premiere research centers in the world for the study of electronic commerce" according to The New York Times. There is a Post-Doctoral Research Scholar program that might be of interest to UB DCD graduates. The one-year program offers compensation of $50,000 plus benefits, for marketing research projects. One could produce and publish something and have a nice launching point.

Some of their online research reports seemed of a scale that could be applied to a small art business site. A typical article is; “Clickstream modeling and navigation patterns. How do we infer consumer’s cognitive state from their web site navigation behavior? For example, general navigation patterns that indicate directed search, exploratory browsing, etc. (Hoffman & Novak) “

The site sorely needs updating. It is a scandal considering the subject matter area. The Events button on the site only produced events for 2002, but they looked like they were interesting way back then. When I clicked on the Site Stats button I crashed out of the browser. But some of their Mission rhetoric might be lifted for UB. But the link I found to http://www.paartistentrepreneur.com, that is Pennsylvania Artist Entrepreneur, was just great. Some of the topics there are;
Interviews with artists that own and operate their own studios,
Interviews with business experts in the areas of accounting, banking, law, insurance, artist agents and marketing,
Information on how to develop a business, sales and marketing plan
Online business plan development service
Links to Art related search engines

I started pursuing some of these with great interest and I am hopeful I shall find some useful information. I already found a link that will directly help with my thesis project. I already am a sustaining Member of College Art Association but I had not seen this piece of information except through http://www.paartistentrepreneur.com/, which was through http://elab.vanderbilt.edu/.

So I still have a great deal of searching to do to find appropriate material for my segmentation plan. I have a few leads.


  ¶ Tuesday, October 07, 2003

  Assignment 4 - CyberAtlas When a web company proclaims itself an expert, leader or a "leading resource" about any aspect of the web, I find myself immediately skeptical. It doesn’t take much to claim to be an expert, not when any monkey with a computer can easily create a web site and upload it to the world. So early in my web career, I became a skeptic, demanding to know the pedigree of all so-called "experts." In fact, there are so many non-experts on-line, that I’ve developed a simple two-step process to quickly help me determine whether I should stay at a site or keep surfing. The most reliable way to find the winners is to quickly evaluate site design and content. CyberAtlas failed the first test and barely scraped by on the second. In fact, if it weren’t for a reference from a reliable source (E-Marketing by Strauss, et al), I never would have trusted the information I found there, nor would I have dwelt long.

Upon entering CyberAtlas, my design alarms started going off. The garish colors, tabled layout, and weak graphics are state-of-the-art…for 1995. The site is also riddled with advertising, that in itself is not a bad thing, but much of the advertising is camoflaged as actual site content. Not until you click on a link can you determine if it will take you to important content on the site or to another site entirely. This deceitful functionality would normally send me away, but poor graphic design alone does not indicate poor conent.

Content is CyberAtlas’ redeeming quality. There are a ton of articles on the site, all with up-to-date figures and analysis on internet hot topics like spam, viruses, and even the effect Hurricane Isabel had on internet traffic.

Another useful feature of CyberAtlas is its "Stats Toolbox" here is a wealth of Internet statistics, frequently updated and easy to search through. You can find information here about online populations, internet population by U.S. ethnicity, internet porn statistics and a lot more. There is a lot of information on demographics and geographics that is all up to date and covers all subject manner imaginable.

There is a problem with the content, however. Almost all of the content on CyberAtlas is written by Robyn Greenspan. Is there any particular reason that I should put my trust in Robyn Greenspan? None of the articles indicate who Robyn Greenspan is. There is no biographical information, no hint of academic achievement or industry success for Robyn Greenspan. Only at the bottom of the "About CyberAtlas" page (a page that really doesn’t explain much about CyberAtlas), did I finally get a hint about Robyn Greenspan. She is the managing editor of CyberAtlas. That is it. That is all the information you can find about her.

Although Robyn Greenspan lists sources in her articles, links to these sources don’t show the data that she is quoting from. This leaves you to either search the source sites extensively for the data or to simply trust Robyn Greenspan.

By the time I left CyberAtlas, I still was not convinced that this was "The World's Leading Resource for Internet Trends & Internet Statistics." Maybe I’ll ask Robyn Greenspan.

*Note: The repetitive use of Robyn Greenspan’s name is to give the reader a feeling for how many times you come across it on CyberAtlas.

  ¶ Tuesday, October 07, 2003

  Michelle Fazenbaker - Assignment #4 Survey-Net/www.survey.net

Survey-Net is a marketing resource that allows individuals to collect information about products, services, online advertising, media, politics and much more. Not only does it give information, but it allows visitors to participate in online surveys. The information accumulated online is available to everyone on the Internet. The information may be republished however you must first e-mail the site.

I found the site to be useful in locating information and opinions about media. I participated in one of the online surveys, Content and Parent Control. The survey asked general questions about age, gender and education. In this survey, most of the respondents were female and between the ages of 22 and 25. In addition, the participants were asked detailed questions about how they felt television affected children’s social habits. After taking the survey, you had the opportunity to review the compiled results. Survey-Net result pages are easy to understand. They give a range of answers in percentages. For example, 63.5% of the respondents were female.

The site offers many opportunities for visitors to share their input. There is an info desk, a feedback section and message boards. I feel this site has great potential, the more information it gathers, the more data it has to share with the general public and professionals. As the site collects all this information, it becomes a trustworthy source. However, in my search I did find some issues with the site.

The overall design of the site is easy to navigate, however you do have to scroll down a page to find the main menu. If you do not, you might think there is limited information on the site. For example, the first page gives a small description about Survey-Net and offers the visitors to participate in two different surveys. Another technical problem I noticed is that some of the links do not work. While I was taking the survey, I clicked a link that described my answer choices, but no descriptions were found.

The site should give more information to back up its facts. This is where my reliability issues come in to play. The site has a press room, however it does not give names of articles or publications that the site has been published in. It makes me wonder who utilizes Survey-Net’s information for publication. Should I?

As for the surveys, the one I participated in was directed to parents, but most of the respondents were young and currently enrolled in college. Does this give me the information I need? Who are the participants? Currently, Survey-Net has 98 registered users. However, the survey results show thousands of people who respond. Are they the same people answering the same surveys? How many people are aware of this site? Does the government endorse this site?

Aside from my issues, I personally feel Survey-Net has great potential. The surveys address current issues and give up-to-date results. The survey I participated in gave me information on people who were concerned about parental control over media. With the information I gathered, I can determine who is using this site, and what their opinions are. The interesting aspect of the survey was that 74.3% of the respondents felt people/parents should control access. I fell in this group. With further investigation of my age group, I could find an opposing target market that supports government regulated media and possibly change their viewpoint.
  ¶ Tuesday, October 07, 2003

  Dawnita Brown Analysis #4 Marketing and the Internet
Analysis #4
Survey-Net

The site that I chose to analyze was Survey-Net www.survey.net because I was not familiar with survey sites. Survey-Net is a website that accumulates data from online surveys and provides special demographic reports every few months based on the analysis of data collected.
Included on the site are political polls, surveys on shareware, net user demographics, online shopping and surveys and questionnaires based on psychographics. In addition, the survey start date, total number of respondents, latest survey results, user comments, and editorial columns are provided for each survey. A few of the surveys even provide an online forum where respondents can submit comments.

There were several surveys that I felt were useful in identifying market segments. For example, the Internet Shopping Survey, which has been polling 5077 respondents since July 12, 1998, could be beneficial to someone who does e-commerce or is considering doing it. The poll provided results to 12 questions including number of times person made internet purchase, types of products purchased, satisfaction of purchase, forms of payments used, and security issues. This indeed is information that an e-commerce provider could use.

Other surveys included Spam Survey (Everybody has an opinion on Unsolicited Commercial E-mail. Is it bothering you? What should we do about it?), Content and Control Survey (How do you feel about inappropriate content on television, online and in the media? How do we control access to this content for our children?), Online Intellectual Property Survey Survey (What do you think about property rights in cyberspace?), InternetUser Survey #2 (Let's take a more personal look at the demographics of the average user. Answer and check out the latest results, also comment on where you think the Internet is headed in the future!). All these surveys can be beneficial to marketers to a certain degree. Moreover, the editor of the site encourages usage and republishing of the data.

There were also a couple of surveys that appear to be trivial but in all actuality can be useful. For example, The O.J. Simpson Poll (one would wonder why care) was useful to a researcher from the UK who was doing his MA dissertation on the media coverage of the OJ Simpson case. Another example was the Stress & Honesty Survey, which showed the correlation of stress and honesty and the effect they have on our lives. It may seem trivial on the surface but statistics show that stress is detrimental to our health and marketers can use this information for products or services. Although some of these surveys, especially those that are based on psychographics, can be opinionated, it provides an outlook on how people feel about a particular subject. However, there are disadvantages.

Some of the disadvantages of this site and online surveys include inability to confirm respondent’s authenticity, fabricated or exaggerated responses, and repeat submissions. Along with the disadvantages of online surveys in general, Survey-net is not updated as frequently as it should be.

Overall, this site can be used for market research, enlightenment or purely entertainment.   ¶ Tuesday, October 07, 2003

  Assignment 4: Shannon Tucker Elabs (ecommerce.vanderbilt.edu)  ¶ Tuesday, October 07, 2003

  Assignment #4: Jeff Shepherd Federal Trade Commission
http://www.ftc.gov

The Federal Trade Commission is a government agency that regulates fair business practices and protects. FTC also educates consumers on their rights as consumers and provides links to other government agencies. The FTC.gov provides a channel for consumers to get the information needed on products and businesses, and to file complaints directly to the FTC.

The FTC.gov homepage contains information about their privacy policy, FTC commissioners, and other facts about the FTC headquarters. The FTC.gov web site also features contents in the following categories: For Customers, For Business, Newsroom, Formal Actions, Antitrust Resources, Congressional Resources, Economic Resources, Legal Resources, and Hot Topics.

The Consumers section provides important tips and information for consumers about a variety of products and services. Customers can check the rating on automobiles, and find the steps involved in buying a home. The site does a good job in warning consumers of the pitfalls of poor credit ratings, and bad investments. Consumers can also link to past articles relating to a particular product or service. Consumers can also file a complaint online in this section and download a complaint form. Different forms are provided for identity theft complaints and unsolicited emails (SPAM) complaints.

Marketers can use information in this section to find out certain trends in the market. For example if a car gets a bad rating, the car’s marketers can gain new insight from consumers’ complaints about the car. The information gained from consumer trends can have a direct impact on the design of the next model car. In addition, competitors can use the negative ranking in a marketing “smear” campaign against that model and emphasize their own model’s superior ranking.

Direct links to Consumer.gov and Econsumer.gov are provided in this Consumer section as well. Consumer.com is a sub site that links consumers to a broad range of federal information on information by category – such as food, health, product safety, money and transportation. Each of these categories has a subcategory that direct the consumer to areas within individual federal web sites containing related information. Econsumer.gov is a site for consumers with compalints about e-commerce. The information contained in customer complaint can be entered into the Consumer Sentinel, a consumer complaint database maintained by the U. S. Federal Trade Commission.

Again, marketers can gather information from this complaint database and refine services or products offered in the future. For example, if consumer trend is moving toward healthier food, this may encourage fast food chains to incorporate healthier foods in the menus.

The Business section of FTC.gov offers information on business opportunities, investments, and franchise opportunities. This section also has a number of programs that provide consumers and businesses with important information about energy and environmental issues. This section connects consumers to sub sites with information on energy labeling for consumer products, retail sales of electricity, environmental marketing claims, and fuel and automotive products.

Businesses are alerted about changes in regulations and policies as well. Marketers can gather valuable information about pending cases, rules and industry trends.

The Media Resources section provides links to media resources, reports, and speeches. Testimony is a sub category that provides statements before Congressional Committees and comments on legislation by the FTC. Conferences & workshops is another sub category informing of public workshops and meetings of interest to consumers.

Marketers might use attendance numbers at workshops and conferences to determine their likelihood of sponsoring a conference or workshop. If the marketer has a product or service that relates to a well-attended conference, they may be more inclined to exhibit there and even provide guest speakers on a topic.

The Formal action section updates consumers on the status of suits brought against companies, closings, litigation statuses, and trade regulatory rules and industry guides. The status of adjudicative proceedings is also listed in this section.
The Congressional Resources section is closely associated with members of Congress and their personal and committee staff. The section informs commissioners and FTC staff of congressional issues and policies and helps provide information on legislation of interest. It also coordinates the preparation of both congressional testimony and responses to congressional inquiries concerning FTC policies and programs.

The Economic and Legal Resources section provides economic and legal perspectives on corporate mergers, litigation statuses, and financial analyses. Legal and economic issues can affect consumer spending, which in turn affects businesses. Marketers can forecast subsequent slumps in sales due to the economic climate.

Hot Topics is featured throughout the homepage and offers timely articles on subjects such as the status of the National Do Not Call registry, SPAM, ID theft, and violent entertainment for children.

This was a particularly challenging assignment for me in part because of my unfamiliarity with the Federal Trade Commission. Their web site seems to be nothing more than a “sounding board” for consumers with formal complaints about products and/or services. I wasn’t really sure how or why this web site should be considered a savvy site. FTC’s obvious strength lies in the connection of government and businesses.

The web site’s weakness is it fails to collect any data regarding public opinions about these hot topics. The consumer is not offered the opportunity to discuss issues in online discussion groups. Nor does the site allow for consumer elaboration on the complaint.

The FTC web site is a valuable “watch dog” for consumers but there seems to be little value marketers for establishing market segments. The information gained is purely quantitative – only giving the total number of complaints with no recorded data about the actual consumer or buying patterns.
  ¶ Tuesday, October 07, 2003

  Assignment #4- Survey-Net assignment #4 (pdf)  ¶ Tuesday, October 07, 2003

  Ray Nosko
Marketing and the Internet
Assignment 4
October 7, 2003


I’ve never used any of the “savvy” sites listed on pages 263-264 of the E-Marketing text. A quick scan through the list yielded no standout, must-see site. Since I’m in the process of buying a house and moving out-of-state, I decided on The U.S. Census Report at http://www.census.gov. I thought I could find out some information about my new community while looking at the usefulness of the site (in terms of market analysis). I’m sure some of the other sites listed could provide similar information, but the Census site seems somehow more official.
Visually, the site is very clean. I had one interesting experience with the site. I began my look at the site on my home Macintosh. I have both a Mac and a PC at work, but since I use the PC for testing web sites I tend to use the PC for web surfing. When I pulled the site up on my work PC, I thought I was at the wrong site. Even though the layout was the same, the colors were very different. The site on a PC is much darker and so the site has a slightly different “feel.”
The page has a typical web portal layout. The site’s main navigation falls along the left-hand side of the page with the main content of the page divided into categories very much like Yahoo. The right-hand side of the page used for “Quick Facts” and announcement-type links.
Since I was interested in finding out facts about Pennsylvania, I started with the “State & County Quick Facts” drop down on the right side of the main page. Statistical information about the state is presented in a large table. The information included the total population in 2001, the percent change since 2000, and the percent change from 1990 to 2000. Demographic information including education level, ethnic origin, and per capita income level are also highlighted. Business information like manufactures shipments, retail sales, and minority-owned firms is included.
This page allows you to narrow the information down to the county level. I selected Adams County. I was surprised to find out that Adams County contains no metropolitan areas. I assumed that the Gettysburg/Hanover/Littlestown area would be large enough to count as a metropolitan area, but I guess not. In contrast, Johnstown, PA in Cambria County is considered a metropolitan area.
I also found out that only 79.7% of persons 25 or older have a high school diploma. Only 16.7% of adults in this same group have a Bachelor’s degree or higher. In contrast, Howard County Maryland (where I work) has a high school diploma rate of 93.1% and a higher education rate of 52.9%. This information may not be significant in itself, but combined with other demographic information and sales information it could be very useful in establishing market segments.
I found making comparisons of different counties within the same state and different states to be useful, but the site does not directly allow for this. I was forced to open multiple windows so that I could easily compare statistics.
The site also contains other areas of interest:
· Population projections
· Income projections
· Business surveys
· Maps
· Calendars
· Links for teachers

The real power of the site is in the availability of raw census data and datasets. To folks with training in statistical analysis, the information found here is a potential gold mine.
In all, this is a very useful site. Like any site based on statistical information, a working knowledge of data and statistics would help to get the most out of the site. However, even without a working knowledge of statistics, the site is very informative.
  ¶ Tuesday, October 07, 2003

  assignment #4 by Jason Lisica  ¶ Tuesday, October 07, 2003

  Emily Christenson . Assignment #4 www.nielsen-netratings.com

Before exploring this site, I was mostly familiar with Nielsen in connection with television ratings. The Nielsen//NetRatings group provides similar audience research and analysis, but with respect to the Internet. Users can sign up and pay for one of the full services offered by Nielsen//Netratings (such as Internet marketing strategy tools and custom research), or peruse the surprisingly generous amount of information available for free.

In terms of pay services, the Web site clearly defines what they offer, breaking down descriptions by product, then illustrating how each service can be used in different industries. The information on the site offered free-of-charge, however, includes a News and Information section and a Featured Data section. The News and Information section contains a collection of 2-page press releases organized by month, roughly ten per month. These press releases contain interesting information about recent Internet habits. For example, one September release shows the amount of Internet traffic on the nasa.gov site leading up to Hurricane Isabel making landfall, while another mentions that the late-September season premiers of certain popular television shows drove a significant amount of viewers to the network’s Web site. Here one can also view or sign up to receive via email the NetReporter newsletter, a consolidated electronic publication of recent news articles. The Featured Data section contains weekly and/or monthly top rankings of Internet use, such as the top ten parent company sites visited and average length of time spent at each. A great feature is that this information is available for 11 countries in addition to the U.S. This section also includes a Monthly Featured Analysis article—this month highlights the percent increase in broadband users vs. narrowband in the United States. Also available in this section are AdRelevance Metrics and Analytics, which give data from research on Internet advertising.

One weakness of this site is that in the free portion, you cannot break down Internet usage by specific demographic groups, over specific periods of time. I imagine that this is possible through the paid service. Also, in the AdRelevance section of the site there is lots of information about which companies and industries are advertising on the Internet and where they are advertising, but there is no information regarding the successfulness of the ads.

In addition to giving up-to-date general Internet usage statistics, the information on the Nielsen//NetRatings site shows connections between traditional media and the Internet. This information is useful in making decisions regarding if, when, and how marketers should use the Internet to reach their target markets. From the information accessible on the site, one could determine which sites are the most popular at both home and work and how long users spend at each, on average. Marketers can also use the information on the site to see what non-Internet events drive people to the Internet, such as print ad campaigns or television shows, and use that information to know where to have an Internet presence so that they can better reach their target market.
  ¶ Tuesday, October 07, 2003

  Analysis Assignment 4 : Gina Eliadis

Survey.net: It's Not Exactly Power-Polling

At first glance, survey.net seems completely useless as a tool for identifying and understanding marketing segments. The site offers questionnaires and forums spanning a wide range of social and political topics, inviting visitors to share their opinions, along with a few bits of personal information.

My first impression, however, was that this was nothing more than an invitation for any moron with a modem to sound off. Indeed, one of the forums I visited was so polluted with incoherent ranting that I failed to see how any data of value could be gleaned from this site.

But in taking a closer look, I began to see that survey.net has at least something to offer marketers.

Any one questionnaire apparently collects a significant amount of user data. For example, a current survey about online intellectual property asks respondents for their age, sex and level of education, while also probing their online habits and views on cyber property. Another survey on media content control seems to chart, among other things, opinions on technology access devices (like the V-chip) and their percieved value in protecting children from potentially harmful content. Interestingly, most of the respondents here were young women with no children of their own. Marketers might easily infer that this is a hot button issue with this particular segment. And most respondents here seemed to favor parental responsibility over technological solutions. This is something that marketers of the V-chip, for example, would have to overcome.

The questionnaires, however, are short (usually fifteen questions or fewer) so the amount of data they gather is limited when compared to more rigorous surveying. In addition, the number of topics currently being surveyed is rather small (fewer than fifteen), and there are only eight past surveys in the archives.

Features like the online forums and user comment areas seem to be less useful than the questionnaires in gathering market data. In these portions of the site, users engage in a sort of freestyle sharing of opinion but there is no information on the users themselves. Although users must register to have access to the forums, they are required to provide only minimal information. And even if the user data collected through registration were somehow useful, it could only be viewed by the site’s owner or third parties with whom that information is shared. It is certainly not accessible to the casual visitor to survey.net.

Marketers may choose to browse the forums and user comment areas for word-of-mouth publicity. For example, several posts in one of the forums mentioned a brand name in a negative light. It’s unclear how much momentum against a brand could be generated in a single survey forum. But other than browsing posts for this sort of discussion, I can’t imagine how marketers would gain any understanding of market segments through the forums and comment areas.

Overall, survey.net can be useful to some marketers. The scope of topics surveyed is not impressive. Nor is the scope of the user data that has been collected. What little data has been gathered, though, is detailed and telling. Most importantly, one gets the sense that the surveying methods used here are not the most scientific so the reliability of the results, in my opinion, is questionable. Survey.net is worth a look but it’s not exactly a one-stop source for useful market data.

  ¶ Tuesday, October 07, 2003

  Assignment #4-Melanie Cramer Cyberatlas.internet.com is an informative website designed to provide Internet marketing professionals with access to the most comprehensive list of market research results. Companies, such as Nielsen/NetRating, and Jupiter Research, conduct Internet market research and publish their findings. Cyberatlas then organizes the data according to subject matter, or market, and posts it to their website. Visitors to the site have the opportunity to opt-in to a bi-weekly (Tuesdays and Thursdays) e-mail newsletter that highlights the latest market research trends. In addition to statistical research, the site contains information about cyberatlas and relevant conference information for the marketing professional. Sections titled, “Internet.com” and “Internet Commerce” contains advertisements and links to vendors who specialize in everything from graphics and website development to IT functions.

This site’s homepage headlines the most current market research findings with a link (within the cyberatlas website) to the complete article. For example, an article titled, “The Deadly Duo—Spam and Viruses” posted on October 6th. Research conducted in September 2003 showed an increase in spam as a direct result of events occurring in the political sector. The article provided the visitor with a detailed breakdown of the types of spam and the message frequency. It also provided research on the number of emails sent per day versus the number received per day. In the Advertising realm, research was compiled by industry on the percentage of direct e-mails opened by users. The article also provided the visitor with the percentages of users to opt-in to newsletters versus promotional pieces. It also warned that more sophisticated network spam filters would affect these high success rates in the future.

Using the sidebar, the visitor can navigate quickly by clicking on the specific research they need. The site provides visitors with links to geographic, demographic, and traffic pattern research. This allows visitors to narrow their research study information to a more specific topic. The site provides a six-month history of research findings. In June 2003, researchers determined that Sweden ranked first as an IT nation while the United States fell in the rankings. The most recent article posted on October 2nd draws a correlation between geography and online surfing. Statistical information (compiled by geographic region) was provided on advertising performance and the percentage of users in various age categories. Visitors can also access the “stats toolbox” that quickly sorts the research data by various statistical headings. By way of a topic drop down menu, visitors can obtain a complete market research listing of traffic, ads, or e-commerce research studies. The visitor also is given the option to choose very broad topic areas such as 1999 research findings. The easy to read table provides the article’s title, completion date, and research company responsible for the study.

If the visitor is searching for research on a specific market, they have the option to choose from a variety of business sectors. The visitor can access the most current research results from advertising, the financial sector, or healthcare. Studies were done on health insurance companies and their use of the Internet to perform customer service functions. Research found that although these companies are allowing subscribers to access their health information on line, subscribers were reluctant to use it because of security concerns. Research was also conducted on physicians’ use of the Internet to access drug information from pharmaceutical companies. Although the Internet offered an added convenience, physicians still wanted to meet sales representatives one-on-one in order to receive “incentive perks” from the pharmaceutical company. Visitors to the site also have the option to pull information from archived files.

This site is a valuable resource for any marketing communications specialist. It is easy to navigate, well organized, and the most current research studies are presented first. This is crucial in the ever-changing business environment, created by the Internet, because it allows marketing communications specialists to stay on top of current trends and remain effective. E-marketers can access research studies quickly and efficiently and focus their energy on the message they are trying to convey. Millions of messages are sent to people every day and it is the e-marketer’s role to ensure their message reaches their target audience the first time. By analyzing the market research results from this site, marketing communication specialists can determine the most effective means for reaching their target audience. This will ensure an adequate return on investment for the company. Conducting research to identify market segments can be time consuming and expensive. This site also offers cost savings for e-marketers because it compiles research data from the various firms that specialize in market research.

One caution needs to be considered when accessing statistical data from this website. Cyberatlas clearly states that they do not conduct their own market research. They simply compile the information and present it in consolidated articles. It is the responsibility of the e-marketer to contact the research firms with any questions concerning the outcomes. Before using the data, e-marketers need to understand how the research was conducted and the parameters that were used to ensure the data’s accuracy. To avoid responsibility, Cyberatlas discloses the name of the market research company prior to posting any statistical information.
  ¶ Tuesday, October 07, 2003

  #4: EJ LEE Comscore Media Metrix (www.Comscore.com)

 
Comscore Networks is a global information provider to companies in marketing, sales and trading strategies, and it is the largest continuously measured consumer panel of its kind both online and offline. Comscore advises on sales and marketing efforts by providing knowledge of customers, competitors and markets. Comscore Networks tries to provide analysis on consumer behavior. How Comscore provides the knowledge is based on cross-section study of global Internet users. Consumer information is being captured by consumers use of their Web-wide browsing, buying and other transaction behavior, including offline purchasing. Through collection technologies and data projection, Comscore analyzes of surfing and buying behavior, and helps marketers understand consumer activity. Comscore presents the analysis that "Traditional online research panels are based on small measurement samples that are prone to inaccuracy and limited in depth of detail. Web server logs provide no insight into the activity of visitors after they've left your site. And with clickstream databases one can only guess at the actual interaction of a visitor, since these sources offer no view of the actual content on and interaction with specific Web pages." (About Comscore/ who we are) 
Comscore's databases provides information on a variety of marketing applications including customer relationship and campaign management systems, personalization engines, ad servers, and commerce engines. Comscore delivers solutions that focus on meeting client needs through two divisions, which are Comscore Marketing Solutions and Comscore Media Metrix. Comscore Marketing Solutions include Key Industries (Automotive, Travel, Pharmaceutical, Retail, Financial Services, Telecommunications, Media, Entertainment and Consumer Packaged Goods), Survey Solutions, Comscore Macro and Investment Analysis Solutions, and Private Networks. Comscore Marketing Solutions deliverables include Case Studies, Data to Fuel CRM Applications, Online and Offline Consumer, Spending, Marketing ROI Analysis, Consumer Behavioral Models, Brand Analysis, Competitive Sales Tracking, Industry Benchmarks, Consumer Group Segmentation, Economic Forecasts and Consumer Response Tracking. 
Comscore Media Metrix includes Media Metrix 2.0 / XPC, Audience insite Measures (AiM), Ad Sales Networks, Online Search Solutions, Hispanic Services, LocalScore, Custom Analysis, Client Focus and Global Services. Comscore Media Metrix reporting includes Site Traffic 
& Usage Intensity, Populations, Audience Demographics, Qualitative Consumer Information, Online Buying Power, Local Market Measurement, Competitive Intelligence, Worldwide Internet Trends, and Home, Work and University.

Comscore Networks has a very useful feature which is called Audience insite Measures (AiM) and this tool helps you identify and understand market segments well with its variety of researches. Aim is a tool that helps target a specific audience online. Comscore describes AiM as follows; 
"Audience insite Measures (AiM) is the only online media planning tool to combine continuously monitored online usage data with the most detailed qualitative consumer data collected from the same audience panel. This technique ensures the highest level of data 
integrity and accuracy. AiM provides agencies, advertisers, and media sellers with access to comprehensive qualitative consumer information, including: technology ownership and 
usage, demographic, lifestyle, attitudinal, purchase and offline media-consumption data." (media metrix)

The Website Ranking Reports, which shows listings of the top sites for a particular audience, permits defining the online target needed and helps more efficiently reach a specific audience by better matching the audience to websites. Site Profile Reports, which provides complete demographic, lifestyle information and purchase behavior for one or more sites, allows comparison between sites by revealing the ways in which one site's audience differs from its competitors in attracting specific services and products. These reports are particularly useful to publishers and agencies. Market Profile Reports provides comprehensive information for a specified online target market delivering insights into a particular audience or purchasers' behaviors, as well as their online size and reach. 
Aim includes these features such as Access Relevant Reporting which shows consumer behavioral data, Immediate Access to Custom Reporting which reports on specific criteria in seconds, and Advanced Search and Navigation which helps users choose the data points most relevant to their queries. AiM Qualitative Categories are Demographics, Other Media Consumption Habits: TV, Radio and Print, Internet Experience, Online Shopping, Electronics Ownership, Computer Ownership, Automotive, Telecommunications, Finance, Travel, Lifestyles and Attitudes and Health.  
Comscore Networks provides well-organized information in a very clear and easy to understand format. The company deals with huge variety of complicated information but still maintains ease of use. One of the unique benefits of this site is comparisons can be made between target audience's activities online and offline. Overall, this site provides information on consumers that can divided into large groups with general criteria or small subsets with specific market requirements and do so with accuracy. This service of data mining is in high demand in the ever increasingly more competitive business world. 

about Comscore/ who we are
http://www.comscore.com/about/default.asp

media metrix
http://www.comscore.com/metrix/aim.asp  ¶ Tuesday, October 07, 2003

  Assign #4 On-line: My assignment #4 is on my server at www.davidreiss.com/ub  ¶ Monday, October 06, 2003

  Assignment 4 - Beth Mazur PDF of assignment 4 (92K)
  ¶ Monday, October 06, 2003

  yet another test, but you'll live...  ¶ Wednesday, October 01, 2003

  another test, sorry...  ¶ Wednesday, October 01, 2003

  test of my new blog editor.... jason lisica (please disregard)
  ¶ Wednesday, October 01, 2003