IMED 2409 – Chapter 4 – Marketing on the Web
Assignment: Complete Exercise E3
Complete Case Problems C1. Oxfam, parts 2 & 5
Exercise 3
Discount chains Sears, Target, and Wal-Mart each operate major online stores in addition to their many retail locations. For one of these companies (or a similar firm if none of these three is located near you), visit a physical location and the online store to identify specific customer touchpoints and observe how the company’s brand is presented in each. In a report of about 100 words, evaluate the touchpoint consistency achieved by the company and provide suggestions for how the company might improve its touchpoint consistency.
Case 1. Oxfam
For more than 60 years, Oxfam has worked through and with its donors, staff, project partners, and project participants to overcome poverty and injustice around the world. Early in World War II, Greece was occupied by the German Army. Allied forces created a naval blockade around Greece to prevent further German expansion; however, the blockade caused Greek civilians to suffer severe shortages of food and medicine. In response to this humanitarian crisis, a number of Famine Relief Committees were formed by people in Great Britain to ship emergency supplies through the Allied blockade.
Most of these committees ceased operations after the war ended and the Greek crisis subsided; however, one of them, the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief saw a continuing need throughout post-war Europe and expanded its operations to provide aid there and in later years, the rest of the world. The Committee eventually became known by its abbreviated telegraph address, Oxfam, and the name was formally adopted in 1965.
Oxfam’s growth was due to many dedicated volunteers and donors who continued and expanded their financial support of the organization. In the 1960s, Oxfam began to generate significant revenues from its retail stores. These shops, located throughout Great Britain, accept donations of goods and handcrafted items from overseas for resale. Today, those stores number more than 800 and are staffed by more than 20,000 volunteers. The British organization has joined with 15 other charitable organizations to become an international confederation devoted to ending poverty and injustice with operations in 98 countries and annual program expenditures of more than $900 million. Oxfam often deals with humanitarian disasters that are beyond the scope of its resources. In these cases, the organization provides aid by mobilizing an international lobbying staff that has contacts with key aid agencies based in other countries, governments in the affected area, and the United Nations.
In 1996, Oxfam opened a Web site to provide information about its efforts to supporters and potential donors. The Web site included detailed reports on Oxfam’s work, past and present, and allows site visitors to make donations to the organization. Although Oxfam gladly accepts any donations, it encourages supporters to commit to a continuing relationship by making regular donations. In exchange, it provides regular updates about its activities on the Web site and through an e-mailed monthly newsletter. The Web site includes a sign-up page for the e-mail newsletter, which goes out to several hundred thousand supporters. When supporters sign up for the newsletter, they can choose to receive other e-mails from Oxfam. The supporters who have opted in constitute the Oxfam opt-in the e-mail list.
Oxfam has been involved in relief work in Sudan since the 1970s, when it provided help to Ugandan refugees in the southern part of the country. In its recent work there, it has set up sanitary facilities and provided clean drinking water camps that house thousands of displaced people fleeing pro-government Arab militias. The need in Sudan rapidly exceeded Oxfam’s capacity and it decided to use e-mail to mobilize support for the project.
Oxfam planned an e-mail campaign that would send three e-mails in HTML format to supporters on its existing opt-in e-mail list over a six-week period. The first e-mail included a photo of children in one of the camps. The text of the e-mail message described Oxfam’s efforts to provide clean water to the displaced people living in the Sudanese camps. The e-mail included links in two places that took recipients to a Web page that had been created specifically to receive visitors responding to that e-mail message. The Web page allowed visitors to make a donation and asked them to provide their e-mail addresses, which would be used to send updates on the Sudan project. A second e-mail was sent two weeks later to addresses on the list that had not yet responded. This second e-mail included a video file that played automatically when the e-mail was opened. The video conveyed the message that Oxfam had delivered $300,000 in aid to the camps but that more help was urgently needed in the region. This second e-mail included three links that led to the Web page created for the first e-mail. Two weeks later, a final e-mail was sent to addresses on the list that had not responded to either of the first two e-mails. This third e-mail included an audio recording in which Oxfam’s executive director made a plea for the cause. The e-mail also included text that provided examples of which aid items could be provided for specific donation amounts.
Oxfam’s three-part e-mail campaign was considered a success by direct marketing standards. The first e-mail was opened by 32 percent of recipients and had a click-through rate of 8 percent. The second e-mail had similar, but somewhat higher, results (33 percent opened, 10 percent clicked-through). Ninety percent of those who opened the e-mail watched the video. The third e-mail continued the slightly increasing trends for opening and attention (34 percent opened, and 94 percent listened to the audio), but the click-through rate was much higher than the previous two e-mails (14 percent). Also, the dollar amount of donations increased with each subsequent e-mailing. The e-mail campaign raised more than $450,000 in its six-week period.
Oxfam coordinated this e-mail effort with other awareness activities it was conducting in the same time period. The organization sent letters to supporters who had not provided e-mail addresses and ran ads in two newspapers (The Independent and The Guardian) that carried messages similar to those in the e-mails.
Required:
2. For this campaign, Oxfam chose to use e-mails that contained HTML, audio, and video elements rather than using plain-text emails. In about 100 words, describe the advantages and disadvantages of using formats other than plain-text in this type of e-mail campaign. Be sure to identify any specific trade-offs that Oxfam faced in deciding not to use plain-text e-mail.
5. If Oxfam were to undertake a similar emergency fund-raising effort today, it might use social media. In about 300 words, describe how Oxfam could use Facebook, Google+, and Twitter in combination with its existing online resources to enhance or replace the e-mail campaign presentation of your results to your class.
IMED 2409 – Chapter 5 – Business-to-Business Activities: Improving Efficiency and Reducing Costs
Assignment: Complete Exercise E6
Complete Case Problems C1. Harley-Davidson, parts 1 (400 words) & 3 (200 words)
Exercise 6
Some business and political leaders argue that offshoring is dangerous because it can move jobs from developed countries to less developed countries. Others argue that although offshoring might displace workers in the short run, in the longer term, everyone benefits by having developing economies in the developed world. Using resources in your library or online, present two arguments for and two arguments against a U.S company offshoring the maintenance of its customer database (error checking, removing duplicate entries, and so on).
Case 1. Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson manufactures high-end motorcycles and sells them worldwide. The company sells more than $4 billion in motorcycles and related products each year, and has one of the most recognized brands in the world. However, business was not always so good for the company. In the 1980s, the company was on the brink of bankruptcy. Facing increasing competition from Japanese and German manufacturers, Harley-Davidson had allowed its quality standards and cost controls to slip. In a legendary business turnaround, the company rebuilt itself. Harley-Davidson completely changed its supply chain to fulfill the expectations of its brand-aware customers.
Over a period of several years, Harley-Davidson reduced its number of suppliers from 4000 to fewer than 350. More important, it began to work with those suppliers to reduce costs throughout the supply chain. Each supplier is expected to find ways (with the help and cooperation of Harley-Davidson) to reduce manufacturing costs and improve quality every year. This was the only way Harley-Davidson believed it could avoid moving its factories to lower-cost locations in other countries. The efforts paid off and the company still manufactures its motorcycles only in the United States.
In 2000, the company decided to focus its cost reduction and quality improvement efforts on its information technology infrastructure. Because it had been so successful in working with its suppliers to reduce manufacturing costs and improve quality, Harley-Davidson wanted to do the same thing with information technology. By using Internet technologies to share information throughout the supply chain, the company hoped to find opportunities for efficiencies and cost reductions at all stages of the process of creating motorcycles.
When the company first talked with its suppliers about its information technology initiative, those suppliers noted that each of Harley-Davidson’s main factories used different invoices, production schedules, and purchasing procedures. The suppliers explained that this created difficulties for them when they dealt with more than one factory and increased their cost of doing business with Harley-Davidson. Thus, one of the first things the company did was to standardize forms and procedures. Then it moved to require all suppliers to use EDI. For smaller suppliers, the company set up a Web site that had Internet EDI capabilities. The smaller suppliers could simply log in to the Web site and conduct EDI transactions through their Web browsers.
This Web browser interface grew to become a complete extranet portal called Harley-Davidson Supply Net. All suppliers now use the portal to consolidate orders, track production schedule changes, obtain inventory forecasts in real time, and obtain payments for materials shipped. The portal also allows suppliers to obtain product testing information, part specifications, and product design drawings.
Key elements in both EDI and the Web portal systems have been bar codes and scanners. Most individual parts and all shipments are bar coded. The bar-code information is integrated with the materials tracking, invoicing, and payment information in the systems and is made available, as appropriate, to suppliers. Harley-Davidson uses bar-code standards developed by the Automotive Industry Action Group.
Required:
1. Become familiar with RFID technology and its potential uses in Harley-Davidson’s supply chain using the information presented in this chapter and information you obtain through the Web Links, your favorite search engine, and your library. In about 400 words, evaluate the advantages and disadvantages for Harley-Davidson of replacing its bar codes and scanners technology with RFID.
3. When Harley-Davidson implements RFID, it will likely use the technology to help manage its relationships with its main customers, which are the local dealerships that sell motorcycles and use replacement parts in their shops. In about 200 words, outline the issues that will likely arise when Harley-Davidson begins requiring RF
IMED 2409 – Chapter 6 – Social Networking, Mobile Commerce, and Online Auctions
Assignment: Complete Exercise E2 (300 WORDS) & E3 (100 WORDS)
Complete Case Problem C2. Old Metamora, parts 1 (400 words) & 2 (500 words)
Exercise 2
Review both the Etsy and the We Love Etsy Web sites. In about 300 words, outline the elements of Etsy’s Web site and business philosophy that make it a social networking site in addition to being an online business that sells goods.
Exercise 3
Compare the apps offered in the Apple Apps for iPhone store to those offered in the Android Market. In about 100 words, present a comparison of the software applications offered in each store. You may also comment on the usability of the site.
Case 2. Old Metamora
Betty Shriver is the owner of Betty’s Crystal, a small shop that sells collectible glass figurines. Betty’s shop carries many items that she purchased from estate sales and regional auctions, but the shop also sells new crystal figurines from manufacturers such as Baccarat, Lalique, Orrefors, and Swarovski. The shop is located in Metamora, Indiana, which is a popular tourist destination for weekend travelers in the Midwest. The town of Old Metamora is a small historic area in a rural setting that is less than a day’s drive from seven major metropolitan areas: Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, Detroit, Indianapolis, Louisville, and St. Louis.
The shop is very busy on weekends and during the spring and summer months when tourists flock to Old Metamora. In the early fall, the tourist traffic slows considerably, and in the winter months, the town becomes almost deserted. Two years ago, Betty began to pick up extra business during the off season by auctioning items on eBay. Not only did the auctions help keep inventory moving during the slow months, but Betty found that she was able to carry a wider selection of items in the store. In the past, she would see unusual items at estate sales and auctions that she feared would not sell quickly in the shop. Now Betty knows that any item that does not sell in the shop can be auctioned online quite easily. Another unexpected benefit of participating in online auctions is that Betty developed relationships with regular buyers of crystal figurines and with people who run collectibles stores in other parts of the country. Every auction involves at least two e-mails (one to confirm the final bid and another to confirm the payment). Many successful bidders also send e-mail messages to Betty when they receive the item with questions about the item, or just to thank Betty for sending the item so quickly. Some of these e-mail exchanges continue with discussions related to crystal figurines and other collectible items.
Betty’s online auction experiences prompted her to consider expanding the online portion of her business. She has heard (from other shop owners) that eBay allows people to create online stores within the eBay site and that Amazon.com offers a similar service that lists seller’s items on Amazon.com’s regular product pages. She is also interested in creating a Web site that contains photos and descriptions of popular crystal figurines with additional information about how they are made. Betty also wants to include a list of figurines that are no longer manufactured (which makes them more valuable) and a guide to buying collectible crystal figurines that could help her customers and bidders on her auctions make more informed decisions as they add to their collections. She believes that such a site could attract a large number of people interested in crystal figurines. She wants to find ways to direct these site visitors to her auctions and her proposed Web store. Betty has hired you as a consultant to build on her ideas and to help her develop an expansion strategy for her online business activities.
Required:
1. Search for information about Amazon Marketplace and eBay Stores on the Web and in your library that will help you make a recommendation to Betty regarding which alternative would provide the best avenue for her online business expansion. Support your recommendation with relevant facts, including specific costs of operating each type of store and specific benefits that Betty could gain by using one or the other. Summarize your recommendation and supporting facts in a report to Betty of 400 words.
2. Outline a strategy that Betty could implement using a social networking site such as Facebook that might direct traffic to her Web site, to her auctions on eBay, and to her products for sale on Amazon.com. For each element in the strategy, provide an explanation of how it would help achieve Betty’s goals. Summarize the social networking promotion strategy in a report to Betty of about 500 words.
