Samuel Gordon Jewelers: A Small Business That Gets Social Media
October 4, 2010 by Brahm Canzer
Filed under Part 2 Starting and Growing Your Business, Part 4: Marketing Management
Description: Daniel Gordon loves to chat. As President of Oklahoma City-based Samuel Gordon Jewelers — and the 4th generation of his family to run the 106-year-old company — you might figure that being social comes with the territory, since he is the face of his company.
Source: BNET.com
Date: 09/28/2010
Questions for discussion:
- Why has this firm succeeded online?
- Describe the way in which the firm has used social media?
- Who is the target customer?
- What other online strategies might work well?
Starbucks Stirs Up New In-Store Web Hub
September 27, 2010 by Brahm Canzer
Filed under Part 2 Starting and Growing Your Business, Part 4: Marketing Management
Description: At the Think Mobile conference in San Francisco, Starbucks VP Adam Brotman outlines the company’s vision for a new Web-based network available in its coffee shops. In partnership with Yahoo, the new site will offer movies, music, and premium content from The Wall Street Journal and Zagat for free.
Source: BNET.com – video report
Date: 09/23/2010
Link: http://www.bnet.com/videos/starbucks-stirs-up-new-in-store-web-hub/467814
Questions for discussion:
- Summarize the plan at Starbucks to expand into other businesses by using the web?
- Do you think this plan will be successful?
- What other online strategies would you recommend to Starbucks that allows it to leverage its brand and stores.
Home video biz has become ‘quite baffling to consumers’
September 27, 2010 by Brahm Canzer
Filed under Part 2 Starting and Growing Your Business, Part 4: Marketing Management
Description: Apple CEO Steve Jobs sang a familiar tune this month when he described a big selling point for his newly revamped Apple TV. The device, which connects TV sets to the Internet, will make it “really simple” for people to rent movies on demand, he said.
Source: USAToday.com
Date: 09/23/2010
Link: http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2010-09-23-homevideo23_CV_N.htm
Questions for discussion:
- What does this article say about the changes taking place in video?
- Do you agree with the arguments and predictions presented?
- What would you advise Steve Jobs to do at Apple, if you were able to present your ideas?
Burger joint’s social media recipe
September 20, 2010 by Brahm Canzer
Filed under Part 2 Starting and Growing Your Business, Part 4: Marketing Management
Description: 4Food uses social networks like Twitter and Foursquare in lieu of traditional marketing to let customers share their own burger creations.
Source: CNNMoney.com – video report
Date: 09/16/2010
Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2010/09/15/t_4food_burger_donut_twitter.cnnmoney/
Questions for discussion:
- What do you think of the use of social marketing, as demonstrated by this small business?
- Do you think social media works better for small businesses than it can for big?
- Would you use social media to promote this business as expected by the owners?
- Why do you suppose so many people have responded to this promotional strategy?
- How can this small business encourage more compliance by customers and response by receivers of social media messaging?
iPad clones hit shelves in China
September 20, 2010 by Brahm Canzer
Filed under Part 1 Business in a Global Environment, Part 2 Starting and Growing Your Business, Part 4: Marketing Management
Description: As Apple launches the iPad in China, locally-made wannabes are released at a fraction of the price.
Source: CNNMoney.com – video report
Date: 09/17/2010
Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2010/09/17/t_iclone_china.cnnmoney/
Questions for discussion:
- Do you think consumers will look at these devices as equivalents to Apple iPads?
- How is Apple able to sell iPads at five times the price of these devices?
- Why do you think the price is so much lower than Apple’s iPads?
- How important is the software in these devices to consumers?
- On what basis should the Chinese manufacturers market these products to consumers?
Crowdsourcer Threadless’ Life Beyond T-shirts
September 20, 2010 by Brahm Canzer
Filed under Part 2 Starting and Growing Your Business, Part 4: Marketing Management
Description: With designs vetted by devotees, Threadless has helped Dell sell computers and Havaianas sell flip-flops. Next up: Expanding into brick and mortar retail chains
Source: Businessweek.com
Date: 09/16/2010
Link: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_39/b4196024715129.htm
Questions for discussion:
- Why does this marketing strategy work so well?
- What other businesses do you think could succeed by using the same “voter/buyer” social media model?
- Are there any limitations to this marketing approach?
Brin: Google search just got smarter
September 13, 2010 by Brahm Canzer
Filed under Part 2 Starting and Growing Your Business, Part 4: Marketing Management
Description: Google’s co-founder Sergey Brin says that the new ‘Instant’ search will help people save time and accomplish more.
Source: CNNMoney.com – video report
Date: 09/08/2010
Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2010/09/08/f_bt_google_instant.fortune/
Questions for discussion:
- How has “Google search” changed over the years?
- Do you think there is a “limit” to the types of search that Google can offer users?
- What are the commercial implications for “search” engines like Google?
- Do you think the market needs more than one search engine?
Are Facebook users really more narcissistic?
September 13, 2010 by Brahm Canzer
Filed under Part 2 Starting and Growing Your Business
Description: The media latches on to a study tying the social network to low self-esteem — and misses the real picture.
Source: Salon.com
Date: 09/09/2010
Link: http://www.salon.com/technology/facebook/?story=/mwt/feature/2010/09/09/facebook_narcissists
Questions for discussion:
- Do you agree with these research findings?
- Do you think the sample size is sufficient to generalize about Facebook users?
- What would you do with this information if you were a Facebook marketer?
- What would you do with this information if you were an advertiser on Facebook?
- Do you think this report will change the behavior of users at Facebook?
Rex on Techs: Overnight Viral Success
September 6, 2010 by Brahm Canzer
Filed under Part 2 Starting and Growing Your Business, Part 4: Marketing Management
Description: Internet phenomenons like “Bed Intruder Song” are textbook cases for how online videos turn the most mundane of events into sensations, where random people just being themselves become quasi-celebrities. Rex Crum reports.
Source: Marketwatch.com – video report
Date: 08/27/2010
Questions for discussion:
- How do you explain this example of viral communication success?
- More importantly, does the financial success suggest a new marketing model emerging for others to follow?
- How would you expect traditional music industry marketers to respond to this phenomenon?
- What advice would you send to marketers that would allow them to exploit this type of marketing?
Apple TV swings hard but misses
September 6, 2010 by Brahm Canzer
Filed under Part 2 Starting and Growing Your Business, Part 4: Marketing Management
Description: The previous version of Apple TV was dubbed “take two.” Will the new model be known as “strike three”?
Source: CNNMoney.com
Date: 09/02/2010
Link: http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/09/02/apple-tv-swings-hard-but-misses/
Questions for discussion:
- Do you think the Apple TV will prove to be another flop?
- Ideally, what do you think TV viewers want from Apple?
- How can changing consumer viewing habits be reflected in this sort of technology?
