Marketing Evolved
Consumers are continually becoming more and more sophisticated, especially in an age where we now quantify and track everything. This allows marketers and advertisers to embrace that kind of transparency, put together their own research, and disseminate that information to a more targeted audience, which makes your advertising far more efficient with fewer wasted dollars. The role marketing plays has become more comprehensive, including processes such as planning, implementation, and monitoring & analytics (Manning and Reece, 2008). Analytics have become increasingly important because consumers want to measure success and revise the plan of attack if there are any shortcomings. Instead of putting together a plan and putting the product out there for eyes to see, the marketer now needs to make sure the right eyes see it and with a certain amount of frequency.
At the end of the day, the name of the game is value, and what you can bring to the table will ultimately determine your level of success. Offering a superior value guarantees satisfaction which earns loyalty (Day, 1994). Marketing in contemporary America now favors the cultivation of relationships, proving once and for all that it is, and always has been, all about the people.
ME-Commerce
Any retail item can be purchased online, often with free shipping or some other incentive that actually makes it the pereferential method of shopping. Gone are the days of waiting in endless lines behind the person that has to write a check as slowly as he or she possibly can. Mobile e-commerce has replaced traditional e-commerce…or rather, improved upon it.
You could be strolling down the beach, basking in sunshine while ordering a new grill for Labor Day. Even GM is rolling out a new application that would allow savvy consumers to trade-in their car, and take delivery or test drive a new car, all without bothering to get dressed in the morning.
I already order all of my take-out online when I used to phone it in. Further innovation will herald the dawning of a new Kondratiev Cycle that could yield innovations in every single industry on a global scale, and this would represent a huge boom for the logistics industry, with higher levels of import/export and international shipping business. It would also mean smaller businesses could level the playing field a bit. For instance, I love the asadero cheese from the Licon Dairy in San Elizario, Texas. I encourage everyone to find a niche product that you absolutely love, and see if it's available for international shipping. What an industrious age in which we live!!!
Research And Why We Love It
Research in marketing is utilized to discover consumer insights which, in turn, drives business decisions and the strategy that is to follow. The world is quickly beginning to quantify and track EVERYTHING (and I do mean everything). This is fantastic news for marketing and advertising. We can use these metrics to our advantage. As a matter of fact, we better use them because it's adapt or die out there.
Fortunately, Mad Men Marketing is ahead of the curve. Not only did we become the first in our market to begin using Rentrak, (a wonderful little tool that lets us target the appropriate media buy to your target audience) but we also offer customizable research delivery and custom-tailored case studies.
Why case studies, you may ask? They explore CAUSATION to underlying principles which allows us to tweek our approach. It is empirical research that investigates real-life phenomena. So while every other agency is out there telling you to “trust them”, we do not remain static in our approach like so many others. We are not so overzealous to think we get it right all the time. NO! We are dynamic. We will get you results, quantify them, and show them to you. We will constantly refine and improve our approach, guaranteeing the highest level of efficiency possible.
In 1985 Michael Porter attempted to improve upon Ricardo's comparative advantage and suggested his own theory of competitive advantage. This emphasizes production, efficiencies, and the acquisition of attributes that can be utilized to outpace the competition. Think of Mad Men Marketing as your Swiss Army Knife or the ace up your sleeve because we are delivering our clients comparables, measurables, and demonstrating causative reasons for market change utilizing a number of inputs.
In short, when you perform research, and you can deliver the goods to your client, you're allowing them to track progress….no matter how small it may be. This keeps clients abreast of changing market conditions and keeps them competitive in their industry.
Why I Worship At The Altar Of Google And You Should Too
Google is the leading mobile operating system with Android OS, which is used by Samsung, (which by itself has a 30%+ smartphone market share) HTC, and many other smartphones. If that didn't impress you, maybe this will. Google is obviously the world's largest search engine, but did you know that YouTube is the 2nd largest and is owned by Google? Still not impressed? Google is aiming to become a leader in digital television and even becoming a high end internet service provider with speeds that reach 1 gigabit/second or faster. The internet is so fast, your TV is able to stream live television just as if you were connected to Comcast. If you're still on the fence on whether or not you will pledge your fealty to Google, they are producing Google Glass. These are glasses that provide the wearer with a heads up display of web content and other user selected apps. Should you find yourself wanting to distance yourself from Google just to spite them, you're out of luck. For those of you avoiding Google Plus, you may see a dip in your SEO because Google has incorporated social circles and interactions on Google Plus into their search algorithm. Swear your unwavering allegiance to this zaibatsu juggernaut or perish in the undertow that is the Google tsunami.
The Future of eSports
The greatest achievement of the International 3 is that the prize money was entirely fan-raised. DOTA 2 (Defense of the Ancients 2), is a sequel to a popular modification to the Blizzard game Warcraft 3, with Valve developing the successor. DOTA 2 is a free-to-play game, with micro-transactions for cosmetic and non-essential items. This payment model has become an increasingly popular trend in the gaming industry, and while risky, huge profits have been made by game companies when implemented correctly. For the third tournament, Valve decided to test the popularity of the event with an in-game item for sale called the Compendium.
The Compendium gave a number of cosmetic items, as well as a way to interact in the tournament with a betting system, information on the teams and players, and up to date statistics. In addition to the Compendium, Valve put rewards for the number of money raised with different prizes once money goals were achieved. The total money raised by players was over 2.9 million dollars by 290 thousand people purchasing the 10 dollar Compendium, all of which was given to the top 8 teams. This made for the greatest payout ever in a single eSports event. The gamble has paid off for Valve. With the prize money raised, Valve could focus its money on the event which raised production values to new heights. The International 3 is proof positive that eSports are viable sports, and evidence of how effective crowd sourcing can be.