An assignment for Marketing class.
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While
looking for three organizations that utilize effective marketing through
technology initiatives, the first one that I found was the NCAA athletic
department. This one surprised me, until I started thinking about it. With the entertainment
industry being very competitive, brand improvement within collegiate sports
sought for an improvement of the market share for their ‘products’ (Cooper,
2010). This makes sense, since college athletes have a complex structure with
athletes being paid for endorsement being frowned upon, and other barriers to
getting their name out there. Increasing
their market share would of course produce favorable results financially, but
create added benefits of sustainability as well, with increased brand
recognition (p. 23).
Sports have always been entertaining, whether in person or
on the television, but with the increase of technology, there came a division
of consumer interests. This principle will catch our attention later, but some
examples will propel our discussion further. No longer do sports overall,
whether NCAA or most other sports, need to be seen to be enjoyed (Kaynak,
Salman, & Tatoglu, 2008). With the advent of podcasts, blogs, fantasy
sports, and social media sights, the brand of sports can be reflected in far
greater detail than just on a sports channel like ESPN (Cooper, 2010). Sports media
has infused itself within a great deal of entertainment venues as well as branding
through independent technologies like athletic websites (p. 27). Thus, although
the amount and degree of a variety of entertainment as arguably never been
higher, some of the oldest forms of American entertainment, such as baseball,
are given new light through embracing new advances in marketing through
technology.
The
second product and organization is the goReader. It would
appear that eBooks started to really start making headway around 2001, along
with other dot com ventures (Hawkins, 2002). Interestingly, even in 2002, there
appeared to be a mixture of emotions regarding the future of eBooks and
readers, especially based on the title of the article Electronic Books: Reports of Their Deaths Have Been Greatly Exaggerated.
One of the main challenges that this product faced, seen particularly through
the goReader, is that it was a uni-tasker. The goReader, specifically made for
college textbooks to help alleviate the costs, still cost about $1,150 (Still
cheaper than textbooks, but only for
reading textbooks!). The authors Muniz,
Billingsley, and Brill (2002) give a comprehensive study of how the goReader
was able to go about marketing a new technology. Hurdles to overcome included
generating and managing demand, assessing all of the available needs of the
consumer, working with publishers to add value without posing a threat, and other
factors (p. 68). Thinking that technology was on their side, and seeing how book
products have continuously been improved technology, through CD-ROM, Project
Guttenberg, the Sony Electronic Book Player (boasting the ability to store 30
titles!) and eventually a Sony Bookman weighing close to two pounds and costing
around $900.00. The eventual result was that “neither of these devices were
successful. Consequently, Sony withdrew from the electronic publishing market
(Muniz, Billingsley, & Brill, 2002).
Eventually
devices came out that would help with every day readings like the TV Guide (a
must have, from that generation!). With demand increasing, prices decreasing,
and major companies like Amazon and Barnes and Noble publishing eBooks (but no Kindle
or Nook yet) the market was murky but moving. As companies like Adobe continued
to improve PDF software, more authors publishing online versions of their
texts, and textbook costs still being an issue, the goReader was ready to go
(p. 68-70)! Competition would continue to be a factor, and they, as a product,
continued to focus primarily on students and colleges. As newer technology came
about, uni-tasking technology would start to dissipate. While they may not be
known as a formidable opponent in today’s technological battle, the strategies
they devised, the consumers they sought, and the struggle through competition
is a great example of what it takes to immerse a new product into an unknown
market.
Cable
television will give us our third example. With the division of interests
created by the aforementioned technology increases (Internet, tablets, handheld
devices, and so forth), the amount of entertainment available only through one
venue (TV) is staggering (see Sreenan & Van der Merwe, 2006).
If one wanted
to watch a show about anything, odds are, someone’s making it. Is this
phenomenon unexpected, or new? An almost prophetic author writes in 1973:
Surely
the most portentous development on the immediate horizon is that of cable
television, already an important factor on the media scene and with growth
estimates that range between 20 and 60 per cent of the households by 1980.
Regardless of what cable's growth rate actually turns out to be, it seems
rather certain that before the end of the century most homes in the country
will have a cable connection that will vastly expand the range of TV choices,
lead to more programming specialization, and facilitate the already existing
trend for television viewing to become an individual rather than a family
affair. As viewing audiences become more selective, the economics of television
will change for the advertiser (Bogart, 1973).
How
accurate a picture did he depict? I especially wanted to recognize, besides the
obvious remark that cable would be in almost every home, the ability of
marketers being able to specialize their efforts at a remarkable rate because
of this. Instead of marketing something that whole families, all presumably the
same, would enjoy, marketers could now specialize to individuals, and lots of them. The companies, therefore, who can
boast the most channels are not just a boon to the consumer, but to advertisers
and marketers as well. If Comcast has xx number of channels, but Direct TV has
xx + x channels, then marketers will naturally feel after the organization that
boasts the most diverse consumer network.
While I normally tune out cable TV
advertisements, I would think if one paid close attention, we could see why
certain products are enhanced to be better than the competitor, and it may not
always be to satisfy the consumer. Does anyone really want 5000 channels?
Luckily the goReader can help us navigate through that monstrous TV guide, but
other than that, it is really to reach the most diverse field of consumers
possible. Cable TV is also becoming involved with higher technology by
implementing applications in tablets software. Comcast’s XFinity is able to be
watched on the go, with portable WiFi now, helping promote their brand even
further. Now you don’t even need cable or a TV to watch Cable TV. I wonder what
our friend Mr. Bogart would say about that?
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I hope you enjoyed the read!
Bogart,
L. (1973). As Media Change, How Will Advertising?. Journal Of Advertising
Research, 13(5), 25-29.
Cooper,
C. G. (2010). New Media Marketing: The Innovative Use of Technology in NCAA
Athletic Department E-Branding Initiatives. Journal Of Marketing Development
& Competitiveness, 5(1), 23-32.
Hawkins,
D. T. (2002). Electronic Books: Reports of Their Deaths Have Been Greatly Exaggerated,
Infotoday.com, retrieved online from http://www.infotoday.com/online/jul02/hawkins.htm
Kaynak,
E., Salman, G. G., & Tatoglu, E. (2008). An integrative framework linking
brand associations and brand loyalty in professional sports. Journal Of
Brand Management, 15(5), 336-357.
Muniz
Jr., A. M., Billingsley, W., & Brill, T. (2002). THE goREADER LAUNCH:
DEVELOPING MARKETING STRATEGY FOR AN INNOVATIVE EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY. Journal
Of Interactive Marketing (John Wiley & Sons), 16(1), 67-88.
Sreenan,
C. J., & Van der Merwe, K. (2006). ENTERTAINMENT NETWORKING. Communications
Of The ACM, 49(11), 30-33
