Lecture Mail: Lesson 1 Day 3
Hi All!
A number of Internet marketers argue that the addition of individualism and interactivity to the marketing mix fundamentally changes the retail-marketing environment. Instead of creating broad segments of consumers with similar tastes and needs, and then designing products and services for them, Internet marketers must focus on segments of one and allow individual consumers to participate in positioning products and services.
Non-Internet marketers respond that this argument is specious (look it up!). While the new environment does allow for more interactivity, Internet marketers will continue to develop broad consumer segments because it is not profitable to serve segments of one. Moreover, the marketer is still in charge of positioning the product or service. Obviously savvy marketers are acutely aware of the tastes and preferences of their consumers, but it will always be the marketer’s responsibility to translate this into an actionable strategy.
What does your group think? Is the Internet environment that different from more traditional marketing venues? Take a look at your assigned web-sites and decide who is in the driver’s seat of each.
So far, you have two questions to
answer with respect to your assigned web-sites. They are:
(1) How does each site use individualism and interactivity?
(2) Who is most responsible for shaping the consumer experience, the consumer
or the Internet marketer?
Remember, there are no right or wrong answers. The two web-sites could manage
their environments entirely differently and still be successful. It all depends
(my favorite answer!) on how they design their marketing mix.
See you soon – Marc and Barbara