Summer+2009+Section+08-PS+Week+11

=RECAP! What do ya'll think of Markstrat?!= I really enjoyed it as it had us critically looking at our products, marketing dollars, competitors, etc. and coming up with a plan. When something didn't work, we were able to make corrective plans and almost immediately see the results. Tonya Janna – really enjoying it! There is so much to consider when making business decisions. Too bad in the real world you can’t get “instant” results. I think our team is awesome! ~ Love's Ladies
 * Love it?

Ly- loved it more when doing well.

Markstrat has been an eye-opening experience. It forces you to take into account many variables. I think that it is fairly realistic in that if you are one dimensional and not flexible that you will not be very sucessful.
 * Hate it?
 * Somewhere in Between?

=Week 11 - PARTICIPATION=

Evolution in Marketing Orientations
__Engineer Orientation__: produce what engineers this is best. Ex. IPod touch __Sales Orientation__: increase sales force __Market Orientation__: what market wants – now. Some customization __Participation Orientation__:


 * The “Hype” Curve** – when no one is sure what will happen. Ex. HDTV vs. BluRay

Forrester's Social Technographics Ladder
//Categorizes social computing behaviors into a ladder with six levels of participation;// 1. Creators 2. Critics 3. Collectors 4. Joiners 5. Spectators 6. Inactives

Blogs
Blogs give consumers an opportunity to voice their opinions on products and various other things. This can have positive and negative effects on a company's brand and image.

Brand and Participation- Can you control it? Should you try?
Controlling branding of a company's products is important as it greatly affects people's purchasing decisions if done incorrectly. It is important to maintain the company's reputation in order for a company to continue to retain its current clients and potential clients.

Case Study: Blogging at BzzAgent
Team HACK wanted to create an alternate to the blog that would engage the agents and employees for an extended period of time. We discussed a few ideas:
 * The first was having all of the BzzAgent managers create Twitter accounts. This would allow updates on what is happing in the company throughout the day. Twitter is easy to use and quick so it wouldn't take a lot of time out of the work day.
 * Another idea we had was a live webcast that would put the managers/employees at BzzAgent in front of a camera (similar to a confessional style set up) and get them to talk about the work they are doing, new products, and agency changes etc. In both of these mediums people both in and out of the agency would be able to comment/respond to what was said.