Will this new voice be embraced or rejected by consumers?
Recently traditional brands have tried to reinvent their logos and packaging to appeal to a younger demographic. Some logo changes are accepted in the marketing world, however, some are not. For example, in the past couple years Tropicana and GAP changed their logos and consumers were not happy. Social media allowed a forum for negative opinions and the companies multi-million dollar marketing initiatives failed greatly.
Wednesday 27 April 2011
Tuesday 26 April 2011
Facebook Debuts Groupon
"The social networking site has unveiled a new Groupon-esque program called Facebook Deals, which is "designed to let the site's 500 million users easily share their shopping experiences with one another, and save money in the process."
Currently deals are available in Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, San Diego and San Francisco with more cities coming soon."
Will you be using this new Facebook feature????
Article from CocoPerez
Friday 15 April 2011
Time Warner Cable Tablet Application
Why can’t you watch television anywhere in your house? Whether it be walking on the treadmill or taking a bath? The Internet has become a portable form of entertainment that can be accessed from wherever a person may be, but how are the older forms of media and technology going to keep up in this fast growing digital environment?
As a new owner of a smartphone it was unbelievable to me to have the Internet at the tip of my fingers every second of the day. The smartphone has become a device that is crucial in the business world and a must have for those who want to keep up with the times. The Internet has become portable in a fashionable and current manner. In order to progress with other types of media, cable service providers and those involved in the television world realized they had to create something inventive and fast. Tablets have recently become the fastest selling technology on the market. Portable televisions are a thing of the past and were never smoothly integrated into today’s technological environment. The iPad provided innovators with a new technology targeted at the ideal demographic for cable service subscribers.
This year Time Warner Cable launched a new application for the iPad and iPad 2, which allows users to watch television directly from their tablet. This new feature is unique and Time Warner is the first service provider of its kind to enter this market. The application itself was launched in March and offered to users who had already subscribed to the Time Warner cable and Internet service. Those who subscribe to the service and download the application receive 32 channels available in high definition. The application and its features are still in the works so the service will be offering more channels in the future. Due to licensing issues and the service agreements those with the applications are only allowed to watch the television in the vicinities of the service areas.
Time Warner cable plans to increase the accessibility and depth of this application. The company plans to integrate on demand access and video recording into the application. This is hands down the first application that offers the streaming of live television. Time Warner Cable is a reputable brand with millions of customers and is the second largest cable company within the United States. Time Warner cable has a clear strategy of being the first to enter the market and introduce this new idea of portable television via tablets and smart phones. The target audience of this campaign is those already subscribed to the Time Warner service and those looking to enjoy television anywhere within their households.
Tablets have been a hot commodity and are flying off the shelves. It seems as though an older generation is purchasing these tablets and using them for entertainment purposes. Time Warner Cable is targeting an older demographic who is financially stable, invested in their Internet and cable services, and technologically savvy. Time Warner’s audience is looking for and open to new technologies that will enhance their daily lives. Those who download this application are willing to pay their service providers to stream live television to their tablets in order to access TV from all over their household. The audience the cable service is targeting is stable, active adults intrigued by this new form of watching television.
Time Warner Cable has started their marketing campaign by introducing the application via commercials. The commercials are clever and really embrace all the different uses of the application. The marketing strategy and target of the application seem to be very focused and direct. Time Warner cable has penetrated the market, but left plenty room for growth. According to third parties, this application and Time Warner Cable are supposedly going to run into tricky situations when the idea of portable television tries to integrate into the out of home viewing market. Viacom has entered a legal battle with a Time Warner accusing that the cable company is streaming copyrighted material without proper permission. Viacom wants the cable company to pay more in order to offer this application. According to a Time Warner Cable attorney the application has been downloaded 360,000 since its launch on March 15th.
As a new owner of a smartphone it was unbelievable to me to have the Internet at the tip of my fingers every second of the day. The smartphone has become a device that is crucial in the business world and a must have for those who want to keep up with the times. The Internet has become portable in a fashionable and current manner. In order to progress with other types of media, cable service providers and those involved in the television world realized they had to create something inventive and fast. Tablets have recently become the fastest selling technology on the market. Portable televisions are a thing of the past and were never smoothly integrated into today’s technological environment. The iPad provided innovators with a new technology targeted at the ideal demographic for cable service subscribers.
This year Time Warner Cable launched a new application for the iPad and iPad 2, which allows users to watch television directly from their tablet. This new feature is unique and Time Warner is the first service provider of its kind to enter this market. The application itself was launched in March and offered to users who had already subscribed to the Time Warner cable and Internet service. Those who subscribe to the service and download the application receive 32 channels available in high definition. The application and its features are still in the works so the service will be offering more channels in the future. Due to licensing issues and the service agreements those with the applications are only allowed to watch the television in the vicinities of the service areas.
Time Warner cable plans to increase the accessibility and depth of this application. The company plans to integrate on demand access and video recording into the application. This is hands down the first application that offers the streaming of live television. Time Warner Cable is a reputable brand with millions of customers and is the second largest cable company within the United States. Time Warner cable has a clear strategy of being the first to enter the market and introduce this new idea of portable television via tablets and smart phones. The target audience of this campaign is those already subscribed to the Time Warner service and those looking to enjoy television anywhere within their households.
Tablets have been a hot commodity and are flying off the shelves. It seems as though an older generation is purchasing these tablets and using them for entertainment purposes. Time Warner Cable is targeting an older demographic who is financially stable, invested in their Internet and cable services, and technologically savvy. Time Warner’s audience is looking for and open to new technologies that will enhance their daily lives. Those who download this application are willing to pay their service providers to stream live television to their tablets in order to access TV from all over their household. The audience the cable service is targeting is stable, active adults intrigued by this new form of watching television.
Time Warner Cable has started their marketing campaign by introducing the application via commercials. The commercials are clever and really embrace all the different uses of the application. The marketing strategy and target of the application seem to be very focused and direct. Time Warner cable has penetrated the market, but left plenty room for growth. According to third parties, this application and Time Warner Cable are supposedly going to run into tricky situations when the idea of portable television tries to integrate into the out of home viewing market. Viacom has entered a legal battle with a Time Warner accusing that the cable company is streaming copyrighted material without proper permission. Viacom wants the cable company to pay more in order to offer this application. According to a Time Warner Cable attorney the application has been downloaded 360,000 since its launch on March 15th.
Thursday 10 March 2011
Friday 4 March 2011
Is there an Application for Privacy?
Is any Internet user every fully protected? In October 2010 The Wall Street Journal exposed Facebook claiming that the networking site was providing the names of users and their friends to advertisers and Internet tracking companies without permission. The Journal said the information was obtained through the use of the applications used on the networking site. Over 70% of Facebook users are active users of applications. The key issue with this spread of information was that even those who set their profiles to the strictest privacy setting were affected. This issue was a breach of privacy and raises the concern of the security features within Facebook.
Privacy is an enormous issue on the Internet and constantly growing. The government has begun to crack down on companies’ information databases and how this information is collected. Facebook, being the largest social networking website, is one of the biggest targets for invasions of privacy. In response to the Wall Street Journals claims, a Facebook spokesman said they were working to dramatically limit the exposure of their users’ information. A Facebook official also stated, "Our technical systems have always been complemented by strong policy enforcement, and we will continue to rely on both to keep people in control of their information."
Over the past couple of years, applications on Facebook have driven great traffic to the website with over 500 million users. There are 10,000 applications on Facebook and the number keeps growing. An insider at the Journal found that it was the 10 most popular applications that were being used to transmit information. The top three apps, with over 59 million users, include: Farmville, Texas HoldEm Poker, and Frontierville. Facebook applications are developed by independent software companies and after the website was exposed many of the applications were made unavailable to users.
Facebook tracks its members through ID numbers. The Journal revealed that the website sent member’s Facebook IDs to over 25 advertising and data firms that were tracking user activity. Although the IDs remained anonymous, one of the firms RapLeaf Inc was using the information for revenue and was selling the information to other companies as well. RapLeaf claims that the company’s transmission of the user ids was unintentional. In response to RapLeaf’s actions Facebook has promised to limit RapLeafs use and access to “Facebook-related data.”
This is not the first privacy issue or breach Facebook has encountered. Last Spring Facebook was exposed for transmitting user information to advertisers whenever a user clicked on an advertisement on the website. After being called out Facebook put an end to the tracking. In efforts to increase website security on October 6, 2010 Facebook made it accessible for users to view what information of theirs was shared through the applications they used. Facebook informed users which apps were accessing their basic information. In June the networking site limited apps to accessing only user’s public information after being investigated by the Canadian Privacy Commissioner. Before, applications could access member’s detailed profiles and their friends. Facebook officials say they have taken immediate action to disable all applications that violate their policies. All 12 companies that the Journal claims collected user information claim to not have used it.
Privacy settings are supposed to make a user feel more comfortable using a website. However, when a user sets their profiles to the highest security settings and their information is still being shard a problem arises. In an age where future employers and government officials are concerned about Internet activity, a users personal privacy is at great risk. However, one must wonder if journalists are making a bigger deal out of these privacy breaches than needed? Do daily Facebook and Internet users really care that they are being tracked? So what if your Facebook advertisements are targeted towards your likes? Does it really hurt? But when is it going to cross the line? As a daily Internet user, I have yet to see the negative effects of being tracked by Facebook or other websites I utilize.
FACEBOOK PRIVACY SETTING FOR DUMMIES:
Sources
http://www.pcworld.com/article/208058/facebook_privacy_fail_apps_leak_private_info_report.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304772804575558484075236968.html
Wednesday 16 February 2011
Effects of purchasing books online?
Check out this article written in the Boston Globe. Borders is closing over 200 stores in the U.S.
http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2011/02/borders_to_clos_1.html
Friday 4 February 2011
Better than Facebook?
Check out this story in an article from the Boston Herald:
http://bostonherald.com/business/technology/general/view/2011_0203harvard_students_web_site_filters_out_facebook_noise/
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