e-Marketing
CEEBS Programme
2008 Fall

Lecturer

István ESZES Ph.D.
Professor, Head of the Department
Budapest Business School
Marketing Department

Phone

+361 4677-852

Contact hours

Thursday, 13.00 - 14.30
Budapest Business School

Facsimile

+361 4071-559

Office

E228

e-mail 
(proposed way of communication)

istvan@eszes.net

Pre-requisites

Welcome to the e-Marketing Module. The content assumes a basic knowledge of Marketing Principles, and also a basic experience of accessing the Internet. We will review those topics during the early part of the course.

Course description

e-Marketing is perhaps the most exciting development in business-to-business marketing, and consumer marketing, in the last 50 years. In only 5 years the amount of business transacted electronically has developed from minimal to a significant part of transactions - particularly in books, software, music and travel. Given this rate of growth, the future development promises to be even more dramatic and an essential tool without which businesses will wither. This module deals with the marketing aspects of e-commerce (such as communications, differentiation, strategy).
 

General Learning Objectives

On successful completion of this module students will be able to:

• Understand the role of information technology in establishing and maintaining different forms of competitive advantage within a range of key business sectors,

• Compare, contrast and distinguish critically between traditional Marketing Communications methods and digital applications such as the Internet and E-commerce.

• Propose strategic approaches that businesses can use to exploit the Internet and compile a typical Internet/e-commerce marketing plan,

• Critically appraise Internet and e-commerce activities of companies, from using the Website as a communications tool to the impact of the Internet on distribution channels, marketplaces and relationships with business partners.

Course Requirements

• Check your e-mail for course communication
• No late papers will be accepted in this class.
• This is a paperless course, most of the resources for this module will be available only electronically.

Learning Resources

• lectures (Simplified versions of the lectures in .pdf format can be later downloaded from here.)
• Chaffey, Mayer, Johnston, Ellis-Chadwick: Internet Marketing, Prentice Hall, 3rd Edition, 2005 (core manual)
• additional reading indicated on the course web site

Recommended reading

• Efraim Turban: Electronic Commerce - A Managerial Perspective 2008, Prentice Hall, 2008
• Start Your Own e-Business, Entrepreneur Press, 2007
• Tobias Kollmann: E-Business - Grundlagen elektronischer Geschaeftsprozesse in der Net Economy, Gabler Verlag, 2007
• Chris Anderson: The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less or More,  Hyperion 2006
• Don Tapscott - Anthony D. Williams: Wikinomics - How Mass Collaboration Changes Evereything, Portfolio, 2006
• Malcolm Gladwell:The Tipping Point - How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, Little, Brown and Company, 2002
• Brad A. Kleindl:  Strategic Electronic Marketing, Thomson Learning, 2001
• Jeffrey F. Rayport – Bernard J. Jaworski :  e-Commerce, McGraw-Hill, 2001
•  Eszes István - Bányai Edit: Online marketing, Műszaki Könyvkiadó, 2002
• Daniel S. Janal : Online marketing Handbook - How to Promote, Advertise and Sell Your Products and Services on the Internet, International Thomson Publishing Inc.
• Bill Gates:  Business@ the Speed of Thought, Warner Books Inc., New York, USA
• R. Levine et al.: Cluetrain, Perseus Publishing (or online readable / download: http://www.cluetrain.com/book/index.html )

 http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
 

Indicative
Assessment

50% - Seminar activity, presentations - GROUP WORK

50% - Exam - INDIVIDUAL WORK

Lecture programme

 

Lecture	Topics
September 2, 08.30 - 11.30	Internet Marketing Fundamentals Current situation, terms, trends Internet micro- and macro environment Assignments and presentations during the semester
September 9, 08.30 - 11.30	ONLINE MARKETING MANAGEMENT Product Price The internet for distribution
September 16, 08.30 - 11.30	Online communication INTERNET STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT Marketing knowledge
September 23, 08.30 - 11.30	Consumer Behavior Internet marketing strategy Online marketing plan
September 30, 08.30 - 11.30	e-BUSINESS ACTIVITIES Business models on the web B2C B2B
October 7, 08.30 - 11.30	INTERNET MARKETING: IMPLEMENTATION AND PRACTICE Web 2.0
October 14, 08.30 - 11.30	Website design and structure Search marketing

 Each lecture / workshop will consist of two parts. The first part will be a dissemination of the theory underlying e- Marketing. It will generally be in the form of Power Point presentations.  I will put a simplified version of the slides on the Internet (www.eszes.net/essca) in case you miss them. Do not rely on this and take the opportunity to miss a lecture as the actual lecture content will be substantially more than the framework on PPTs.

The second part of each session will be more interactive. We will have structured discussion groups on a related topic, or a presentation to evaluate some of the relevant websites.

At the first meeting the group will be structured into 4 groups (ALFA, BETA, GAMMA and DELTA. The tasks to be solved will be distributed among the 4 groups.

SEMINAR
ACTIVITY

10%

All groups: 

 What Makes a Good / Bad Website

 We all want to know what makes a website good. Based on your experiences surfing the web each group should select a good and a bad example. In a short PPT presentation (max 10’) reveal for us your findings and opinion on the  chosen sites.

10%

 Group ALFA
Nothing is Sure but Death and Taxes - Online Funerals

The Internet seems like a logical marketing tool for products related to technology. The Internet has become a virtual shopping mall, offering a wide variety of goods and services. Several companies see the potential for the Internet to be a facilitator in that non-technological state we will all assume at the end of our life - death. FuneralDepot.com offers various services related to death including the sale of caskets, markers, memorials, and urns. LifeFiles provides a directory to funeral homes and crematoriums as well as offering a variety of other services including online interactive obituaries, living memorials, counseling, and education. Online-funeral.com provides links to products and services that are needed when planning a funeral. How does it appear the product lines offered by these three sites varies from traditional mortuaries?
 

1. What unique advantages do these online funeral service directors serve?
    
2. What unique services does LifeFiles offer that are not possible or practical in traditional settings?
    

GROUP BETA

NYC Groceries Online Once More

While other online grocery-delivery are still chugging along, such as Netgrocer.com and http://www.peapod.com, YourGrocer.com ran into a wall when it tried to secure more operating capital in the fall of 2001. It called it quits in late November and shut down by December. According to a recent survey by the Financial Times home grocery delivery will represent about 20% of the volume by 2005. This news comes six months after YourGrocer.com threw in the towel with its online grocery delivery business. Because of good news regarding the growing home delivery grocery market YourGrocer.com decided to make a comeback in May to serve the New York Metro area. In May of 2002 a note on the Yourgrocer.com stated "Initially, our delivery area will be somewhat smaller: Manhattan, the Bronx, much of Westchester County and part of Fairfield County, CT. We'll expand from there as the volume grows."

In an e-mail sent out to its previous customers YourGrocer.com stated "we received hundreds of calls and e-mails from customers when deliveries were suspended in December. All urged us to get back into business as soon as possible". Then Brand-Equity Ventures, otherwise known as BEV Capital, provided the necessary start-up capital to YourGrocer.com so that they could bring back their online business. The original company began as a 10-person operation in 1998 with ambitious plans to compete with the likes of Peapod.com, Webvan.com, HomeGrocer.com and other high-profile grocery delivery companies.

Investors believed the company could grab a share of the NYC market by implementing a bulk-buying strategy and adding an online spin to the warehouse-shopping model. The plan was for customers to buy products in large, economical quantities from the Web site, and then the company's trucks would lumber along with the door-to-door deliveries. It even acquired another online grocery, NYCGrocery.com, along the way. The company is now trying to use word of mouth for marketing its service by asking readers to "please tell your friends about the service. This will greatly help the new YourGrocer.com can grow and expand its services." It also thanks customers for their support, signing off with: "We love you, YourGrocer The Warehouse Club that Delivers!"

1.       There are 3 basic types of retailers, what are they and what types of grocer retailers did you find at these Web sites?

2.       What types of service do they offer and what is their competitive advantage over storefront grocers?

3.       Visit one of the grocers and find out what specifically they offer to consumers.

4.       What are some of the drawbacks for other types of retailers that want to go online?

GROUP GAMMA

What a Shopping Bot Site, BizRate.com, Does and Does Not Offer Shoppers

Shopping bots have improved in recent years, and now look at variables besides price in searching for online merchants that sell a specific product. Per Hamilton (2001), BizRate.com is considered the hottest shopping bot. BizRate's mission listed on their Web site is "to empower online shoppers with more choice, confidence, and convenience as Earth's best marketplace." This exercise involves exploring the variables BizRate uses in comparing merchants for a specific product, what product categories they examine, and how they make money. Additionally, BizRate is compared to two other shopping bots, MySimon.com and DealTime.com.

1.       What variables does BizRate.com look at in comparing merchants for a specific product? For the purpose of comparison, search for this product: the CD titled "America: A Tribute to Heroes."

2.       How does BizRate rate the stores?

3.       What departments or product categories does BizRate cover? >

4.       How does BizRate make money?

5.       For the CD titled "America: A Tribute To Heroes," what are the range of prices offered by BizRate? How do these prices compare to other shopping bot sites such as DealTime.com and MySimon.com?

6.       How would you recommend that BizRate be improved, especially compared to other shopping bot sites such as DealTime.com and MySimon.com?

GROUP DELTA

Whose Name Is It?

Given the vast number of products and services available on the Net, brand identity has become very important to Internet sellers. As many of these sellers also have brick and mortar operations, they want to leverage their existing brand names (from the pre-Net era) to do business on the Net. Thus, there is a strong desire among click-and-mortar retailers to have domain names based on their brand names. For example, P&G has struggled for years to own the domain name www.tide.com for its Tide detergent. Often, companies are able to register their brand names as their domain names as well. However, every once in a while, companies discover that the domain name related to their brand name has already been taken up by some other company. Let us look at an interesting example. What would you type to go to the Nissan Motors web site? Most of us would type www.nissan.com. Type this domain name and see what comes up! Now type www.nissandriven.com to go to Nissan Motor's website. After visiting these websites, answer the following questions:

1.        Discuss the different options available to a company that finds the domain name related to its brand name registered by someone else?

2.        Nissan is not the only auto company to not own the domain name related to its brand. Go to http://www.ncchelp.org/The_Story/Other_Domains/other_domains.htm to read a list of auto brand domains that are not owned by auto manufacturers. See if any of the domains have since been "won" back by auto manufacturers.

3.        Assume that you are the product manager for a new product. You want to come up with a brand name for your product. How would you find out if the domain name related to your brand were available for registration or not?

10%

LOW-COST AIRLINES   - Living from the Internet

The low-cost airlines restructured dramatically the well proven classical business model of the air travels. No office, no ticket – the whole pre-travel administration is carried out online. The result: the travel expenses have fallen drastically; sometimes the taxi fare to the airport is much more expensive than the travel to another part of Europe.

The task to be solved: each group should visit the website of the corresponding airline, study the online appearance, the business model and the communication of the airline. In your presentation (about 10’) evaluate how successfully are those utilizing the sale and communication chances of the new business model.

GROUP ALFA - Air Berlin

GROUP BETA - EasyJet

GROUP GAMMA - SkyEurope

GROUP DELTA - WizzAir

September 30

20%

The written report must be handed in until 08.30

Development of an Online Marketing  Plan for a Company.

Either using an actual example or a fictional paradigm, prepare an Online Marketing Plan for a company demonstrating how to secure competitive advantage through the benefits of the Internet.

Written report (max 10 pages) fulfilling all the formal requirements of a scientific paper.
Presentation of the most important findings of your marketing plan (max. 10 minutes / group)

This assignment must be completed in teams.  Any attachments (such as your computer discs) must be marked with your name and securely attached to your assignment before submission.

Some practical hints:

• Identify the industry within which your e-business will operate and write an industry analysis.
• Draft a mission statement for your e-business. Include a paragraph that explains or justifies the mission statement. This mission statement may change slightly as you continue to develop your business idea, but it should also be complete and accurate enough to guide the formation of goals and the value proposition.
• Write at least three goals for your business. Each goal should include both a clear statement of purpose and a brief explanation.
• Formulate and write the value proposition of your e-business. This should be a paragraph or two that clearly states the benefits your business will offer to customers and justifies why this is an important proposition for customers and in the marketplace.
• Select one or two business model(s) that accurately describe your proposed business activities. For each model, identify it and briefly describe the model as it applies to your business idea. Include the value proposition and the revenue model in your description.
• Identify and briefly describe at least two and no more than three target markets for your e-business. Make sure your markets are scoped correctly—not too broad and not too narrow. Your description should include as many demographic, geographical, psychographic, and consumer characteristics as possible.
• Find, list, and rank 2 or 3 direct or indirect competitors.
• Use opportunities-and-threats approach, the competitive-strategies approach, or both, to identify at least one (hopefully more) source of competitive advantage for your business. Write this up so a reader of your e-business plan will understand how you expect to use these to achieve commercial success.
• Find an available domain name (one currently available at the time you investigated it) for your e-business and write a brief paragraph to explain and justify it.

• ALFA:  e-mail marketing
• BETA: viral marketing
• GAMMA: banner
• DELTA: interstitial, shoshkele

• ALFA: MySpace
• BETA: Facebook
• GAMMA: Linkedin
• DELTA: Flickr

Based on secondary sources (online and offline) and on your personal experiences present the specific community space (history, target market, size: number of members, privat or public, specialization). What is the business model, the source of revenue?

can be downloaded from here

Simplified versions of the lectures in .pdf format

• UCLA World Internet Project: Digital Gender Gap, 2004

• An Introduction to Internet Marketing (Chapter 1)

• Myths and Realities of the High-Tech Economy

• Winning on the web

• Business Models
• How to create an e-commerce website?
• Price Levels and Price Dispersion on the Internet:A Comparison of Pure Play Internet, Bricks -and-Mortar, and Bricks-and-Clicks Retailers
• Cowboys or Cowards: Why are Internet Car Prices Lower?
• Promoting the website