The Role of Advertisement - Case Study Example

E- Commerce is becoming an increasingly vital business tool Institute Page Content 4 Part1 5-8 The major differences between high end and low end skincare organizational websites 5 The communicational tools hired by two end companies. 8 Part2 9-13 Analysis of the type of language and message used in the luxury and natural/organic websites. 9 List of the organic skincare companies. 9 Examination of the social and emotional appeals employed by the natural/organic websites. 10 The strategies employed by luxury and natural/organic websites. 11 Statistics of the top 20 Organic skincare companies’ websites. 12 Examination of statistics of the above mentioned websites. 13 Part 3 14-16 Plan a website for a luxury/natural skincare brand: 14 i) Color themes of the website ii) The layout and menu design of the website iii) Content iv) The images and other related visuals on the website 15 v) The overall theme of the website. 16 vi) The language and message type used on the website. 16 Part4 16-18 Questions asked by the agency 16 The expected time span and budget for the web design. 16 Proposal presentation against the board 16 The names of the companies and the person 17 Conclusion 18 References 19 Abstract Today, business without the internet is assumed to be incomplete; it would be pertinent to say that internet is the backbone of all kinds of businesses. It is a gigantic web which is not only connecting the people of one part of the world with the other part; but also a podium for innovation. The role of advertisement in the expansion of the business is undeniable; and the internet is the best platform from where business can be advertized to almost all parts of the world within a few seconds. A website, for instance, is a channel that allows the product of any US Company to be grabbed by its customers, even from the most distant parts of Africa, without making much effort. So with the help of websites, companies can now save their advertisement costs, as a single website can be easily viewed by different countries of the world via web layers. In a word, the development and expansion of business heavily depends on the internet; because the internet plays a vital role in swiftly spreading and elevating the sale growth of the business to the various corners of the world. Part 1 Major differences between high end and low end skincare organizational websites Following are the high end cosmetics/skincare websites: i) www.clarins.com/ ii) http://www.revlon.com/ iii) http://www.shopaccakappa.com/ iv) http://adidas.agencepix.com/ v) http://www.neutrogena.com/ vi) http://www.agatha.com/aruba.htm vii) http://www.marykay.com/default.aspx viii) http://almay.com/ ix) http://www.ajne.com/ x) http://www.esteelauder.com/ xi) www.sca.shiseido.com/ xii) http://www.americanbeautycosmetics.com/index.tmpl?ngextredir=1 xiii) http://www.anticafarmacista.com/ xiv) http://www.maxfactor.com/ xv) http://www.esteelauder.com/ xvi) http://www.archipelago-usa.com/ xvii) http://www.avoncompany.com/ xviii) http://www.aromam.com/ xix) http://www.loreal.com/ xx) http://www.covergirl.com/ Following are the low end Skincare/cosmetics websites: i) http://www.armandbasi.com/site/fragrances/armand_basi_fragrances.html ii) http://www.barrym.com/ iii) http://www.newyorkcolor.com/ iv) http://wnwbeauty.com/ v) http://www.maybelline.com/index.html vi) http://www.clinique.com/index.tmpl?ngextredir=1 vii) http://www.ava-luxe.com/2008/fragrance.html viii) http://www.antoniasflowers.com/ ix) http://www.miragecosmetics.co.uk/ x) http://www.elaincosmetics.com xi) http://www.seaofspa.com/ xii) http://www.absolument.net/ xiii) http://www.aesop.net.au/site/fragrances.html xiv) http://www.agrariahome.com/home.php xv) http://www.agentprovocateur.com/beauty/fragrances.html xvi) http://www.alfredsung.com/ xvii) http://www.alvarezgomez.com xviii) http://www.anthousacollection.com/ xix) http://www.anyasgarden.com/ xx) http://www.acquadibiella.it/ The web has gradually become a decidedly gigantic medium of communication among the producers and their consumers all over the world. There are many online and offline marketing strategies that use luxury skincare websites to convey the luxury experience of their products to their customers. Let’s see how big end skincare companies deliver their message to their consumers, by employing varying strategies of the internet marketing theory: i) A brand narrative approach is one of the most successful marketing approaches employed by high end skincare companies like L’Oreal and Mary Kay, etc. The companies hire celebrities to endorse their brands for a certain time period by spending millions of dollars. As big companies can financially afford such sustainable tactics of marketing, so they successfully grab the confidence of their consumers, which is on other hand impossible for low end skincare/cosmetics companies due to their meager financial resources. ii) Big companies employ a number of online advertising tools based on a customer-led marketing approach, in order to convey their product message to the customers. For example, the most common and successful online advertisement tool employed by high end bands is cost per thousand impressions (CPM). The main objective behind hiring this tool is the aim of repeated exposure. Moreover, high end companies also feature in online magazines to maintain their websites and target their consumer market more efficiently. The communicational tools hired by two end companies’ The communicational tools hired by these two types of companies, to transfer their message to their customers differ according to their available financial resources. Some of the differences are discussed below: i) Big end companies publish their own magazines where they publish their website content along with the world business news; whilst small budgeted companies publish their ads in non affiliated newsletters that offer advertisement space, in order to earn profit and cover their cost. Low end skin care companies do so because they cannot allocate the big amount of money needed for the publication of individual online magazines. ii) Big end companies support causes like breast cancer or osteoporoses and sponsor big entertainment industry events like Grammy awards, fashion shows, etc. in order to maintain their public image. The low end companies, however, cannot afford to do so; therefore they employ online advertisement tools like pop up ads, advertisements in online forums, etc. Part 2 Analyses of the type of language and message used in the luxury and the natural/organic websites Following differences of language and message lie in the high end and organic skincare websites: i) Although there is no drastic difference in the language style of both types of websites; but the slight difference appears in the type of commercial and non commercial language used by the high end and organic skincare companies. For instance, while viewing the mission statement of the L’Oreal website, a reader gets an impression that it is a very rational and responsible business company. On the other side, the language used in the Erbaviva organic skincare website is not commercial; rather it gives an impression that the mission of the company is consumer care instead of business only. ii) The mission of both types of these websites is same, i.e. the attainment of beauty; but the difference lies in the way beauty is attained. Although, both types of companies claim to use the natural/organic ingredients; but the claim of organic skincare companies is solely based on the natural products; whilst the non organic high end companies do not claim to use natural ingredients only. List of the Organic skincare companies Organic skincare company’s websites are: i) http://www.inessence-organics.com/ ii) http://www.soorganic.com iii) http://www.comptoirdeslys.fr/nos-marques/coslys/ iv) http://www.erbaviva.com/ v) http://www.laclaree.co.uk/ vi) www.sophytoorganics.co.uk/ vii) www.parisexclusive-cosmetics.net viii) www.organicapoteke.com/ ix) www.organiqueenprovence.com x) http://www.englishapplesandpears.co.uk/ xi) www.balmbalm.com/ xii) www.burtsbees.com/ xiii) www.faceboutique.com/ xiv) www.ila-spa.com/ xv) www.thegreenbalm.com/ xvi) www.nealsyardremedies.com/ xvii) www.organicapoteke.com/ xviii) www.paiskincare.com/ xix) www.pukkaherbs.com/ xx) www.harleystreetcosmetic.com/ Examination of the social based and emotional appeals employed by the natural/organic websites High end skincare websites employ social appeals. For instance, in this day and age people have become very brand conscious. Therefore, the demonstration and the overall packaging of the product leave a strong influence on the consumer demand. Thus, high end skincare companies employ social tactics of ‘brand consciousnesses’ in their consumers. On the other hand, the natural /organic skincare websites use emotional appeals, for example, everyone in the world believes that natural products are more useful for human skin and body than man-made chemicals, the use of cucumber on the face, for example, is considered to be more effective in reducing and eliminating black circles than using a black circle removing cream made from different inorganic elements. Thus, organic skincare companies invite consumers to buy their product by using their emotional bend towards nature. The strategies employed by luxury and natural/organic websites Both types of websites use purchase motivational strategies according to their available financial resources, because the aim of both websites is to grab more and more customers. Strategies like maintenance of separate blogs for providing detailed information about the product are employed by both websites, but the difference lies in the two strategies used by luxury companies: one is the brand endorsement strategy and the other is the strategy of supporting social causes and sponsoring mega entertainment events. Statistics of the top 20 Organic skincare companies’ websites Name of website Alexa Traffic Rank Sites Linking In http://www.inessence-organics.com/ 8,772,502 5 http://www.soorganic.com 235,289 161 http://www.comptoirdeslys.fr/nos-marques/coslys/ 2,362,094 43 http://www.erbaviva.com/ 2,579,286 84 http://www.laclaree.co.uk/ 5,900,212 4 www.sophytoorganics.co.uk/ 4,715,837 6 www.parisexclusive-cosmetics.net No Data 7 www.organicapoteke.com/ 2,713,578 33 www.organiqueenprovence.com No Data 1 http://www.englishapplesandpears.co.uk/ 20,005,025 8 www.balmbalm.com/ 2,024,805 34 www.burtsbees.com/ 93,835 1,098 www.faceboutique.com/ 6,919,655 24 www.thegreenbalm.com/ No Data 15 www.ila-spa.com/ 2,023,304 22 www.nealsyardremedies.com/ 362,539 269 www.organicapoteke.com/ 2,713,578 33 www.paiskincare.com/ 271,102 174 www.pukkaherbs.com/ 474,285 114 www.harleystreetcosmetic.com/ 7,659,236 6 Examination of statistics of the above mentioned websites The top 5 sites are: i) www.burtsbees.com/ with 93,835 Alexa Traffic Rank. ii) http://www.soorganic.com with 235,289 Alexa Traffic Rank. iii) www.paiskincare.com/ with 271,102 Alexa Traffic Rank. iv) www.pukkaherbs.com/ with 474,285 Alexa Traffic Rank. v) www.ila-spa.com/ with 2,023,304 Alexa Traffic Rank. The bottom 5 sites are: i) http://www.englishapplesandpears.co.uk/ with 20,005,025 Alexa Traffic Rank. ii) http://www.inessence-organics.com/ with 8,772,502 Alexa Traffic Rank. iii) www.harleystreetcosmetic.com/ with 7,659,236 Alexa Traffic Rank. iv) www.faceboutique.com/ with 6,919,655 Alexa Traffic Rank. v) http://www.laclaree.co.uk/ with 5,900,212 Alexa Traffic Rank. The difference lies in the traffic rank of the top 5 websites which is less than that of the bottom 5 sites. Lesser traffic rank of a website means more people visit that particular site. For instance, the traffic rank of www.burtsbees.com/ is 93,835 which is less than http://www.englishapplesandpears.co.uk/ 20,005,025.So that means more people visit www.burtsbees.com/ Part 3 Plan for a website for a luxury natural skincare brand Color Themes of the Website The theme colors of the site will be green and white because green represents nature whilst white depicts simplicity and the combination of nature and simplicity would best suit the nature of the website. Layout and menu design Home About the Company Product list List of sale shops Contact Blog Company’s certification Testimonials Content i) Home This will be the main page displaying all information about the website: ii) About the Company It will cover the history of the company, answer questions like when did it start, what is the mission of the company, etc. iii) Product list It will provide a detailed product list of the company along with the complete description of the product’s ingredients and prices, in a dropdown style. iv) List of sale shops It will provide information about the online and offline stores where the company’s product will be available. v) Contact All details about the company’s contact information, like telephone, fax, email, etc. vi) Blog It will cover posts on the uses of natural products and will provide information about the company’s new products. vii) Company’s certification It includes the registration information of the company along with its awards and certificates. viii) Testimonials It includes reviews by people who have used the company’s products. Images and other visuals on the website Images of the company’s products will be shown with full description of their ingredients with the facility of zoom and save. Along with products’ images and models’ images, videos will also be available on the website, demonstrating the application of the products. Moreover, images and visuals of natural scenery will also be used in the website. The overall theme for the website The overall theme of the website is: “Beauty care with the soft hands of nature.” The language and message type used on the website Customer-led language will be used, which means an amalgamation of commercial and non-commercial language, whilst the message of the website will be: “Natural skincare.” Part4 Questions asked by the agency I contacted 5 web design companies for the launching and designing of my website. Following are the questions asked by the agency: What is your budget constraint? What is your time limit? What is the color scheme of your website? What is your company all about? What is the history of your company? What layout and menu style is required by me? Expected time scale and budget for the web design The expected time scale for completion is 15 days; whilst the expected budget is $35,000-$50,000. Proposal Presentation against the board I will justify my suggestion of websites on the following grounds: The internet is an undeniable reality and if our company wants to grab customers from all over the world, then we have to make use of online advertisement tools by making a website, because this is the only way to reach all corners of the world. Although, the cost of website designing is more but the return is greater than investment which starts appearing in the form of extension of our product range. The investment whose return is greater than its cost is secure to undertake, according to the rational aspect. The names of the companies and the person 1. http://www.spinxwebdesign.com I spoke to ‘Mark Twin, who is the representative of spinxwebdesigns at 3: 30 pm on 07, October, 2010. 2. http://www.thinkprofits.com/ I spoke to ‘Claudia Baumstark’, who is a Client Care Coordinator of thinkprofits web designs at 2: 30 pm on 08, October, 2010. 3. www.gcwweb.com/ I spoke to ‘Jennifer Smith’, who is a representative of thinkprofits web designs at 2: 30 pm on 09, October, 2010. 4. http://www.worldwidewebdesign.co.uk/ I spoke to ‘Jack Phillips’, who is a representative of worldwide web designs at 2: 00 pm on 10, October, 2010. 5. http://www.delicious-webdesign.com/ I spoke to ‘James Brabyn’, who is a representative of delicious web designs at 1: 00 pm on 11, October, 2010. Conclusion The above stated analysis and comparison show that the importance of website is unavoidable in today’s business venture. Moreover, website is a tool that allows awareness of the product to be expanded to different parts of the world. The only need is to utilize the tool of website with professional honesty and social responsibility. References Dahlén. M, Lange. F, Smith. T (2010). Marketing Communications: A Brand Narrative Approach, John Wiley and Sons, pp. 584 Gay.R, Charlesworth. A, Esen.R (2007). Online marketing: a customer-led approach, Oxford University Press, pp. 560 Lamb. C. W, . Hair, Jr., McDaniel.C (2008). Essentials of Marketing, Cengage Learning, 6, pp. 546. Read More