The Internet and Digital Marketing in the Company Napster - Case Study Example

The Internet and Digital Marketing in the Company Napster Executive Summary The internet marketing and digital marketing has a wide range of options that are available to various companies across the world. Digital marketing has one major benefit, i.e. the flexibility. In the current times, where the every customer has immense availability of information and details, the companies require to use all the options and characteristic so the digital marketing to its strength to help in developing the brand name for the company. In the case of Napster, it is important to note that the company uses several options like the video marketing to their stride and this will help bring out the main focus of the company and objectives of the company very effectively. The use of various techniques like the video marketing, and other digital media will help be very beneficial for the company and will also have a direct impact on the profitability of the company. Introduction: The advent of the internet and new technologies has led to a number of improvements and changes in terms of the marketing techniques used within the company. Napster is an excellent example of the new technologies and the wide range of positive impact that the new techniques have brought to the world. Technology has allowed companies like Napster to build and develop systems where fans can share their favourite music with ease to others. After having understood and researched in detail the marketing mix and risk strategies of Napster, this paper aims at discussing the characteristics of Digital Marketing and how they apply to Napster. The paper will deal with each of the characteristics and will be followed by recommendations for each of the characteristics. Characteristics of Digital Marketing: There have been innumerable revolutions and changes that have occurred over the years and these have been immense in the marketing field. Chaffey has set down a few characteristics of digital marketing which he explains are essential aspects of the business and impact the businesses to a great extent (Chaffey, Ellis-Chadwick, Johnston, & Mayer, 2006). The following sections will define, discuss and demonstrate these characteristics and will link how they impact Napster and aspects that the company can do to improve their overall profitability. The first characteristic that is essential to be considered by all businesses in the current times is the need to “bring back the love” in the marketing. One of the major aspects that need to be considered by the new age digital marketing efforts is the need to not only focus on the customers based on the demographics and basic customer information like the salary and others. The focus for Napster needs to be on the needs of the customers. Also simply trying to use push marketing on the customers will not prove to be effective (Johnson, Scholes, & Whittington, 2006). Taking the products to the customers and forcing it upon the customers cannot prove to be very impactful. Hence it is essential to focus on developing a strategy and style where the customers are pulled in and are interested because of the products and services that are provided. Forcing the product upon the customers cannot prove to be very impactful and hence in the case of Napster, it is essential that the company works on more effective means of marketing where the focus is on the needs of the customers and the marketing is completely customer centric in nature. As explained by the University of Kentucky, most of the content that is available for the new media tends to be a contrast of the older forms and hence this is not useful in terms of the television or press (Gillin, 2008). “Instead, content is "pulled" by the consumer, not "pushed" by the media organization.  There have been strong efforts over the past few years to establish a TV-like "push" to web content. Tried originally by MSNBC and PointCast, the scheme did not prove as popular as originally thought” (University of Kentucky , 2010). It is evident that unlike the previous times, people now prefer to have more control and pull on the content and the media. The time of push marketing has been clearly phased out to a great extent. It is essential to also note that the digital media is one which allows more effective and efficient methods of communication. The recent trend of Internet, referred as Web-2.0, is associated with the development of different Internet programming technologies that deliver dynamic content on the websites (Hakansson & Waluszewski, 2005). The term Web-2.0 originates from the O'Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference in 2004. It is in contrast with the term Web-1.0, which refers to static Websites that have a constant content and do not adapt to different users. The term Web 2.0 is referred not to a single technology but rather than to many new technology developments that make Internet content much more dynamic, interactive, and user adaptive. These new technologies allow Internet users to interact with dynamic Internet applications in real time making possible the social networking websites like Facebook, mobile phone marketing, using 3G-mobile connectivity, Video marketing and many other new Internet marketing strategies like behavioural and geo-targeting. This has proven to be very impactful and effective and allows companies to effectively reach out to the customers (Kotler, 1999). Napster can very effectively utilise this to help the company grow and develop and also ensure bettered overall results. Internet marketing strategies have far reaching impact not only on Internet- based firms but also to the whole global industry and services since the Internet communications are widely used virtually in any modern bossiness activity. Many high-tech companies are investing in research on the current and future trends in Internet marking. The companies that will be able to predict the future trends in online marketing and integrate these trends in their business practice will have a cutting edge advantage over their competitors (Moran & Hunt, 2008). Successful application of modern Internet approach may result in a big corporation profit. Corporations that do not take into account the latest trends in online marketing may lost a lot of its customers and decrease its market share. Thus, it is important to investigate the current trends in Internet marketing and to try to predict the possible future developments not only from an Academic point of view but also from a practical standpoint. It is important to draw a clear picture for the advantages Internet marketing may offer not only to Internet-based companies but also to any business (Johnson, Scholes, & Whittington, 2006). Internet marketing is all about different methods for attracting web traffic and employing this traffic for generating sells, promotions, and advertising of goods, services, and ideas. Napster has a strong position in the market and currently has the needed brand name. The company can use the video marketing to its stride and develop strong and impactful marketing adverts. Video marketing on Internet has been expanding in the last few years as the YouTube having the lead. Many global corporations like Dell and Sony have set up their official websites in YouTube. Moreover, they have built their own YouTube channels. Together with the significant advantages Internet marketing has yet some unsolved problems. An important turning point in the history of Interment marketing is known as the “dot-com bubble”. In the first decade of its existence the Internet marketing has been expanding rapidly together with the expansion of Internet as this trend was particularly strong in the USA (Hakansson & Waluszewski, 2005). New venture investors were that ready to invest US$ hundreds of millions in the rapid expansion of Internet companies not matter how they were doing. Internet marketing can be employed to different scopes including international, county-wide as well as local businesses. The local Internet marking is used by home-based companies traditionally selling goods in their local areas and using Internet to find and attract local consumers. However, Internet marking is usually focusing on broadly targeting specific interests rather than reaching out some local area. The true power of Internet marketing lies in its global reach (Chaffey, Ellis-Chadwick, Johnston, & Mayer, 2006). To make the global Internet marketing more efficient various geo targeting methods are being applied in recent years. In geo-targeting different methods are used to locate geographically website visitors and to adapt the website’s content to their language and culture. The geo-targeting methods in Internet marking are made possible because the development of novel Internet programming tools that make the Web content dynamic and adaptive to a concrete user (Chaffey, Ellis-Chadwick, Johnston, & Mayer, 2006). The online marketing has many different aspects that must be taken into account in order to build a comprehended point of view. To understand trends in online marketing first current trends in Internet have to be taken into account. Two important developments in Internet have to be considered before the review of the recent publications in online marketing. These recent Internet developments are known as Web.2.0, and broadband Intent access. They have a profound impact not only to Internet but also to online marketing. Web 2.0 is a subject of many publications since 2004 when this term was created (Chaffey, Ellis-Chadwick, Johnston, & Mayer, 2006). The term Web 2.0 referees too many new technologies for delivering dynamic online content to Internet users. In Web 2.0 the Internet users are not just passive readers of websites but are also web content creators via different new Internet tools like forums, blogs, images and video sharing, social networks and others interactive methods. Social network marketing can be more focused and can reach out to the target audiences in an effective manner than any other online marketing technique (Chaffey, Ellis-Chadwick, Johnston, & Mayer, 2006). It is important to note that digital marketing is one which can be “duplicated without degradation” (University of Kentucky , 2010) hence this can prove to be very beneficial for Napster and the business model. Since the company deals with online music and online music sharing, this can prove to be the most beneficial aspect of digital marketing for the company to help in the overall profitability of the company as well. It is also important to note that the digital media is also able to be altered and changed and is much more flexible than any other form of media. This simply makes it more beneficial for the company and can allow more accurate and freshness in terms of the marketing attempts at all times (Chaffey, Ellis-Chadwick, Johnston, & Mayer, 2006). One other characteristic of digital media is the ease in retrieval and also computation of the content. This again is a benefit for Napster as it allows better accessibility as well as better overall access to the information and can lead to higher levels of profitability for the company. Also, the digital media permits the company to personalise all the efforts and to individualise the information for the users in a more effective manner. As explained well by Chaffey, the use of mass media and mass media marketing does not prove to be as effective for the companies in the current times (Chaffey, Ellis-Chadwick, Johnston, & Mayer, 2006). Hence it is essential that Napster used this as a positive factor for them and uses a wide range of possibilities for better overall customer service and improved customer support using techniques like customer relationship management. It is to be noted that one error conducted by almost every company is personalisation based on profiling. University of Kentucky explains, “One major issue is that of "profiling" or categorizing consumers in terms of dominant characteristics of spending, lifestyle and beliefs. One frequently used profiling scheme is VALS (values and lifestyle) profiling” (University of Kentucky , 2010). In the case of Napster, this issue is not very large and can be easily overcome as the company requires having a strong well developed panel for the customers with a strong control for the customers on the use of their own profiles. Providing the chance for customers to personalise their own profiles and to provide the information not only allows better personalisation but also provides the company with a chance to gain more reliable as well as standardised information and this can very effectively and efficiently be used for the better overall focused marketing efforts by the company (Gillin, 2008). Conclusions In conclusion, Napster currently has a very strong market and the company has a wide range of technologies and available resources to help in better development of marketing efforts. Napster requires to concentrate on the use of the right methods of marketing and to find the most impactful method of marketing for its customers both the current as well as potential. As recommendations to Napster, it is essential to note that the company has a wide range of options to choose from. The company should use the lean forward medium, i.e. internet to its benefit and to market the products more successfully (Chaffey, Ellis-Chadwick, Johnston, & Mayer, 2006). References Chaffey, D., Ellis-Chadwick, F., Johnston, K., & Mayer, R. (2006). Internet Marketing. Harlow: Prentice Hall. Gillin, P. (2008). Secrets of Social Media Marketing: How to Use Online Conversations and Customer Communities to Turbo-Charge Your Business! Linden Publishing. Hakansson, H., & Waluszewski, A. (2005). Developing a New Understanding of Markets: Reinterpreting the 4Ps. Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing , p110-117. Johnson, G., Scholes, K., & Whittington, R. (2006). Exploring Corporate Strategy. Essex: Prentice Hall. Kotler, P. (1999). Kotler on Marketing: How to Create, Win, and Dominate Markets . Free Press. Moran, M., & Hunt, B. (2008). Why Search Marketing Is Important...and Difficult. In M. Moran, & B. Hunt, Search Engine Marketing, Inc.: Driving Search Traffic to Your Company's Web Site (pp. 1 - 28). IBM Press. University of Kentucky . (2010). New Media Characteristics. Retrieved September 12, 2010, from http://www.uky.edu/~sdbaker/tel555/nmc.html Read More