Marketing And Society Essay, Research Paper

Marketing

Marketing is currently standing verge of the greatest change in lifestyle, which he

has ever undertaken. All around the globe businessmen and other entrepreneurs are racing

to cash on the future of marketing. Tradition is being turned on its head as all of free

enterprise begins plans to phase out age-old methods to more effective and cost-conscious

world of the Internet. Their logic is not too difficult to understand. Last year, American

businesses spent millions of dollars advertising their products by magazine, newspaper,

radio, television and mass mailers. They flooded the homes of America, targeting every

breathing carbon based life form they could find, with countless jingles, images, song and

dance in an attempt to peddle their often unwanted goods. This type of nuclear marketing

(dropping a power load at a random percentage of the population) has been the backbone

of corporate America. Times, however, are a changing’. With the deregulation of the

Internet in 1991, the federal government opened the door industry to the potential of

advertising twenty-four hours a day, almost free of charge to anyone in the world who

accessed their link. While it is true that this new advertising is not seemingly as direct, it

does provide a marketing tool that directly targets interested parties. Their largest

problem with traditional marketing stems from the fact that, in order to determine who is

interested in a product, the business would have to ask everyone. Changes in information

access are forcing the game to evolve. Now businesses can enjoy presenting their product

to those who seek them out. Moreover, this new media revolution costs almost nothing to

set up. It is clear that traditional marketing is approaching a revolution. It is a twitching

dinosaur who is awaiting his doom. As the world continues to interline itself, business will

alter the way in which it reaches its customer. Those who evolve will prosper. Those

who do not shall perish.

The Internet is a world wide network of tens of thousands of computers, all

connected. Individuals and businesses get on the Internet by getting an Internet account

through a local Internet Service Provider, offering access to e-mail and the World Wide

Web. The “Web” allows potential customers to visit a business’s storefront to the world,

and view the company’s on-line color brochure stored in pages or files which can be

viewed in both text and picture.

How do businesses use the Internet? This form of advertising is used to build a

company’s on-line color brochure stored in pages or files which can be viewed in both text

and picture.

How do businesses use the Internet? This for of advertising is used to build a

company’s image, provide customer support, make available technical and troubleshooting

information, develop a prospective list, conduct customer surveys, offer products, and

take orders. The Internet network is becoming increasingly popular among businesses as

an avenue for marketing their products and services. The system is growing rapidly, with

twenty-five million users in 1994 and fifty million by 1998; a fifty percent rise in only four

years.

What implications and effects are in store for the future of marketing with such a

rapid advance in technology? Experts express both concerns and breathless anticipation.

This computerized information boom has enormous potential to boost economies

world-wide, but it also has the possibility of being exploited. Advertising and marketing

on the Internet makes obtaining huge profits possible. Id Software Inc., for example, sold

several thousand copies of its Doom cliff-hanging software game the first weekend they

made it available on the Internet. The company now has sold abut ten million dollars

worth of software via the net, while avoiding the costs of overhead that generally consume

profits. Sellers, though, are not the only ones to reap the benefits from the Internet.

Purchasing products over the net is also beneficial. It is faster than the traditional process

of mail ordering, and the on-line support forums provide advice that is not found in

manuals, catalogs, or brochures.

To have marketing success on the Internet does not require the abandonment of

traditional marketing methods; innovation and placement are the prime components in the

formula for acquiring Internet revenues. Those businesses who devise a successful

marketing plan are guaranteed f large profit for their efforts. To make the network work

to their advantage, direct marketers have more to consider than just developing a sound

financial plan of action. Internet experts lay out several suggestions to generate profit and

be a net success. Marketers should avoid being intrusive or sending unwanted messages,

for practically nothing else annoys Internet users more. Instead, an effective approach is

to use the Internet for building higher levels of relationships with consumers through

dialog.

The Internet, as of now, is a free enterprise network. Neither government nor big

business owns or regulates its content or procedures, thus allowing for liberal

dissemination of information. The costs for marketers or purchasers to use the net is very

low, thus enabling both groups to make or save money. There are, however, problems to

consider in this cyberspace wonderland. Commercial interests are taking to the Internet,

and are directing their distribution of services and information to mainstream commercial

audiences. Marketers should, experts of the net worn, be more cautious before starting

Internet sites and pages. Rather than automatically assuming the benefits of the medium,

they should realize that many Internet sites offer poor data. They are much less accessible

than interactive TV services, and they often include outdated information. Marketers

should experiment with the medium but not blindly embrace it for the sake of their image.

Rushing to set up shop on the web could be disastrous without the proper research and

attitude, because the technology lacks such mission critical features as management,

backup, security, and performance management. Some businesses, such as Pizza Hut,

simply may not have Internet-using customers; however, the low cost of setting up on the

Internet stills remains a good argument in favor of doing so anyway. A good gauge of

what advertisers should focus upon comes from what type of audience they are playing to

on the Internet. Net users want advertising to be informative. A reason for this

advertising approach focuses upon an Internet user profile with notes that users are

predominately educated, discerning individuals. A survey of users by a commercial

marketing firm found that eighty-seven percent possess a college degree and sixty-seven

earn more than $50,000 per year.

What are the best ways for business to market goods and services on a computer

network occupied by such individuals? Experts on the use of the Internet, some of whom

have played major roles in linking its twenty-five million users, are uncertain. Some

experts stress the unique cultural norms, which are evolving among Internet users as the

best way for business to develop an Internet customer base. Among the major barriers to

successful marketing are security concerns. While the net is viewed as more user friendly

than interactive TV, transactions are , as yet, few because of technology hurdles. For one,

the net is not a closed system, which raises concerns of security. In addition, the differing

computers and networks that comprise the net make developing transactions difficult. The

Internet also requires competitive effort from entrepreneurs because government

bureaucrats and their associated tax payer-supported groups will not provide the best

information superhighway. This leads to widespread concerns that the Internet will

become breeding ground for monopolies as groups struggle to gain the most control and

profit from the net.

Styen, C., Introducing Interactive Marketing. Marketing Mix. Volume 14, issue

7, July 1997

Rath, B., Marketing on the Web: Net Return. Marketing Mix. Volume 14, Isue

3, April 1997