CHAPTER 16 Exploring Social Media and e-Business 16.7 TEXTBOOK ANSWER KEYS 16.7a Return to Inside Business Angry Birds 1. If you were a corporate executive, how could you measure the effectiveness of Rovio’s use of social media? One obvious way to measure effectiveness is by counting the number of visitors, fans, and followers to its Facebook page, Twitter account, and blog pages. Rovio can also count the number of retweets, Facebook comments, and blog comments. It can apply sentiment analysis to determine whether social media comments are positive or negative, and the level of audience engagement over time, to see whether social media activities are helping to increase engagement. All of these measures can be correlated to trends in Angry Birds downloads and purchases to understand connections and improve future campaigns. 2. Of the environmental forces affecting e-business, which seem to have had the most influence on Rovio’s success with Angry Birds? Clearly, technology has had a very significant influence on the success of Rovio’s Angry Birds, enabling the company to offer its products in various forms for users of different electronic devices. Technology has also helped Rovio promote its games via social media. Globalization has been a major factor, allowing Angry Birds to reach a sizable market worldwide, well beyond its home market of Finland. Internally, the company’s information database has been essential to determining the popularity of each product, games and licensed products included. Human resources have been an extremely influential factor. Without talented game designers, Rovio could not have launched Angry Birds or introduced so many versions to keep customers loyal. This also suggests that planning activities and management decisions play an important role because Rovio must look ahead to future game releases and make decisions about what to create, how to promote its products, and so on. Students should also be able to make a case for the importance of other internal and external forces. 16.7b Review Questions 1. According to material in this chapter, what are the reasons why people use social media? A recent Pew Internet Research study showed that more than two-thirds of online adults use some sort of social media platform like Facebook, LinkedIn,Twitter, or MySpace. Most of them say staying in touch with family and friends is their primary reason for using social media. Roughly half say that reconnecting with old friends is a major reason why they use social media. Other reasons—like connecting with other people who share interests, making new friends, and reading comments by public figures—are less important. Businesses use social media to connect with customers, listen to their stakeholders, provide another means of customer service, develop content that is valuable to their customers, and engage customers in product development and formulation. 2. How is using social media to connect with other businesses and consumers different from the top-down traditional advertising approach used with television and magazine ads? With top-down marketing messages, companies used television and magazine ads to promote their product to a large audience without any opportunity for feedback. Discussions about products were limited to consumers’ immediate circle of friends and family. With social media, this is no longer the case. If a person has a bad experience with a product or service, they tend to post it on their blog or on Facebook, or tweet about it. 3. What is a blog? How can a business use blogs to develop relationships with customers? A blog is a Web site that allows a company to share information in order to increase customers’ knowledge about its products and services, as well as to build trust. Once a story or information is posted, customers can provide feedback through comments, which is one of the most important ways of creating a conversation between business firms and customers. Blogs are effective at developing better relationships with customers, attracting new customers, telling stories about the company’s products or services, and providing an active forum for testing new ideas. 4. What types of content can be used on a media sharing site? What factors should be considered when developing content for a media sharing site? Media sharing sites allow users to upload multimedia content, including photos, videos, and podcasts. Before participating in media sharing, a firm should consider: (1) Who will create the photos, videos, and podcasts that will be used? (2) How will the content be distributed to interested businesses and consumers? (3) How much will it cost to create and distribute the material? 5. Describe the two ways that businesses can use “gamification” to generate sales revenue. As mentioned in the Inside Business feature, Rovio Entertainment, the parent company of Angry Birds, rings up more than $100 million every year from global sales of game-related goods and services. Businesses can also place advertising into a game. For example, the search engine Bing placed ads within the Facebook game Farmville and gained several hundred thousand Facebook fans as a result. 6. In your own words, describe how social media can help businesses to connect with other businesses and consumers. Using social media enables a business to build a social media community that encourages two-way communication, allows for people to develop profiles, and identifies other people with which to connect (i.e., fans, friends, followers, connections). Social media enables companies to not only transmit a message, but to listen as well. 7. For a business, why are crisis and reputation management and listening to stakeholders important activities? One of the most important reasons for listening to stakeholders is to determine whether there is a crisis brewing. A majority of companies believe that their company is less than a year away from some potential crisis moment, and they monitor social media for conversations that may predict a crisis. Social media not only allows companies to monitor what is being said about them, but they can also use social media to respond and perhaps prevent a crisis in terms of bad press. 8. How can social media be used to segment the market for a firm’s products or services and target specific types of customers? The textbook uses the sample of how Ford used social media to introduce its subcompact car, the Fiesta, to Millennials. For this promotion, Ford recruited 100 social media users, dubbed “agents,” who were given a Ford Fiesta to drive for six months; the only requirement was that each agent talk about the car on social media, using video, Facebook posts, Twitter, and other social media sites. Ford had set a goal of attracting 144,000 Web site visitors, but more than 300,000 people had visited the Web site by the end of the promotion. Old Spice also used social media to build a connection with Millennials by using social media to reposition its body wash with a video launched on YouTube. 9. Why do you think companies are shifting their advertising monies from traditional advertising (television and newspapers) to social media (Internet search engines and social media)? The primary reason is simple. People are spending more time online. For example, traditional newspaper circulation is declining. As reported in 2011, for the first time, more of us are getting our news from the Web than from newspapers. The Internet now “trails only television among American adults as a destination for news.” (See http://www.technolog.msnbc.msn.com/tech nology/technolog/online-news-readership-overtakes-newspapers-124383.) 10. How can social media help companies generate new product ideas and recruit employees? Companies can use social media to conduct much of their consumer-based research. Using insight gained from Facebook or Twitter, for example, allows a company to modify existing products and services and develop new ones. For example, a few years ago, Starbucks built a network called Mystarbucks.com that allowed customers to post ideas about how the company should improve. The site also enabled people to vote on the best ideas, many of which Starbucks has already implemented. For years, companies have used current employees to recruit new employees based on the theory that “birds of a feather flock together;” in other words, current employees’ friends and family may prove to be good job candidates. Social media takes that concept to a whole new level. LinkedIn has been used quite effectively by both large and small companies to recruit employees. Using LinkedIn is beneficial for companies because it saves money and lowers recruiting costs, and it also allows employers to see more information about candidates. 11. What are the steps required to develop a social media plan? The steps to building a social media plan are: (1) Listen to determine opportunities. (2) Establish social media objectives. (3) Segment and target the social customer. (4) Select the social media tools. (5) Implement and integrate the plan. 12. What is the difference between quantitative and qualitative measurement? Which type of measurement do you think is the most reliable when measuring the effectiveness of a company’s social media plan? Quantitative social media measurement consists of using numerical measurements, such as counting the number of Web site visitors, number of fans and followers, number of leads generated, and the number of new customers. Many companies also use key performance indicators (KPIs) that define and measure the progress of an organization toward achieving its objectives. Qualitative social media measurement is the process of accessing opinions and beliefs about a brand. This process primarily uses sentiment analysis to categorize what is being said about a company. Most companies tend to use quantitative measurements, likely because these are the same measurements that have been used with long-established media channels like television and radio. This is not to say that quantitative measurements are more reliable; simply that they are more measurable. The most reliable measure of the effectiveness of a social media plan is how well the social media plan achieved the business objectives for which it was intended. 13. What are the four major factors contained in the definition of e-business? e-Business can be defined as the organized effort of individuals to produce and sell, for a profit, the products and services that satisfy society’s needs through the facilities available on the Internet. (1) To be organized, an e business must combine human, material, informational, and financial resources, but the resources may be more specialized than in a typical business. (2) e Businesses can increase profits by either increasing sales revenue or reducing expenses through a variety of activities. (3) Society’s needs can be satisfied through a myriad of activities, such as the buying and selling of products and services and the building of better customer and supplier relationships. (4) e Businesses use the facilities available on the Internet. In addition to offering a wide selection of content, the Internet provides the opportunity for interaction. 14. How do e businesses generate revenue streams? Revenue streams are created by the sale of products and services on the Internet, advertising placed on Web pages, and by subscription fees for access to online services and content. 15. What are the two fundamental e business models? The two fundamental business models are B2B and B2C. A business model represents a group of common characteristics and methods of doing business to generate sales revenues and reduce expenses. E-businesses can be distinguished from others simply by their customer focus. For instance, there are firms that use the Internet mainly to conduct business with other businesses. These are generally referred to as business-to-business, or simply B2B, models. In contrast to the B2B model, firms such as Barnes and Noble are clearly focused on individual buyers and so are referred to as having a business-to-consumer, or B2C, model. 16. Give an example of an unethical use of computer technology by a business. Unauthorized use of cookies or tracking of users once they are connected to the Internet is an unethical use of computer technology. Although this type of software may produce valuable customer information, it can also be viewed as an invasion of privacy, especially since users may not be aware that their Internet movements are being monitored. 17. What is the difference between internal and external forces that affect an e business? How do they change the way an e business operates? Internal forces are those that are closely associated with the actions and decisions taking place within the firm, whereas external forces are those factors that originate from outside of the organization (see Figure 16.8). Internal forces can, for the most part, be controlled by management. On the other hand, external forces are unlikely to be controllable by the e business firm. Management will usually react to these forces, attempting to shield the organization from any undue negative effects and to discover ways to take advantage of opportunities that these external forces may offer. 16.7c Discussion Questions 1. Given the fast pace of everyday life, most people often feel there is not enough time to do everything that needs to be done. Yet, people do find time to post personal information, photos, etc., on Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and other social media sites. Why do you think people are so fascinated with social media? Social media is a way for people to connect with each other. Thanks to technology, people can work out of their homes instead of going to an office. They can go to class online instead of going to campus and sitting in a classroom. They can shop online instead of driving to a store. Instead of calling a company to get information, they can use the company’s Web site. They can text or e-mail a colleague instead of calling him or her. There are any number of tasks people can now do online that used to necessitate interacting with people face to face or by phone. Social media is a way for people to still stay connected and interact with people when it is convenient and comfortable for them. 2. Assume you are the owner of a small company that produces a line of barbeque grills. Describe how you could use social media to connect with customers, improve customer service, increase sales, and reduce expenses. Students’ answers will vary. One way the company might use social media is to have an online recipe contest, in which customers could post their favorite barbeque recipes, and people could vote on which was their favorite recipe. The winning entry would win a new grill. This might develop interest in the company’s products and increase sales. The company might consider doing a promotional video on YouTube. This a relatively easy and inexpensive way to gain video exposure for the company. The company could improve customer service by having a “frequently asked questions” (FAQ) page on its Web site, including videos to help customers with assembly of their grills. This might also help the company reduce the cost of customer service. The company could also use a “live chat” feature on its Web site so that customers who are confused about which grill to purchase could connect with a live person who would talk them through the options. 3. Can advertising provide enough revenue for an e-business to succeed in the long run? What other sources of revenue can an e-business use to generate revenue? The answer to this question depends on the nature of the business. If it is a goods or service producing business, the firm must use e-business to find new customers and generate new sales for its products or services. On the other hand, there are firms that exist solely to let national advertisers place ads on local Web sites. 4. Is outsourcing good for an e business firm? The firm’s employees? Explain your answer. Outsourcing, which is the process of using outside vendors and suppliers, is good for both an e business firm and its employees as long as the firm does not outsource a core competency (i.e., those things that provide the firm’s value to its customers). Noncore competencies like Web site development, computer repair, and payroll processing (to mention a few) can and should be outsourced if they can be done faster and/or cheaper by an outside supplier. The e business firm benefits by saving time and money, while the employees who were performing these tasks can be freed up to perform more critical tasks that are important to the firm’s success. 5. What distinguishes a B2B from a B2C e business model? The main difference between these models is their customer focus. B2B is significantly larger than B2C and primarily tries to facilitate sales transactions between businesses and to build relationships among the supply chain members. B2C is much more concerned with understanding the behavior of online consumers, especially how they browse the Internet and their buying behavior. 6. Experts predict that the Internet, social media, and e-business will continue to expand along with related computer technologies. What effect will this expansion have on how businesses connect with customers in the future? Think how the Internet has changed the college search. Not too many years ago, if you wanted to find out more about a college or university, you had to write to the school to get more information, wait for the material to come in the mail, and make a trip to visit the campus. With the resources available on the Internet, you can now research an unlimited number of schools online, get information instantly, go for a “virtual” tour of the campus, visit the school’s Facebook page, or interact with professors or admissions people through their Twitter accounts. How interested would you be in going to a school that didn’t have a Web site and some of these other social media tools? The same is now true of businesses. We have come to expect that companies with which we want to do business will have a Web site that is rich with information. In the future, companies that do not have an online presence will be viewed as “less” than their competitors. 16.7d Comments on Video Case 16.1 Suggestions for using this video case are provided in the Pride/Hughes/Kapoor Video Guide. Luke’s Lobster: Entrepreneurs Use Social Networking to Claw Their Way up the Food Chain 1. What factors have contributed to the success of Luke’s Lobster? One factor that has contributed to the success of the business is that Luke’s Lobster makes a good product that is in demand. In addition, the restaurant is, in a sense, vertically integrated, because it is able to purchase seafood directly from a supplier (Holden’s father’s seafood processing company) rather than from a wholesaler. This gives the company a cost advantage; it can offer a more generous size roll at a lower price than competitors. Luke’s Lobster also resonates with diners who want to know where their food comes from: Holden knows the exact source of his food—“from the bottom of the ocean to the East Village.” Holden and Conniff are also tech-savvy and use social media such as Foursquare, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Vimeo. 2. Why have Holden and Conniff shunned traditional advertising? Is that a good idea? Why or why not? According to Holden, “Word-of-mouth from friends is stronger than any form of advertising in my opinion.” Marketing research has shown that Holden and Conniff are indeed right about this aspect of buying behavior. It is also probable that these entrepreneurs have not relied on traditional advertising because social media is so easy for them to use and much less expensive. Using social media is also a good choice for Luke’s because its low-key, party-like atmosphere tends to attract a younger demographic—that is, people who like to use social networking and rely on it to a greater extent than traditional advertising. One of the downsides of using social media is a firm’s inability to control unflattering messages that disappointed customers may post about it. Also, it takes time to monitor and respond to social media. This can become difficult as a business grows and its owners face more demands on their time. To cope with this problem, Holden and Conniff have hired a part-time employee who is a journalist and blogger. This person promotes Luke’s on social networks and monitors and responds to what is being said about it. 3. Pick another type of business and describe how it could use social media networking to promote its products or services. Students’ answers will vary depending on their personal experiences. Marketing professionals advise businesses to “fish where the fish are”—in other words, go where their customers are. So, for example, a human resources recruiting firm would be more likely to use LinkedIn than would Luke’s Lobster. 16.7e Comments on Case 16.2 Facebook’s Rise From Dorm Room to Board Room 1. Every day, millions of people use Facebook to connect with friends, relatives, and businesses. As a result, Facebook is now the world’s leading social media company. In your opinion, what factors have led to Facebook’s success? Students will offer a variety of answers to this question. One response might be Facebook’s technological expertise and the planning and management that enable it to continue adding popular new features year after year. Another possible response is that demographic factors are in Facebook’s favor, with more people owning devices that can access Facebook and more people becoming interested in connecting with other people and businesses in this way. Ask students to consider whether the same factors might eventually lead to strong competition for Facebook, and why. 2. What is Facebook’s e-business model, and how does this model fit its customers’ social media needs and interests? How does this social media company generate revenues and profits? Facebook is using both a B2C and B2B model. Its B2C model applies to the way it serves the social media needs and interests of consumers who want to stay connected to friends, classmates, and colleagues via Facebook. Its B2B model applies to how Facebook enables advertisers to reach targeted consumer audiences—that is how Facebook actually generates revenues and profits because consumers do not pay for Facebook’s services. 3. Because Facebook is a public corporation, it is now accountable to shareholders. If you owned Facebook shares, how would you react to the CEO’s statement about making money to build better services, not building services to make money? Students who react positively to the statement may say that if users move to other social media because they want services that Facebook hasn’t yet implemented, Facebook wouldn’t have the audience that advertisers want to reach. If this occurs, it would put a dent in Facebook’s source of revenue and profits. Therefore, Facebook is putting services first to satisfy the needs of its users and to stay ahead of competitors. Students who react negatively to the statement may point out that as a public company, Facebook needs to satisfy investors or risk losing them. If it builds services to make money, that shows the importance of investors to Facebook’s ongoing success. Ask students whether they would consider buying shares in Facebook, and why. 16.7f Building Skills for Career Success 1. Social Media Exercise 1. Develop a social media plan for that business using what you learned in this chapter. Students’ answers will vary, depending on the type of business they choose. However, they should make mention of at least some of the steps in building a social media plan (i.e., listening to determine opportunities, establishing social media objectives, segmenting and targeting the social customer, selecting the social media tools, and implementing and integrating the plan). 2. What are the objectives of your social media plan? Again, students’ answers will vary, but they should mention objectives such as building social media communities, listening to stakeholders, targeting customers, generating new product ideas, and using social media for marketing purposes. 3. What social media tools would you choose and why? How would you measure success? Students’ answers will vary. Tools might include blogs, wikis, Facebook, or other similar social media sites, Web sites, social games, videos, podcasts, photos, etc. Students should also discuss whether they would use quantitative or qualitative social media measurement, or a combination thereof. 4. Prepare a report that describes how this exercise has helped you understand the material in this chapter. Students’ reports will vary. 2. Journaling for Success 1. Have you ever used the Internet to purchase a product or service? If you answered yes, why did you purchase online as compared with purchasing the same product or service in a traditional retail store? Most students will cite a combination of convenience and price. Still others may find things online that are not available at local retailers. 2. In your own words, describe whether the online shopping experience was a pleasant one. What factors contributed to your level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction? Some of the factors you can expect students to cite include the following: • Clarity of information • Ease of navigation—How easy was it to find the item they wanted? • Ease of purchase transaction—Could they complete the transaction quickly? • Perceived security of transaction • Communication regarding the purchase • Shipping information available • Fast shipping • Ability to return item if necessary • Ability to get refund if necessary • Ability to speak to a customer service agent if desired 3. If you answered no, describe why you prefer to shop in a traditional retail store as compared with shopping on the Web. Students who prefer to shop in a traditional retail store are likely to feel better about making choices based on their own direct and immediate perceptions of the product or the services provided. 3. Developing Critical-Thinking Skills 3a. What specific actions has each site taken to protect your privacy? When you sign up for Facebook, you are required to provide your name, e-mail address, birthday, and gender. You control how much information is publicly available, and Facebook shares this information with people and companies that help it provide the services it offers. However, its partners must agree to use your information consistent with the agreement they enter into with Facebook and Facebook’s data use policy. Facebook states that it does not share information about you with others unless they have (1) received your permission; (2) given you notice, such as telling you about it in this policy; or (3) removed your name or any other personally identifying information from it. When you create a Twitter account, you must provide personal information, such as name, username, password, and e-mail address. Some of this information (name and username) is listed publicly. Twitter does not disclose your private personal information except in some limited circumstances stated in its privacy policy. Twitter does not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13, and if it becomes aware that a child under 13 has provided it with personal information, it takes steps to remove such information and terminate the child’s account. 3b. Are there weaknesses in the policies that could lead to abuses of your personal privacy? Both Facebook and Twitter acknowledge that they use cookie technology to collect additional Web site usage data, including both session cookies and persistent cookies. For example, Facebook uses cookies to tell it when you are logged in, and its partners may use a cookie to show you an ad on Facebook after you have visited the partner’s site. Many people consider cookies to be an invasion of privacy because they are stored on the user’s computer and transmitted to other companies without the user’s knowledge or consent. Twitter’s default settings allow public access, although you can lock your account and make messages available only to your selected followers. Facebook stores a tremendous amount of data about you—all your messages, pokes, and “likes” —even the IP address you use to log in or your location on a mobile device. There are always concerns about data leaks, hacks, and scams. This is true with any company that has an online presence and stores information about its customers. 3c. Based on your research, which site do you think has the most effective privacy policy? Why? Students’ answers will vary. Twitter’s privacy policy appears to be more straightforward. Facebook’s privacy policy is very lengthy and difficult to follow. Based on available information, DuckDuckGo is often regarded as having one of the most effective privacy policies. Their approach is simple and transparent: they do not track users, store personal information, or create user profiles. This minimal data collection policy aligns with their commitment to protecting user privacy, making them a standout in the industry. 3d. How has this exercise changed the type of information you would share on the Facebook or Twitter Web site? Explain your answer. Students’ answers will vary. This exercise likely highlights the importance of being cautious about the personal information shared on platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Both sites track user activity and collect data for targeted advertising and other purposes. Understanding how this data is used can make someone more mindful of what they post, how much personal detail they reveal, and how they engage with these platforms to minimize exposure and potential misuse of their data. I’d likely share less sensitive or private information and be more selective about what I post publicly. 4. Building Team Skills Students’ approaches will likely vary, but the company should respond using press releases, its Web site, blog, and social channels. The company should address the problem and assure the public that it is conducting an investigation to determine whether the allegations are true. (Note that the company may not want to shift blame on the terminated employees unless it is sure that the allegations are true. It may face other problems—such as defamation of character—if it publicly castigates the former employees.) 5. Researching Different Careers The student’s plan should identify the Web site that provides information about careers in technology, social media, or e-business; some positions that appear to be in high demand; skills required to fill the jobs; salaries and benefits; and which job is most appealing. 16.8 QUIZZES I AND II Quiz I True-False Questions Select the correct answer. 1. T F A blog is a digital audio or video file that people listen to or watch online. 2. T F Social media communities encourage one-way communication from the firm to its customers. 3. T F A wiki is a collaborative online working space that enables members to contribute content that is then sharable with other people. 4. T F Data mining refers to a small piece of software code that measures how long a user stays at a particular Web site. 5. T F Crowdsourcing involves outsourcing tasks to a group of people in order to tap into the ideas of others. Multiple-Choice Questions Circle the letter before the most accurate answer. 6. Typical quantitative measurements for social media Web sites include a. unique visitors. b. number of followers. c. number of embedded links. d. growth of wall response. e. all of the above. 7. Software designed to infiltrate a computer system and disrupt normal computer activities is known as a. data mining. b. a blog. c. a computer virus. d. cloud computing. e. inbound marketing. 8. A Web site that allows a company to share information in order to increase customers’ knowledge about its products, create a conversation between the firm and consumers, and provide an active forum for testing new ideas is a a. wiki. b. podcast. c. business model. d. blog. e. cookie. 9. A measurement that uses technology to detect the moods, attitudes, or emotions of those who experience a social media activity is known as a. outsourcing. b. sentiment analysis. c. a KPI. d. cloud computing. e. malware. 10. _______ is the marketing term that describes new ways of gaining attention and customers by creating content on a Web site that pulls in customers. a. Inbound marketing b. Data mining c. Gamification d. Crowdsourcing e. Sentiment analysis Quiz II True-False Questions Select the correct answer. 1. T F Sentiment analysis is a quantitative social media measurement. 2. T F Each source of revenue flowing into a firm is referred to as a revenue stream. 3. T F The terms e-commerce and e-business are synonymous. 4. T F In a B2C model, the focus is facilitating sales transactions between businesses. 5. T F Searching through data records looking for useful information is known as data mining. Multiple-Choice Questions Circle the letter before the most accurate answer. 6. A type of computer usage in which services stored on the Internet are provided to users on a temporary basis is known as a. data mining. b. cloud computing. c. a cookie. d. crowdsourcing. e. malware. 7. A _______ is a small piece of software code that can track where the user goes on the Internet and can measure how long the user stays at any particular Web site. a. cookie b. wiki c. KPI d. cloud e. virus 8. ____________ entails using numerical measurements, such as counting the number of Web site visitors, fans, or followers; the number of leads generated; and the number of new customers. a. Data mining b. Cloud computing c. Quantitative social media measurement d. Sentiment analysis e. Qualitative social media measurement 9. When a business attempts to sell products or services to another business, a(n) _______ model is being used. a. B2B b. B2C c. C2B d. Internet 2B e. e-business2C 10. A company that makes an effort to reduce the amount of paper it uses by storing data and information on computers would be using a. gamification. b. a B2B model. c. data mining. d. crowdsourcing. e. green IT. 16.9 ANSWER KEY FOR QUIZZES I AND II Quiz I True-False Multiple-Choice 1. F 6. e 2. F 7. c 3. T 8. d 4. F 9. b 5. T 10. a Quiz II True-False Multiple-Choice 1. F 6. b 2. T 7. a 3. F 8. c 4. F 9. a 5. T 10. e 16.10 CLASSROOM EXERCISES 16.10a Homework Activities • Have students bring in an article (or a printout of a Web site) that shows an example of a company that conducts business online. How does the company create profits? • Ask students to interview an owner of a local business that has a presence on the Web. How did the company build its site? What is the purpose of its site? How often does it update its site? Does it have to deal with privacy or security issues? • Ask students to write a one-page paper (a) identifying any weaknesses in your college’s or university’s Web site and (b) making suggestions for improvement. 16.10b Classroom Activities • Let’s Blog! Group Activity. This is a group activity that is designed to take 20 minutes in class. In groups of four or five, students are asked to develop an outline for a blog to encourage community in this class. Each group will share their outline. The entire class will vote for their favorite, and a blog can be started on one of the free blogging Web sites. For example, it takes only a couple of minutes to set one up on blogger.com. The resulting blog can be a useful means of exchanging information and thoughts throughout the semester. • Effective Blogging. Pick a few recently published blog articles and distribute them to the students. Ask them to identify what could have been improved in the article to better generate traffic and convert that traffic into leads. • How Can Social Media Make History? Show this TED video (17:03) in which social media theorist Clay Shirky discusses how cell phones, Twitter, and Facebook can not only report history but can make history. He argues that the Internet is revolutionary and that Facebook, Twitter, and TXTs help citizens living under repressive regimes to bypass censors and report on real news. He also points out that the end of top-down control of news is changing the nature of politics. He uses the example of how coverage of the earthquake in the Sichuan province in China was reported on Twitter before any other news media reported the story and how the Chinese government shut down access to Twitter because it was unable to filter it. He also discusses how President Obama uses social media. The Web site for this video is http://www.ted.com/talks/clay_shirky_how_cellphones_twitter _facebook_can_make_history.html. After showing the video, lead the class in a discussion about other ways in which social media might be able to make history instead of just reporting it. Use examples such as the 2010–2012 Greek protests, which were organized entirely through social networking sites. Another example is the “Arab Spring” in Tunisia, Egypt, and elsewhere in the Middle East where the Internet, social media, and technologies like Twitter and Facebook were used in the early stages to accelerate social protest. • Digital Humanitarianism. Show this TED video (10:57) in which Paul Conneally, public communications manager for the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, shows extraordinary examples of social media and other new technologies becoming central to humanitarian relief efforts. The Web site for this video is http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/paul_conneally_digital_ humanitarianism.html. After showing the video, lead the class in a discussion about other ways in which social media could be used for humanitarian aid. • Today’s Meet—Texting on Task. Today’s Meet is a free chat service that can be used for holding a backchannel discussion with students. It is completely free and simple to use. Go to http://todaysmeet.com/, set up a chat area, and send the URL to your students so that they can participate. The real-time digital stream allows students to comment and post questions. Set aside a portion of the class time in which students can use Todays Meet to participate in the discussion or ask questions instead of raising their hands. Many teachers and professors suggest that students are less inhibited about participating, and it gives them something class-related to do on their mobile devices. 16.10c Exercise Handouts Follow on Next Pages Let’s Blog! A blog is a Web page made up of short, frequently updated posts arranged in reverse chronological order. They can be compared to instant messages posted to the Web. One of their uses is to help small groups communicate simply and easily. Blogs are often used for product reviews and comments on products and services as well. Sometimes they can even become word-of-mouth advertising. In your groups, you are to develop an outline for a blog that will encourage the participants (you, the students) of the product (this class) to communicate and share ideas with each other. In your planning, consider that your classmates, the instructor, and the administration will have access to the blog. You have 20 minutes. Your outline will contain the following: Username: Password: Title: Purpose Statement: Will you allow anonymous comments? Will you use pictures/visuals? At the end of 20 minutes, each group will present their recommended plan for a class blog. The instructor will write down the title of each blog, and the entire class will vote for their favorite. Hint: Look at Web sites such as www.blogger.com. Let’s Blog! Instructor Notes In the class prior to this exercise, ask your students how familiar they are with blogs. If the majority do not seem comfortable with them, either plan to show them some blogs or ask them to investigate the subject as homework. Students will enjoy this activity, as it allows them to use their creativity. When you assign the groups, you may wish to ascertain that each group has at least one member who is blog-savvy. If you wish to keep the blog going all semester as a forum for students to build a class community, you may want to give them the purpose statement. For example, the purpose of the blog may be to provide student comments on their readings, to follow up on lectures, etc. Chapter 16 Video Case: Luke’s Lobster: Entrepreneurs Use Social Networking to Claw Their Way up the Food Chain RUNNING TIME: 2:30 This chapter begins by discussing why social media is important for both individuals and business firms. It explains how companies can use social media to build relationships with customers, the goals for social media usage, and the steps required to build a social media plan and measure the effectiveness of a firm’s social media activities. The last part of this chapter focuses on how firms use technology to conduct business on the Internet and what growth opportunities and challenges affect both social media and e-business. Concepts Illustrated in the Video • Social Media • Targeting Customers • Social Media Marketing • Quantitative Social Media Measurement • Business-to-Consumer (B2C) Model VIDEO CASE SUMMARY In 2009, near the height of the recession, 27-year-old Luke Holden took a risk—he opened a lobster sandwich shop in New York City. To make it work, Holden held onto his day job at a bank and spent nights and weekends serving $14 lobster rolls in a storefront of less than 300 square feet. A few months later, shunning traditional forms of advertising, he put Luke’s Lobster’s campaign online. Holden teamed up with a new tech startup called Foursquare. Foursquare is a mobile application that allows its 10 million users to virtually “check in” from their smartphones when they visit a local business like Luke’s Lobster. The information is then shared with everyone in the individual’s social network. Holden says, “Word of mouth from your friends is stronger than any other form of advertisement.” The information is also shared with the business where someone is checking in, so a company knows exactly who its customers are, because Foursquare can log how many times the customer has visited, and the business can then offer discounts and specials to its regular customers. It is the digital equivalent of a customer loyalty card. Holden suggests it is possible to do business as an entrepreneur without using social media tools but he doesn’t think it is smart. “If someone takes the time to do some type of action outside or inside of your restaurant that doesn’t involve buying food at the counter, that action should be recognized.” Critical-Thinking Questions Using the information from the case and the video, answer the following questions: 1. Will Luke’s Lobster be able to appeal to that portion of the population that doesn’t use smartphones or other mobile apps? Should the company also use other forms of advertising? If so, what other forms would you recommend? By using social media exclusively to advertise, Luke’s Lobster may be missing out on a big segment of potential customers who don’t use social media at all or only use it sparingly. The company might consider incorporating more traditional advertising such as newspapers ads or PennySaver coupons to reach customers who don’t use smartphones or mobile apps. Local radio and TV are other options. 2. Holden suggests that “Word-of-mouth from friends is stronger than any other form of advertisement.” What other forms of social media can Luke’s Lobster use to accomplish this? In addition to Foursquare, Luke’s Lobster can (and does) use a number of other social media outlets, including Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, Vimeo, and Yelp. For example, Yelp provides online local search capabilities for different businesses that give the business’s address, five-point rating from other site visitors, business hours, etc. Instagram is a photo-sharing program that allows users to take a photo and share it with other users in different social networking services. This could be wonderful free advertising for Luke’s if a customer shares an appealing picture of a lobster roll. Vimeo allows users to upload videos and share them with members who can also comment on or “like” the video. Again, this could lead to free advertising from videos for Luke’s. 3. Businesses use social media to achieve important objectives. According to your textbook, which of the objectives is Luke’s Lobster accomplishing by using social media such as Foursquare? Explain. • Building a social media community. When a customer checks in at Luke’s Lobster, that information is shared with everyone in the individual’s social network. This helps Luke’s Lobster develop a “connection” with potential customers and offer discounts and other specials to those people who are likely to become great customers. • Targeting customers. The use of Foursquare is allowing Luke’s Lobster to increase awareness of the company and build its brand. • Social media marketing. Luke’s Lobster is using social media exclusively to “create, communicate, deliver, and exchange offerings.” Chapter 16 Lecture Launcher: One Portal! Exactly! VIDEO SUMMARY In this scene, Rick tells Caleb he wishes Urban Farmz’s inventory data were better. “Almost everything we sell is perishable. Stuff’s going out that shouldn’t,” Rick says. “I’d like to see the systems we have in place now to take our online orders be applied to the wholesale side.” Caleb and their friend Emily agree that it would be great to have all the merchandise for the wholesale business go through one portal on the Web—it would be easier to keep track of everything that way. Emily says she is aware of a company that can custom design an information system for Urban Farmz that does just that. “They’ll spend like a week learning your business and come up with something that will rock your world,” she assures Caleb and Rick. Solution Manual for Business William M. Pride, Robert J. Hughes, Jack R. Kapoor 9781133595854, 9780538478083, 9781285095158, 9781285555485, 9781133936671, 9781305037083
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