Researching an Initiative

Selling to future buyers.

What is important to look at and note down when researching the education sector and deciding on whether it is going to be beneficial to market there? Markethub believe that the first three major issues that a company will encounter when entering the education sector are the budget shortages; being able to appeal in a new way “trendy” for the next generation that is interested in their studies and that entry barriers are going down which means a lot of competition ahead of you due to an increased awareness of other brands that tapping into the student market is a great way to introduce their product and make them pivotal to needs from an early age.

MarketHub go on to talk about the easiest ways to success in moving into the education sector and that it is vital to get these basics right to gain a piece of the market share. The first is Search Engine Optimisation; knowing what searches are trending with students and staff members will create a high level of awareness, this is also a very low-cost method of gaining product notoriety within a market that will always exist and is highly influential. You can read more about the key points here – http://www.marketerhub.online/importance-marketing-educational-sector/ . So why is it important to maximise your SEO performance? The majority of search engines users are more likely to click on one of the top 5 suggestions in the results pages (SERPS), so to take advantage of this and gain visitors to your web site or customers to your online store you need to in the top positions says Alex Christ from reliablesoft.net. A good sign of search engine optimisation is not necessarily the results given but the practice employed as those who are high up the search bar also tend to have an easily usable website and a clean, simple experience that users will return too. We know that students have to research through a lot, so giving them the results quickly that deliver what they need as soon as possible is vital for a company to succeed. Find more here – https://www.reliablesoft.net/what-is-search-engine-optimization-and-why-is-it-important/

The next key step is Social Media engagement (Facebook pages, Instagram, Twitter). Education centres, especially colleges and universities have moved into trying to use social media to boost methods of learning and exposure. The use of social media generally has exploded recently, 98% of digital consumers are also using social media (GlobalwebIndex, 2018). This shows how many people are constantly discussing opinions and events and how crucial it is to maximise your exposure in a positive light, especially as these methods of communication are mainly utilised by the younger generation. More of the figures to support this statement can be found here https://insight.globalwebindex.net/social-2?utm_campaign=Social%20Q3%202017&utm_source=ppc&utm_source=ppc&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI9fT2v_Kq2gIVqZPtCh2ICw5MEAAYASAAEgLX4PD_BwE Social media presence is not voluntary; you got to have your cool interactive page over Facebook, an Instagram account for the prospective students, a YouTube video sharing the cool experiences of past students. It is very important that you create a bond between you and your students’ therefore interactive pages all over the social media could take your students engagement to the next level.

In 2004, Warwick University was one of the first UK universities to introduce an institution-wide blogging platform encouraging staff and students to share professional or personal reflections in a trusted branded public space. Rolling out blogging tools and support across the university has led to a creative, thoughtful, and lively culture of blogging within the university including a rapid turnover of very high-quality content. This point leads on nicely to the final key area in gaining success when marketing to the education sector. That is creating a website and online blogs that allow students to be involved and informed in both an education sense and one in which you can advertise and market to them in a positive light. Drawing students into your website because it has other uses other than just purchasing products is an interesting method to gaining a sense of loyalty and necessity in the market, it will also allow you to gain favourability with educational influencers such as lecturers, teachers and possibly exam boards. If you help to supply something beneficial to the market as well as advertise your products, then your reputation will grow positively within the market. Of course, when setting something up like this, if a company is not too careful it can be seen as having an ulterior motive and this can discourage students and professors alike from viewing your site, and in turn, purchasing your products. More can be found on this topic at the IBM Developer works site – https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/library/wa-ind-educ-social-media1/ .

References:

Beydoun, A. (2017). Importance of Marketing in the Educational Sector. [online] Marketer Hub Lebanon. Available at: http://www.marketerhub.online/importance-marketing-educational-sector/ [Accessed 8 Apr. 2018].

Chris, A. (2018). What Is Search Engine Optimization And Why Is It Important. [online] reliablesoft.net. Available at: https://www.reliablesoft.net/what-is-search-engine-optimization-and-why-is-it-important/ [Accessed 8 Apr. 2018].

Insight.globalwebindex.net. (2018). Latest Social Media Trends | GlobalWebIndex Report. [online] Available at: https://insight.globalwebindex.net/social-2?utm_campaign=Social%20Q3%202017&utm_source=ppc&utm_source=ppc&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI9fT2v_Kq2gIVqZPtCh2ICw5MEAAYASAAEgLX4PD_BwE [Accessed 8 Apr. 2018].

Osborne, N. (2011). Opportunity, risk, and policy. [online] Ibm.com. Available at: https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/library/wa-ind-educ-social-media1/ [Accessed 8 Apr. 2018].

The largest major initiative that was chosen was to market to schools, students and the educators that are employed within the educatory system. When marketing towards a vulnerable demographic e.g. children or the disabled then it obviously comes with a lot of speculation and raised eye brows. So, what are the benefits for this initiative? Well, major corporations have fistfuls of cash and educatory centres such as schools, nurseries and colleges (especially public ones) do not have a large financial budget at all. On average in the U.K. a primary school receives £1,300 per pupil (Gov.Uk, 2017). If a company such as Apple who in the first quarter of 2017 alone made a revenue of $88.3bn, up 13 percent on Q1 2017 and an all-time record (Haslam, K. 2018).

The benefits of a school creating a business link with a major corporation are obvious, especially in terms of discounted products and financial input. This can create a huge positive media spin for a large company and this in turn will generate increased sales for them. These actions could provide companies with the opportunity to show that they care about children and schools get something extra for their students that they couldn’t otherwise afford – a win-win for schools and their business partners. It has also been proven that students are a very engaged and captive audience – they are guaranteed to see these messages every day they are in school, often many times per day. Even just the product alone being seen multiple times around a schooling environment would cause a student to familiarise themselves with the brand and the synonymous meaning that they are a company who care and want to help and assist, let alone being reliable.

Now with such a large reward which works out significantly cheaper than radio or televisions marketing, there surely must be risks. The biggest concern is whether a larger company would use the information they are gaining from students and exploit it and their privacy. Using the technology that is being pushed into schools through clever deals and negotiations, it is possible that sponsored equipment or curriculum could in turn push students to use certain features and sites to gain information, and this in turn then gathers ad viewing data like any other website on a home internet system. Although numerous laws and policies already exist to regulate what marketers can do with student information, legislation on student data and privacy continues to be unclear and difficult to navigate.

The other negatives also come from a social perspective and a company as large as Apple wouldn’t want to be known for this; brands can be the cause of social division amongst children resulting in the formation of “in” groups and “out” groups. Those who do not own the right brands may be discriminated against and experience social impacts which include being teased, bullied, having low self-esteem and being socially excluded. Their parents also felt the effects through pester power, the guilt of not being able to buy their children the latest brands or by financially struggling to provide these brands for their children. (Roper, S. Shah, B. 2007). As Klein (2007) observes, the ethics and social responsibility communities seem to agree that targeting vulnerable groups with marketing campaigns that take advantage of their vulnerability is unjust. This puts corporations at huge risk when spreading their brand image all over an area of education or an assistant of education, such as a book store which supplies the schools with learning support and materials, or the exam board which must control the school’s examinations without bias from a major company. The risks and rewards are large but if carried out correctly, a company such as Apple could exploit the market endlessly and create a huge dedicated following from a young age, massively increasing sales and market share.

References:

Department of Education (2012). Fair Funding for All Schools. London: Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government.

Harris, J. (2014). Costs and Benefits of Allowing Marketing in Schools. [online] Psychology Today. Available at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/kids-under-the-influence/201405/costs-and-benefits-allowing-marketing-in-schools [Accessed 25 Feb. 2018].

Haslam, K. (2018). Apple reports its best ever financial quarter, thanks to iPhone X. [online] Macworld UK. Available at: https://www.macworld.co.uk/news/apple/apple-financial-results-3581769/ [Accessed 25 Feb. 2018].

Palmer, D. and Hedberg, T. (2018). The Ethics of Marketing to Vulnerable Populations. [online] Academia.edu. Available at: http://www.academia.edu/14862711/The_Ethics_of_Marketing_to_Vulnerable_Populations [Accessed 25 Feb. 2018].

Roper, S. and Shah, B. (2007). Vulnerable consumers: the social impact of branding on children. [online] EmeraldInsight. Available at: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/02610150710822339 [Accessed 25 Feb. 2018].

Apple IPhone Strategy and Innovation.

My company chosen was Apple. During the company background research, I learnt that Apple have products in several different markets and industries and narrowing this down to one would allow my research and strategy to become a lot more focused. Because of this discovery, I have chosen to zone in on the IPhone.

Advertising to parents and educational professionals that if you are to purchase an Apple IPhone, then in doing so, you gain access to a discounted price on all books from cooperating book stores, such as Waterstones, and can also purchase learning resources from examination boards and educational publishers. An alternative to discounted books would be to allow parents and schools to purchase apps produced by these companies that have an educational benefit at a discounted rate. With increasingly higher standards for technology use in early elementary grades, all children, particularly low-income children, could benefit from acquiring basic technology literacy skills in early childhood education settings to ensure they are ready for the classroom says Daugherty, L. and Dossani, R. (2014).

This initiative can be advertised digitally on the bookstores website, this will in turn benefit the retailer as having a partnership with such a large and prolific company can spur on their sales. Despite the fact that Waterstones would be offering a discount on certain products, this could allow an increase in sales for children’s products and would also drive in an older market who are accompanying the children, this could lead to further sales in adult books due to them being in the store browsing with their children. In return, Apple could feature the Waterstones app at the top of their suggested app list to encourage further customers towards the paid partner. AdBoom says that “Association Advertising” can save money. It costs nothing extra for Apple to place Waterstones as a leading app on their store, in return, Waterstones still makes a good profit on children’s educational resources even when offering a discount to parents and educational professionals, all whilst receiving an increased customer base.

Using banner advertising, for example; Waterstones can on their website, display Apple as a leading partner and encourage current customers to go out and purchase the new IPhone. The same can be said for examination boards and known educational resource providers.

This leads on to initiative two and the second part of the strategy. Using online public relations to build the reputation of Apple in the education community. IronPaper (2013) says Online PR is very similar to traditional PR in the sense that it’s about influencing people rather than buying placement for brand content. The influence could result in a story in a magazine, newspaper or blog. It could also result in other online pick-up, including social media. Apple, using the hashtag #ILearnWithIPhone can utilise social media to its advantage, generating free advertising to shed positive light on their wants to help the younger generation learn in what is a rapidly advancing technologically orientated world.

Using this social outreach, working with professionals and educational centres they can promote the message the parents and public influencers that they are “narrowing the digital divide”. The gap between disadvantaged students and their peers in access to and use of technology — the “digital divide” — is significant. Low-income families are less likely to have access to most types of technology, and children in low-income families are more likely to use technology in ways that are passive and isolated. In conjunction with this, Apple can then push the fact that they are expanding resources for teachers and families. With the discounted prices from Apple professionals could use technology to access virtual communities, find teaching materials, watch exemplars and create networks. Similarly, technology provides families with new opportunities to engage in their children’s education and increase communication with their children and with providers.

The strategy would begin with Apple using social media to create a media frenzy over the up and coming campaign with the hashtag #ILearnWithIPhone at the centre. Focusing heavily on the lack of technological access available to under privileged students, and the difficulty for establishments to afford materials they need for the classroom. The next step would be to unveil the partnership with leading book stores and educational materials and their providers, of course allowing these providers priority on app store searches for increased consumer traffic. This would then be partnered with the advertisement for Apple through-out educational and book related websites, promoting that Apple products would allow customers an X-amount of discount on educational resources and children’s books. The drivers of this strategy can be measured by the amount of resources bought with an educational discount applied in conjunction with Apple sales after a certain date, and the amount of resources sold before the discount date and after it. Also, when buying an Apple product, having the customer mark whether they have an interest in the educational benefit on a review could be a simple way of keeping track of the percentage of customers this affects. Finally, tracking the social media reach via interactions, retweets, likes and shares would allow Apple to determine how far the campaign has reached.

References:

AdBoom, A. (2016). B2B Advertising: 5 Advantages of Association Marketing | AdBoom Advertising. [online] AdBoom Advertising. Available at: http://adboomadvertising.com/blog/b2b-advertising-5-advantages-association-marketing-offers-2/ [Accessed 28 Jan. 2018].

Daugherty, L. and Dossani, R. (2014). The Role of Technology in the Lives of Children. [online] Rand.org. Available at: https://www.rand.org/blog/2014/10/the-role-of-technology-in-the-lives-of-children.html [Accessed 28 Jan. 2018].

IronPaper (2013). What is online PR? – Ironpaper. [online] Ironpaper. Available at: http://www.ironpaper.com/webintel/articles/what-is-online-pr/ [Accessed 28 Jan. 2018].

Digital marketing when boiled down to its most simple forms of growth can grow in two ways. The first of these methods of growth is Organic Growth. “Organic growth involves expansion from within a business, for example by expanding the product range, or number of business units and locations.

Organic growth builds on the business’ own capabilities and resources. For most businesses, this is the only expansion method used.

Organic growth involves strategies such as:

– Developing new product ranges

– Launching existing products directly into new international markets (e.g. exporting)

-Opening new business locations – either in the domestic market or overseas

-Investing in additional production capacity or new technology to allow increased output and sales volumes.

-Having a website with strong merit to increase search hits.” (Riley, J. 2015)

Organic search results are determined by search engine algorithms and are based on the merits of each site. So, a company with consistent good reviews online would be featured higher up the search engine results than one that has frequently seen complaints or just simply does not have any website visits what so ever. An example of this would be an organisation that features in the technology sector. If Curry’s PC World had many products on their website which were rated highly and had positive feedback, then the site would move up the search engines as a suggestion for shoppers looking for a new laptop or computer for example. A company can improve their hit rate and their ability to feature on a search engine, growing organically by creating high quality, popular products that members of public want to purchase, this can then be followed up by encouraging users to leave positive reviews on the site of both the products and the services provided, offering a reward such as a discount on next purchase for doing this will increase the chances of the company getting the result that helps the organisation move past its competitors.

So, evolving your website and business to allow for strong, positive organic growth is definitely one way to increase website traffic, but what is paid growth in relation to online searches? “To understand paid search advertising, you must first understand a search engine results page (SERP). When you type something into a search engine (like Google), the search engine responds with a list of web pages (their title, links, and description) that are relevant to your query. This is your SERP. The bulk of that list is comprised of organic results: web pages that the search engine algorithm determined were the best match for your search.

PPC ads are the results (web page names) that appear at the top and bottom of your SERP. While we often think of ads as visually distinct elements, SEM/PPC ads look similar to the organic listings between them, but are labelled in some way to distinguish them as an ad.” (McCormick, K. 2017)

This is how paid searches work, but how can a company use this channel and how can it benefit them? Paying a company such as Google to be a featured on the first page of a customer’s search results can allow a smaller or new company to be placed in front of a well-established competitor instantly and allow you to build quick web traffic and gain high levels of business.

Another strong argument for a company to utilise the paid searching method is to maintain your reputation. Just like organic rankings, search engines such as Yahoo! and Bing have a set level of requirements and factors for paid positions on their sites. To maintain their own reputation as a search engine, the companies it displays, both paid and organic need to be relevant and trustworthy. Google and other engines also base your positioning on how relevant your keywords are to what the customer is searching for, researching into what these words are for your industry and products can really drive a large amount of web traffic to your site.

Finally, the other main positive from paying for a higher search engine position is the paid search analytics that Google and others alike it provides. “Search engines provide marketers using their advertising platform with free real-time data and analytics. With this information, you can learn quite a bit about those who click on your ad, including:

• Where that person is located
• How much time they spent on your site
• What pages they visited on your site
• What type of device they were using (mobile, tablet, laptop)

This detailed data allows you to see exactly what you’re getting from every penny the company spends. Use it to be more efficient with advertising and continuously improve campaigns.” (McCormick, K. 2017)

As demonstrated, search engines as a channel of marketing can be highly useful and very easily attainable. It can allow for businesses both large and small to gain huge traffic and to increase the positive feedback and growth of their companies online.

A site with more useful information about how search engines, both paid and organic can be found here at this link: https://thrivehive.com/

References:

McCormick, K. (2017). What is Paid Search Advertising and Why Use It? | ThriveHive. [online] ThriveHive. Available at: https://thrivehive.com/paid-search-advertising-use/ [Accessed 6 Jan. 2018].

Riley, J. (2015). The Exam Performance Specialists | tutor2u Business. [online] tutor2u. Available at: https://www.tutor2u.net/business/reference/organic-internal-growth [Accessed 6 Jan. 2018].

Vallance, D. (2017). Digital Marketing Channels — What to Look For and How to Choose. [online] Digital Impact. Available at: https://www.digitalimpact.co.uk/digital-marketing-channels-what-to-look-for-and-how-to-choose/ [Accessed 6 Jan. 2018].

 

 

 

 

 

Apple, Inc. is a company which has a broad range of products and offers a huge amount of services. The industries that Apple competes in is vast and expansive, ranging from personal computers and fitness equipment to mobile payment systems. If you had to apply Apple to one broad industry then it would be the Technology industry, with computer manufacturing being a subsector (Nasdaq, 2017).

So, what is Apple’s value offering? What does it provide that has allowed the tech giant to remain at the forefront of an industry which is saturated by literally hundreds of rival products? Well, according to Apple, a smart phone to them “is not just a collection of features, rather it is an experience”. Apple understands that their customers and the customers of their competitors, who could become their customers are all looking for certain experiences that not only create a “magical” feel to an everyday device, but also play into current wants, needs and issues. Take mobile and data security for example: After the news breaking FBI case which saw an incident where an iPhone needed to be unlocked and was by the government, this caused worry amongst the public. So, Apple invented the “Touch I.D.” an innovative and ground-breaking piece of technology which means you use your fingerprint to unlock your phone. They store this coding and analysing technology in something called “the Secure Enclave”. According to Apple “it is completely walled off from the rest of your phone, and it keeps your fingerprint encrypted and protected. We can’t see it, “They” can’t see it. Not even you can see it”. This clever solving of a real and current issue is what allows Apple to offer continues new and innovative methods, experiences and technology and this is what keeps them ahead of their world-wide list of competitors.

Apple communicate these messages of having the best experience using the phone and ensuring it isn’t just a combination of apps and features in the simplest of ways. Using very simple language allows all possible stakeholders to understand what Apple are doing. It also allows customers to fully immerse themselves into the product and the full “Apple experience”. This simple communication skill is readily available on their website and on ads which can be found via the television or on demand websites such as YouTube

Due to Apple operating in so many subsectors of the technology department, it would be odd if their competitors only stuck to one area of business too. Apple as you can imagine, have a whole host of fierce rivals for every area of business they’re in. In terms of computing software, they have to go up against Microsoft, Dell, Asus, Hewlett-Packard and Acer. Whereas in their mobile sector, the list of rivals fighting for the top spot changes entirely. It features tech giants such as; Google, Samsung, Nokia. Moreover, they have to also fight for operating systems to run the mobiles, the leader of this being the Google Android, fighting their iOS system. Apple then has its most up to date investment to worry about; mobile payment services. Being the newest big player in the market, it has to go up against giants PayPal, whilst Google once again have a hold on the market shares. “An impressive rate of the growth of the industry attracts new market players especially from emerging economies with access to cost-effective resources and this tendency is expected to persist in long-term perspective.  Despite the fierce competition in consumer electronics and e-commerce industry, Apple is one of the acknowledged leaders in the global marketplace. iPhone market share of new smartphone sales in the global market place is almost consistently above 15 per cent since the launch of the product.” (Dudovskiy, J. 2017). This emergence of consumer electronics and mobile devices from developing nations is rapidly becoming more prominent. One of the main examples of this is from China. Huawei was founded 30 years ago but only has it recently become a global player, seeing sales in Europe and the Americas.

Apple have an upbeat, innovative marketing strategy. Their ads, first of all feature many influential celebrities from many different fields of work and are then streamed on all viewing platforms. Taylor Swift from the music industry to help their advertisement of iTunes. Neymar Jr. from Paris Saint German football club was used to help the advertisement of their health feature. Their key strategy on the other hand is to create products which all have a complimentary function. This way, when you buy into Apple, you are met with a sense of product and brand loyalty, this in turn means that when you go to purchase a new product, you realise you would have to replace all of your connected products. This is a very clever marketing strategy which translates across devices.

References:

Dudovskiy, J. (2017). Apple Porter’s Five Forces Analysis – Research Methodology. [online] Research Methodology. Available at: https://research-methodology.net/apple-porters-five-forces-analysis-3/ [Accessed 14 Dec. 2017].

NASDAQ.com. (2017). Technology Companies. [online] Available at: http://www.nasdaq.com/screening/companies-by-industry.aspx?industry=Technology [Accessed 14 Dec. 2017].

Shewan, D. (2017). 7 of the Best Value Proposition Examples We’ve Ever Seen | WordStream. [online] Wordstream.com. Available at: https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2016/04/27/value-proposition-examples [Accessed 14 Dec. 2017].

Yeung, N. (2017). The marketing strategy of Apple: A concise analysis | Version Daily. [online] Version Daily. Available at: http://www.versiondaily.com/the-marketing-strategy-of-apple-a-concise-analysis/ [Accessed 14 Dec. 2017].

The definition of auditing is “an official inspection of an organisation’s accounts, typically by an independent body” (Oxford Dictionary, 2017). Here we will be looking into one of the 6 channels presented by Chaffey. (2011) which is Interactive Advertising.

Interactive Advertising is a very modern method for marketing. Even in the digital age which allows the exploitation of the internet. What is so modern about Interactive Advertising is that it provides a two-way channel of communication with intended audience unlike most other channels of advertising. Normal advertising is also highly unfocused as there is no interaction and the audience is unable to guide the organisation as to what it wants to look at. Chaffey (2011) himself has elaborated, explaining that there are three large advantages that stand out when using Interactive Advertising.

 

 

The first of these?

 

• Direct Response: Allowing the advert to be interactive means that the consumer might be on a similar website or a competitors site and can gain a direct response via click-through adverts taking them to the website, this will generate direct hits on their site.
• Enhancing brand awareness and reach: Having a strong visual ad can generate significant awareness about a brand or a product which an organisation is trying to sell. A direct correlation to watch out for is if one design generates a lot of clicks and one doesn’t, then the ad it’s self may not look appealing to the targeted customer.
• Media Buyers: “Media buyers can select the right site or channel within a site to reach the audience. Audience can also be targeted via their profile through serving personalised ads, or ad in email if visitors have registered on a site.”

 

More information and examples of Interactive marketing can be found here: http://online-interactive-advertising.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/interactive-advertising-9.html

 

Interactive Advertising has 4 main outlets of interaction which customers can directly click and be sent to an organisation’s website. This falls generally under the category of Ad Networks. The first network in which interactive ads seem prolific is of course Social Media. Using social media to advertise to a consumer is a really well focused method of advertising, this is because social media requires you to follow things you are interested in and display them publicly. Companies can now use that to advertise on your social media pages offers and links to their sites which e courage you to leave your social media platform and to join their site where you can browse, shop or be informed about whatever it is they have to offer.

 

The other 3 methods mentioned are Videos, Pop-Ups and Displays. A video will display a short advertising message on the side of a website. This usually helps to build brand recognition, these can also go at the start of a YouTube Video where the consumer can click on the ad to be taken to the organisation’s site. Pop-Up’s are generally used by a company attempting to gain the interest of a new customer, using advertising rich content they’ll attempt to rapidly sell products or show very top end offers to gain attention and clicks to the site. Finally, Displays. These use visually pleasing and stimulating colours and images to gain the attention of the consumer where a product is usually advertised. If affective, the customer will click the ad to gain additional information about the product or services offered.

An example of a pop up ad.

These main sources can all be measured by the organisation and each one reviewed allowing them to work out which method is most affective for them as an organisation. It is also interesting to look into how well a company is utilising the method of Interactive Advertising.

What is interesting to note about the method of Interactive Advertising is that it is a very modern approach and allows a consumer to have much more of a say in what they are and are not interested in, allowing the organisation to tailor its advertising process towards its audience. Being able to audit this and ensure that you’re gaining maximum results from this method is crucial to ensuring you have a growing audience and are improving your brand reputation at all times. Fail to do this and competitors can pass you rapidly and cause you to look archaic and even mistrusted.

This link shows you a real-time example of Interactive Advertising and explains how it can be put to use using mobile online technology: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxwnsfrU3zQ

One critical element of this channel is that consumers might not trust this form of advertising as many different cons and viruses also transmit this way.

References:

(SPD4290), I. and profile, V. (2017). The Advantages of Interactive Advertising. [online] Online-interactive-advertising.blogspot.co.uk. Available at: http://online-interactive-advertising.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/interactive-advertising-9.html [Accessed 28 Nov. 2017].

Chaffey, D. (2017). Digital marketing channels | Smart Insights. [online] Smart Insights. Available at: https://www.smartinsights.com/reach/attachment/digital-marketing-channels/ [Accessed 28 Nov. 2017].

Oxford Dictionaries | English. (2017). audit | Definition of audit in English by Oxford Dictionaries. [online] Available at: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/audit [Accessed 28 Nov. 2017].

Smallbusiness.chron.com. (2017). Examples of Interactive Advertising. [online] Available at: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/examples-interactive-advertising-10996.html [Accessed 28 Nov. 2017].

YouTube. (2017). Interactive advertising example. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxwnsfrU3zQ [Accessed 28 Nov. 2017].

 

Formula One is a international motorsport which season spans from March through to December and covers 20 different countries and five different continents. Although the sport has been around for decades, its social presence has always been restricted due to ex-owner Bernie Ecclestone and organisation the FIA not wanting to cause rule breaking and to keep it as a high end sport. But in the last twelve months, the sport has been purchased by Liberty Media. Liberty Media is a company with innovative ideas who understand the importance of fan contribution and because of their changes both online using their website and social media and out there on track and the days building up before race day, the sport is now the fastest growing sport in the motorsport community.

So, what is the main purpose of the website?

First and foremost, the website aims to prolong the experience of a race weekend and to continue to deliver entertainment and news that is directly related to the sport and the events that took place throughout the season. The secondary aim of the website is to then inform the user about the sport, what is going on within the sport and what might happen in relation to current events and the future of the sport. It also aims to provide news stories for those who wish to be further involved in the sport.

Who is the intended audience?

The issue with having a website based entirely around one sport is that the only audience you will be able to bring in to view it, is spectators or fans of the sport who wish to have an increased experience. This can be altered by providing information about each team involved in the sport, possible information abut lower league formats which feed into the sport and even sports of a similar nature. One other possibility to attract further viewing is to give the sponsors of the sport and the teams an increased portion of the site to then inform viewers about their services and create a revenue stream.

What is interesting to note is that the website does not provide any information or details on who is writing the content for the website. This makes it very hard to ensure the sources are credible and the writers of the material are well informed. On the other hand this is counteracted by the fact that the sport has a very high reputation and this is their official website, ensuring they would only higher people with an informed opinion.

What kind of subject coverage does the website provide?

The website at first glance provides a fun, light hearted summary of the sport. Allowing a casual reader to grasp the major headlines and what is going on in the world of Formula 1. Delve a little deeper and you’ll find intense discussion on rules, how these decisions were arrived at and what they do for the sport. These also have direct reference to the FIA rule book which is the organisation that creates and shapes the sport today.

The information provided on the website has not been factually checked by any academics or peers but it will have been put though to a senior editor which will have meticulously checked each article and ensured that the information provided was accurate and suitable. After reading through many pages and articles on the website I could only find one spelling error and that was on an individual’s name. This shows that the attention to detail is high. The information provided is incredibly up to date and comes in on an hour by hour frequency. This means it is incredibly current is at the front end of providing relevant information to its audience.

So how easy is it to use?

The site is incredibly clear and very easy to navigate. Headers show a very easy path to what you might want to look at, the colours are exciting but not off putting. Whether a casual or first time viewer, or a regular veteran of the sport, it is very easy to understand what is going on.

“There is still a lack of an engineering approach for building Web systems, and the field of measuring the Web is not yet mature. In particular, there is an uncertainty in the selection of evaluation methods, and there are risks of standardizing inadequate evaluation practices.” (Rutter M, 2014). This shows that the evaluation of a site is still something that is very subjective and is open for interpretation. I feel that personally, the site is a very strong site in comparison to others in the same field. It is very clear and there is a wide range of entertaining and informative articles which appeals to all levels of viewership on the subject. A suggestion on how to improve the website would be to further increase fan input and allow the fans to have a section of the site themselves to discuss and debate articles, this I feel would increase the return rate of viewers and an increased traffic on the site.

References:

Rutter, M. (2014). A comparative approach to web evaluation and website evaluation methods.. Available: http://www.napier.ac.uk/research-and-innovation/research-search/outputs/a-comparative-approach-to-web-evaluation-and-website-evaluation-methods. Last accessed 24th Oct 2017.

 

Game of Thrones is a fantasy show set in a world where ice threatens the very survival of those who live in this strange world, filled with beasts and monsters, families who wish to take each other out and magic and gods which no one seems to understand. Game of Thrones is currently the world’s most popular and talked about TV show. SKY is the pre-eminent pay television broadcasting service in New Zealand. SKY’s principal business activity is the distribution of both local and international programme content to its subscriber base, predominantly through a digital satellite network. There are approximately 1.6 million households in New Zealand. As of 30 June 2012, SKY’s pay television services had a residential household penetration of approximately 49.4% and an audience market share of approximately 29.8%.SKY also has the exclusive rights to broadcast Game of Thrones in New Zealand.

 

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