To keep our profit, let's be careful

     New forms of e-commerce keep on appearing, and one good example of this is Groupon. To Mark Zuckerberg’s jealousness, Groupon is the fastest growing company ever according to Forbes and still keeps on growing. As we know, this company’s business model is based on discounts (coupons) by sales volume (group), so the attractiveness is going in all directions: to the customer, to companies working with Groupon, ant obviously to Groupon.

     Unfortunately this e-business model leaves an enormous gap regarding competitors. Since there is no major protection in this way, competitors are reproducing in a geometric way. Despite the still Groupon’s doubtless leadership, its main competitor, Living Social has got more web traffic according to a report on comScore published by Businessinsider.com. There isn’t yet any number or argument that proves how competitors could affect Groupon, but still this gap is something they must consider for the long run. As a main part of the SWOT analysis, competitors should be taken seriously, especially in web-designed business, where market entrance is much more viable. 

     According to Latest Technology Trends.com, a couple of juicy offers ranging between $1.7 and $4 millions have been made to Groupon from Yahoo, but they just passed. But what is important with this numbers is to be aware of the huge importance of this business model: promotes volume sales, lower prices, ensures demand (which helps have more contribution margin), and all this means in a general way health to the economy. Hopefully, everybody wins, but the only condition is to complete the target consumption. This last sentence is the one that glorifies but at the same time condemns this business. Having said this, it’s crucial for Groupon to keep themselves safe from competitors, because if not, they’ll steal volume (something is currently happening in fact), which will higher prices, and therefore will make this business model unattractive. The inconvenient will not be only for Groupon, but for the whole rising industry and market.

     As businesses, let’s take this example as an experience to learn (from every point of view: the incredible growth, but also the potential crisis it’s being menaced to). As consumers, let’s think about buying these coupons, market could not be as beg as we may imagine, in some time this perishable product is going to expire.

Links:
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2010/0830/entrepreneurs-groupon-facebook-twitter-next-web-phenom.html
http://www.businessinsider.com/livingsocial-groupons-biggest-competitor-now-gets-more-web-traffic-than-groupon-2010-8
rhttp://www.latesttechnologytrends.com/2010/10/why-groupon-is-no-ebay/

Eureka! Social network is a gold mine... let's keep it safe!

     Beginning with the idea of a “tribute to curiosity”, social Networks have been seen in different creative ways among the years and nowadays everybody is connected to each other. As a matter of fact, in virtue of the multiple uses people have seen on them, the creators of these social Networks have been adapting their products to the current and potential needs of their users. One of the most significant ones is the use of social networks as a tool for online marketing, which becomes a great opportunity for companies to get a better approach to their customers and keep in contact with them with less effort, money and in a more efficient way since the information about the market is already given by these networks.

     Although social network marketing is something still new in the market, trends show the tremendous importance this has in the business world. According to an article in mashable.com, written by Adam Ostrow, in the US it will be spent $1.7 billion on social networking in 2010 and worldwide it’ll be $3.3 billion. And it’s nothing new to us the awareness of the tremendous growth of social networks, therefore, for companies this is an opportunity to get a better approach with the market. According to BBC News, and based on a research made by the Nielsen company, the growth of social networks from 2009 to 2010 is almost a 19% in general, becoming from 360 millions of users to 426 approximately. The market is there, the companies are taking profit of that. Who wouldn’t like to promote its products to these people? The invitation is made and the database is already created for you… I bet you will consider this.

     Social network is definitely a great tool for nowadays businesses, numbers say it all. However, it’s imperative to think on creative ways to keep this tool useful among the years, not only for our own business but also for the whole market. What do I mean with this? Well, maybe more than a decade ago the e-mails were found to be a great way to have access to data bases and therefore promote products. Today, we actually have options to consider mails as spam due to the large amount of useless mails and also dangerous ones with virus. Therefore, it’s up to us to take care of this opportunity. We must be creative, innovative and look (as companies) to give some value to our customers via social network to keep them “logged-in” with us.

    Let's keep the mine safe for all of us.

Ignacio Man Ging

Neuromarketing = Targetmarketing

   Is there anybody that knows in a 100% what he/she wants all the time in all the aspects of his/her life?

Since life by nature is complex due to the infinite number of aspects the human being has to face, indecisiveness is much more common in people than what it seems to be. Actually it’s something natural! But what matters the most is the fact that indecisiveness becomes as an immediate bandage that blinds people from recognizing what they like and therefore what they want. These are the reasons why surveys (the main source of data for marketers) could turn on non-reliable sources. People become conscious of what is being asked to them and why, and it takes away the spontaneity and naturalness (the diamond of surveys) of the studied people.

    Neuromarketing, as a research discipline that scans the brain of people (through different types of body reactions), helps not only companies to sell their products but also customers to get what they really want but weren’t able to discover by themselves. In that way, everybody wins since we target what is really needed and wanted. According to Martin Lindstrom Martin Lindstrom - Buyology a 90% of human behaviour is unconscious, which explains why people may not discover their preferences clearly, and the nowadays Neuromarketing is trying to help us to do it, not only based on marketing but also supported by scientists and specialists in neurology.

    Therefore, in a nearer future consumers and customers will be able to enjoy better products and services thanks to these new techniques of marketing (obviously when used for better product development in order to give better added value to customers). Neuromarketing may also be used to trick customers, but that’s the nature of every good invention such as the internet, TV, weapons, etc.; they all were initially created for good purposes but their used has been negatively modified over time. However, I prefer to take the positive and productive part of this intelligent tool.